Researchers in Ireland have found that brain exercises in the form of rote memorization of poems, articles, and short stories leads to memory improvement.

The study was done on healthy adults aged between 55 and 70. They underwent six weeks of intensive brain exercises involving rote memorization of a newspaper articles or poems of 500 words, followed by six weeks of rest.

Interestingly, the improvement was not seen immediately. When the study participants were tested 6 weeks later, however, a clear improvement in verbal and episodic memory was noted.

Furthermore, changes were actually detected in the hippocampus via high tech brain scans called Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy (MRS).

Dr. Richard Roche, a co-author of the study from the Department of Psychology at National University of Ireland in Maynooth:

The brain is like a muscle that should be exercised through the retirement years as a defense against dementia, cognitive lapses and memory failure

You can read more about the rote memory training study here. For an earlier smartkit article that discusses how brain training exercises can improve memory and cognitive function, click here.

For computer software that can enhance cognitive function, check out this review of  Mindfit  

[Reference: McNulty, J,. Paul Brennan, M.D., Colin P. Doherty, M.D., D. McMackin, M.D., S. Sukumaran, M.D., I.H. Robertson, Ph.D., M.A. Mangaoang, Ph.D., S.M. O'Mara, D.Phil., Sinead L. Mullally, Ph.D., J. Hayden, B.A., J. Prendergast, B.Sc., and M. Fitzsimons, Ph.D.. The Identification of Neurometabolic Sequelae Post-learning Using Proton Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy. Presented November 26 at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA)]

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