Cognitive training (the basis for what we call “brain fitness” these days) has a wide array of applications. The most recent one, which is capturing public’s imagination, monopolizing media coverage, and creating certain confusion, is Healthy Brain Aging. We are fortunate to have Dr. Joshua Steinerman, one of our new Expert Contributors, offer today his great voice to this conversation. Enjoy!

- Alvaro
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Minding the Aging Brain

– By Joshua R. Steinerman, M.D.

Scientists, philosophers, artists, and experts from all fields of human endeavor lament: it ain’t easy getting older. It? Do they refer to frailty and disability? To bodily disease? To life at its essence?

It’s all in your head

The mind is not set in stone, but it is encased by bone. It’s really all about the brain, the hyphen in the mind-body conundrum. That squishy gray neuronal jungle is the interface between internal life and environmental sensations and stimulation. As expected, the brain shows signs of aging just as a wrinkled brow, a stooped posture, or an arthritic finger might. The most common brain changes observed in aging and in age-associated neuropsychiatric disease include:

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If you missed Part 1, also written by puzzle master Wes Carroll, you can start there and then come back here to Part 2.

Concentric Shapes:
The Unkindest Cut of All, Part 2 of 2

Difficulty: HARDER
Type: MATH (Spatial)

Question:
Imagine a square within a circle within a square. The circle just grazes each square at exactly four points. Find the ratio of the area of the larger square to the smaller.

In this puzzle you are working out many of the same skills as in Part I: spatial visualization (occipital lobes), memory (temporal lobes), logic (frontal lobes), planning (frontal lobes), and hypothesis generation (frontal lobes).

Click to read the Solution and Explanation.

In honor of Mathematics Awareness Month 2007: Mathematics and the Brain, here is another mathematical brain bender from puzzle master Wes Carroll …

The Unkindest Cut of All, Part 1 of 2

Difficulty: HARD
Type: MATH (Spatial)

Question:
The area of a square is equal to the square of the length of one side. So, for example, a square with side length 3 has area (3²), or 9. What is the area of a square whose diagonal is length 5?

In this puzzle you are working out your spatial visualization (occipital lobes), memory (temporal lobes), and hypothesis generation (frontal lobes).

Click to read the Solution and Explanation.

Go on to Concentric Shapes: The Unkindest Cut of All, Part 2 of 2