Some things come naturally to the human brain, everyday-things that a healthy person does not have to think about.
But what if one day we were to suddenly forget who we were, or what we were talking about five minutes ago?
This happens to many people around the world as they get older and it is a growing problem. Alzheimer's disease is one of the world's most progressive diseases and it is without a cure.
Just as a work-out can develop our body muscles, mental exercise can strengthen our brains. Recent studies and discoveries have lead to the conclusion that mental stimulation, or exerting our brains in various intellectual ways, may improve our memory performance, protect our brains from future decline and could even lead to new brain cell growth.
Doing crossword puzzles, solving brainteasers, playing Sudoku or even watching
Jeopardy are forms of mental aerobic exercises.
Just like picking a fitness program to suit your physical condition, you need to select the right level of mental challenge so you will not lose interest or get frustrated. The purpose is to train within the limit of not straining our brains and have fun at the same time.
Many well-known companies have been producing some of these new brain games.
Like many retirees, Isamu Shishido, an immigrant from Japan, sometimes forgets names and even his own telephone number. But now the 67-year-old says he has found a product that could sharpen his thinking: the new Brain Training game from Nintendo.
"I don't want to end up some crazy old man," Shishido explained. "I want to play a little everyday before going to bed."
Brain Training puts players on a daily regimen of number games, word puzzles and reading exercises designed to get the brain going. It also lets players test their intelligence levels through IQ-type quizzes, saving the results so progress can be tracked or compared with others.
Their bodies weakened by age and disease, older people are reliving activities of their youth, such as bowling, tennis, golf and even boxing as a growing number of facilities serving the elderly start using the Nintendo Wii video game as a form of exercise and therapy.
The Wii, which requires players to use physical gestures, such as arm waving to control movement on a video screen, is finding a place in nursing homes, assisted-living facilities and even rehabilitation hospitals nationwide.
Video games aren't just for the couch potatoes anymore. They are helping the elderly with their thinking skills and even their daily exercises and no one can say no to that.