In September, people worldwide will participate in World Alzheimer’s Month. This year’s theme is dementia, which currently affects approximately 5.3 million Americans, and that number is expected to triple to 15 million by 2050. There are about 37,000 families in Maine who are affected by Alzheimer’s or a related dementia, according to the Maine chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association. At Scarborough Terrace Assisted Living, Ginger Lynds, life enrichment director, is already taking action. Through customized brain fitness programs, she challenges the cognitive skills of the residents at Scarborough Terrace.

“After talking with the residents and hearing about their daily struggles and frustrations because of memory loss, I wanted to do something to help them,” said Lynds.“The residents are really excited about the program which we hope stretches their minds and counters the progressive damage to the brain.”

The brain is composed of around 1 billion to 1 trillion neurons, which are cells that use electrical signals to transmit information to other nerve cells, glands, or muscle cells. Part of the natural aging process involves certain amounts of brain neurons dying. However, those with memory loss experience a greater loss of these brain neurons, resulting in changes in thoughts, senses, memories and feelings. Scientists now believe that “exercising” the brain with challenging, novel-enriched activities can grow new neurons.

“Each class starts out with a greeting exercise and a little bit of education about the brain and how it works,” said Lynds. “Then we get the body ready with deep breathing and muscle relaxation to get the residents focused and calm. After their minds and bodies are prepared, we begin easy mental warm-ups like math or counting. At this point we introduce brain exercises that involve a physical aspect.”

The brain exercises come from multiple categories that work specific areas of the brain. These include body orientation, motor function and coordination, sensory, recognition, executive functioning, memory, language and communication and more. The exercises can be adapted for each resident according to their cognitive levels and are meant to be challenging and not frustrating.

“I am so glad our residents are able to participate in these structured classes that help exercise their minds,” said Terry Huntley, RN, executive director at Scarborough Terrace Assisted Living. “It is important for the entire Scarborough community to realize how common dementia is. Our hope is that seniors will be inspired by our residents to stimulate their brains in order to help prevent the on-set of this disease.”