By Setarreh Massihzadegan
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE

Keeping fit can be as simple as lifting a pencil. That is, when your brain is getting the workout. It seems puzzles can do for your brain what pushups do for your triceps, and those who live at Brooksby are keeping their minds fit.

Many people who live at Brooksby recently got a primer in brain fitness when  they attended the workshop “Brain Games: Keeping our minds as fit as our  muscles,” hosted by Brooksby Wellness Coordinator Amy Beaudette.

“To stimulate your mind you need to constantly do new and different activities,” Beaudette says.

Studies have shown the benefits of brain exercise on cognitive abilities, particularly as we age, and those who live at Brooksby have the right idea; there’s a list of nearly 20 groups on campus that play card and board games regularly, as well as numerous activities catering to artists, musicians, and athletes.

Working the brain
More than 40 people who live at Brooksby attended the recent workshop, where they wrestled with a variety of riddles testing different thinking methods. Beaudette explained the reason for each exercise, beginning with an image that could be viewed as a seal or a donkey, depending on which way you viewed it.

“I didn’t think Brooksby Village would be giving me a brain,” joked one  woman before heading into the workshop.

Puzzles that require logic, like word games and crossword puzzles, work our structuralization abilities, Beaudette said. She challenged participants to find how many words they could make from the word holiday. There was a collective “Ah!” of surprise when she later announced the 24 possible words.

But while solving puzzles can be a great workout, Beaudette explained that more thoughtful use of the five senses can also exercise your brain. Without looking, participants reached into a box of random objects and did their best to decipher what they felt. A small birthday candle was one of the most difficult to recognize.