Cathleen Allison/Nevada Appeal Bob Crowder and Jim Mathis play pinochle at the Carson City Senior Citizens Center recently. Health officials recommend a variety of games, activities and exercises to keep an aging brain healthy.
Don't even begin to think a senior center is full of retired older folks who have nothing better to do than gripe about "kids these days," the price of gas or politics.
Who and what you find may just surprise you.
With activities, games, exercise and other classes offered Monday through Friday at the Carson City Senior Citizens Center, more seniors are finding participation has its benefits, physically and mentally.
"The brain is a very dynamic area of the body," said Mary E. Sanders, Ph.D., adjunct professor at the School of Public Health, University of Nevada Reno.
"You need to stimulate the brain with new activities, you can't put it on recess. Get the brain going with new challenges - like pingpong. Every play is different."
From 9:30 a.m.-noon every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, the action is furious in the game room.
"I'm going for a murderous serve," said Mildred Swiec, 79.
The small orange ball zips across the table and she scores.
In 2006, Swiec was diagnosed with colon cancer. She underwent successful surgery and chemotherapy, which made her very ill and she chose to stop. Swiec said she is in remission.
"I think this activity helps," Swiec said. "I'm happy where I'm at."
Begun by Kay Ward, 68, the pingpong group is open to anyone age 50-older - just like other activities at the center - who want to have fun.
"We welcome anyone," Ward said. "For those who used to play but haven't in a while, we'll gentle them along."
As the plastic orbs sailed across each of the two tables in the room, players teased each other.
"This is a great way to work on your breathing," Rumple said. "Also your legs and coordination. This is good competition, and we always try to win."
"With pingpong, the player develops flexibility, which is important for activities like driving a car," Sanders said. "Those strong ankles in pingpong have to depress the brake pedal in the car."
Janice McIntosh, director of the center, said most of the programs and activities offered at the center are by request.
"We have an interest book at our reception desk for people to propose ideas to us," she said. "It works out really well.
"It's wonderful to see the seniors engaged in life. It makes you smile. It's hard to keep up with some of the people here."
Karen Kopera-Frye, Ph.D., associate professor in human development and family studies at UNR said normal cognitive age-related changes affect short-term memory - 90 seconds or less.
"What we find is things that are personal memories, stories since childhood seem intact," she said. "The brain is a muscle. We have to exercise it the same as legs to walk and be mobile.
"Seniors must find something to do while sitting down. Stretch or do chair exercises. Healthy seniors get 30 minutes or more of activity three or more days a week. The mind-body connection is important. Get the blood flowing to get oxygen to the brain."
Kopera-Frye said social interaction also is important as well as a positive attitude.
"Being isolated is not a good thing," she said. "The key is attitude and social interaction. How you look at it may predict how well you are able to do."
The gentlemen playing pinochle may be in their 70s and 80s, but "turning tricks" on the table is a good thing.
"We've been playing for 13 years," said Jim Mathis, 74. "The game makes you think of numbers and strategy.
"You have to make your bid, or meld."
As Mathis, John Butler, 75, and Bob Crowder, 85, continued their game, time provides the opportunity to catch up on politics, business and industry and what each other are doing. The men also welcome newcomers to learn the game.
"We also hear a lot of war stories," Mathis said. "Bob has a lot of those."
"The game is real easy to pick up," Butler added. "You can do it in no time. You just have to have a little bit of card sense."
"You darn right I know this helps," said Shirley Stagg, playing Scrabble at another table. "When you get up in years, you need it."
• Contact Rhonda Costa-Landers at rcosta-landers@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1223.
Be a better thinker
"People should begin playing games at age 50, because research shows the younger you are, the more you benefit. If you want to develop skills to be a better thinker when you're older, then start younger."
• Brain's reaction: The reaction of "Huh," when asked a question, often represents a delay in the person's processing. An exercise to improve speed of processing is serial subtraction. Start at the number 99 and keep subtracting seven until you get to zero.
• Community-based activities that help stimulate the brain include volunteering, participating in a book club, learning a new language, playing an instrument, pingpong, jigsaw puzzles and doing creative projects.
• At any age, the brain has the ability to revise its processing machinery - for better or for worse - in response to stimuli and activities. Just as the brain can deteriorate, it can also grow.
• What causes degraded brain function? Disuse, noisy processing and negative learning (disengaging from conversation).
• The more activity, the better the chance of reversing normal age-related cognitive decline that can lead to a greatly improved quality of life - the ultimate goal.
- Source: Robin Lea West, Ph.D., professor and director of the Everyday Memory Clinic at University of Florida at Gainesville and Michael M. Merzenich, Ph.D. "Change Minds for the Better"
Activities available at
area centers
• Carson City Senior Citizens Center (883-0703)
Casual canasta, pinochle, cribbage, Bunco, pingpong, Scrabble, bingo, billiards
• Dayton Senior Center (246-6210)
Bingo and game day, billiards
• Douglas County Senior Center (783-6455)
Bingo
• Silver Springs Senior Center (577-5014)
Poker, bingo, billiards
• Fernley Senior Center (575-3370)
Bingo, cards, poker, billiards