Can you get your mind working more efficiently in
spite of age? Read this extract from
Mike Snider’s article, published
in USA Today newspaper. Start reading carefully as you will have to do an activity after reading it.
MIND GAMES DO YOU GOOD
1
Video game makers usually find themselves marketing to a young audience when
they launch a new product. But with video games coming out that aim to help baby
boomers with their aging brains, the marketing game plan may be changing.
2
'Brain Age' is the first of a planned series of
brain games from Nintendo. It includes word and number puzzles,
connect-the-dots exercises and other challenges.
3
Most of the activities are timed. When the
player is finished, the game issues a "brain age" that is tracked on
a graph to show progress over the weeks and months the brain-exercise
regimen is completed. The goal is for the brain age to be at least
equal to or below the player's actual age.
4
The game taps into a growing body of medical research suggesting that brain-teasers and problem-solving games can improve memory and brain function in older
people, even those with dementia. Interest in brain exercise could revolutionize
the video game industry, says Nintendo of America's Perrin Kaplan. "It's kind of
already starting," she says.
5
Meanwhile, researchers are attempting to quantify what effects games could have
on aging. The Alzheimer's Association recommends puzzles as therapy because some
studies have suggested they might improve memory, attention and problem solving
while staving off mental decline and, perhaps, reducing the risk of Alzheimer's
disease.
6
Studies of patients with Alzheimer's, dementia or attention deficit disorder
have found that those who play games have better speech and brain function. "If
we could do this with video games, what will that mean as far as turning the
corner with dementia disorders?" asks Kathleen Hall, founder of The Stress
Institute in Clarkesville, Ga. Beyond stress reduction, these games amount to
the type of "brain food" that can combat loss of memory and brain function, Hall
says. "Playing online games can be a new and effective approach for getting
brain food," she says, "and this fits seamlessly into the digital lifestyle so
many of us lead."
ACTIVITY 309:
Now, read again the article carefully and find the
words which express the explanations below. Then
check your answers.
1.
members of the larger than expected generation
in
the United States born shortly after World War II (PARAGRAPH 1):
2.
demand or stimulating situations (PARAGRAPH
2):
3.
clocked, regularly spaced in time (PARAGRAPH
3):
4.
objective, end (PARAGRAPH 3):
5.
problems difficult to solve (PARAGRAPH 4):
6.
change radically (PARAGRAPH 4):
7.
organic process of growing older (PARAGRAPH
5):
8.
avoid, prevent from happening (PARAGRAPH 5):
9.
fight against (PARAGRAPH 6):
10.
with consistence and coherence (PARAGRAPH
6):
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