Health

Tuesday, May 8 2012

Mental stimulation.- A team of neuropsychologists from the Rush University of Chicago, in the United States, has developed a research which revealed that mental stimulation can reduce the risk and symptoms of dementia but not prevent the disease.

The study, led by Professor Robert Wilson, has been developed with the collaboration of a group of patients diagnosed with dementia who were mentally stimulated through reading, challenging games, crosswords, television watching and cultural visits.

Experts reached the conclusions that regular mental stimulation activities can slow down the symptoms of dementia while stimulating cognitive functioning. However, mental stimulation does not seem to work with Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, when it comes down to Alzheimer’s disease, these types of activities are linked to a more rapid decline of cognitive functioning.

The findings have been reported in the magazine “Neurology”