The Week India - July 29, 2018

SILVER LINING

18 THE WEEK · JULY 29, 2018

HEALTH

For a zippy

BRAIN

Games and puzzles are a great way for seniors

to reduce stress and keep the brain agile

BY MINI P. THOMAS

D

o your grandpar-

ents complain that

you spend too

much time on gad-

gets? Next time they ask you to

go play outside, spy on them,

and don't be surprised if you

fi nd them engrossed in an on-

line game.

Seniors are getting smarter.

The online version of card

games like solitaire and bridge

are the rage among the elderly.

Many get hooked on to pick-

up sticks, a good old game. I

know older adults who keep

dropping things, but are sur-

prisingly good at picking sticks

from the bundle without dis-

turbing any other. Sudoku and

crossword puzzles are popular

even among those over 75. (So,

now you know why they spend

hours reading newspapers!)

Gaming is good for reboot-

ing the ageing brain, says Dr

Sagar Mundada, a consultant

psychiatrist at Healthspring,

Mumbai. “The primary focus

of these games is to wake up

the brain cells known as neu-

rons and improve the connec-

tivity between them. There are

brain regions which become

dormant over a period of time.

Gaming helps to reactivate

them,” he says.

Chander Aiyar, 83, a char-

tered accountant from Ben-

galuru, gets excited when I ask

him about bridge, his favourite

card game. Aiyar suggested

we do the interaction through

WhatsApp and I agree.

“Why do you like bridge?” I

ask him.

Pat comes the reply: “Because

it is the second most intellectu-

ally stimulating indoor game

which is played internationally.

Also, it is highly competitive

with huge prize money. My

father used to play this game

during his retirement. Perhaps

I got the addiction from him.”

Aiyar then explains to me

how bridge is played. “It is a

4-player game, played with 52

cards. I play this game alone

on the internet, as well as with

four friends and one standby.”

Games and puzzles are a

great way for seniors to keep

themselves occupied, reduce

stress and beat post-retirement

blues. “They help you stay so-

cially connected too,” says Ai-

yar, who loves playing chess

and carrom with small chil-

dren in his apartment.

Digital games can sometimes

be challenging for novice gam-

ers. “Super seniors (those aged

75 and over) may have dif-

fi culty processing the rapidly

moving visual stimuli on the

screen,” says Dr Steve Paul,

head of geriatrics, Jubilee Mis-

sion Medical College and Re-

search Institute, Thrissur, Ker-

ala. Devices with small screens

could also pose challenges to

elderly gamers. Redemption

could be internet-enabled TV,

or devices with larger screens.

Brain training puzzles and

games create what can be

called the “brain reserve”,