First, I take a good look at the wooden child's puzzle, whose pieces form a colorful umbrella. Then, I blindfold myself, dump the puzzle out on the table and put it back together again.
"Very good. You did it in under a minute," says Reenaa Chawla, director of The Brain Studio in Upper Saddle River, NJ.
The next challenge, sans blindfold, does not go as well. After a couple of minutes of nervously attempting to put together an imageless jigsaw puzzle with wooden pieces of varying shapes, I give up. The same thing happens on the third challenge -- a maze -- though I take that home with me and successfully finish it later.
Clearly, my brain could be a bit more, well, fit.
And that's where "trainers" like Chawla come in.
Over the past few years, brain fitness has become a very hot topic -- and, thanks to aging baby boomers, a thriving industry.
Type "brain fitness" into Google and you'll get more than a million entries. Do the same on amazon.com, and you'll have a choice of more than 2,000 books, a few dozen software programs (including Nintendo's "Brain Age" games) and eight DVDs. That last category includes PBS' fascinating "The Brain Fitness Program," narrated by Peter Coyote. (Perhaps you saw it?) It described the brain's ability to change and adapt, even rewire itself ("brain plasticity" is the brain's ability to rearrange the connections between its neurons), as well as the computer-based stimuli that a team of University of California scientists have developed to "drive beneficial chemical, physical and functional changes in the brain."
The market for brain-stimulation products in the U.S. more than doubled between 2005 and 2007, to $225 million, according to a recent report by SharpBrains, a market research firm. It projects that figure will exceed $2 billion by 2015. Driving Force Software designed to stimulate short-term memory is also used to help kids battling ADHD and other ailments, but SharpBrains CEO and co-founder Alvaro Fernandez attributes the enormous growth in the brain-fitness market to boomers, many of whom have watched their parents' struggles with Alzheimer's and other dementia. "The baby boomers obviously are a driving factor, because they are looking for options for themselves, but also for their parents. Many of them are caregivers," Fernandez says. "They want to stay healthy as long as possible. They do understand that the brain is flexible and requires as much attention as the body. And so, the same generation that revolutionized physical fitness is now focusing on brain fitness." This desire to stay sharp is hardly new, of course. My maternal grandfather did crossword puzzles in an effort to stave off "senile decay" (his term), and my dad's father added long columns of numbers every day for the same reason. But it's because of boomers that terms like "brain gyms" and "mental workouts" have entered the lexicon.
Chawla, who launched her business in 2005, says many of her clients are boomers. Often, they bring in their aging parents, then decide to sign themselves up for sessions, she says. "They're very willing to take proactive steps, and they're willing to spend money for something that is not necessarily a standard thing." They may be troubled by losing their keys or eyeglasses, forgetting to buy grocery items or the like. Chawla, 39, detests the term "senior moments" to describe memory lapses, which can happen at any age, she says. Part of the problem is that in today's society, we don't do things mindfully. "We become used to a daily routine, or take the same roads every day, and so we go from point A to point B, not realizing ... we start using a much lesser portion of our brain," she says. Regeneration An electronics and communication engineer, Chawla taught herself the techniques she now teaches to heal herself after suffering what she calls "personal brain-related challenges" some years ago. Basically, her "whole brain program" covers five areas: physical fitness (for example, "aerobics moves," then "brain games"), mental fitness, diet and nutrition ("There's a wonderful phrase, 'Whatever is heart-healthy is brain-healthy.' "), sleep and spirituality.
The "mental fitness" category is where most brain exercises come into play. Her arsenal includes jigsaw puzzles, picture puzzles, crosswords, mazes, video games (which she recommends be played with a friend or family member, rather than alone) -- and sudoku, a favorite tool. Although Chawla has offered group sessions at senior centers, and to corporations, she finds that clients prefer one-on-one sessions, which she tailors to the individual. Each lasts 45 minutes to an hour; five sessions (the minimum) cost $300. Over time, "their concentration improves. People start to notice. They pay more attention," says Chawla, who gives her clients homework. "Regularity is important. Just like going to the gym, you can't go once a month and expect bulging biceps." One of the biggest pieces of misinformation out there, she says, is that brain cells stop regenerating at a certain age. "The brain continues to renew itself, like any other part of the body, like any other cell, and it can hold vast amounts of information," Chawla says. "We take our brain for granted." She, on the other hand, calls it her "penthouse suite," which she aims to keep fully illuminated. "Any time there's more blood flowing and different parts of the brain are getting exercised, think of it as a light bulb going on," Chawla says. "You want it completely lit up."
