One of the majors social preoccupations before this demographic change is the promotion of the active aging and, therefore, the protection of a good mental health of the people majors. Because to live more years he means “more years of life heals� and, for it, the experts recommend to stay active and involved with the society, since according to he has verified himself to participate in positive activities he increases the well-being and he improves the mental health.

Good proof of it is the particular classes of mental gymnastics that Nuria Aparici Side, Valencian of 45 years, started up a year ago for people majors, with the purpose of to maintain the brain in optimal conditions of operation and for fighting against the forgetfulness. And it is not necessary to look for great and complicated exercises to secure excellent results. “Something as simple as to order books in house or to see the photographies of long ago can be a stimulus for the memory�, affirms Nuria.

“The idea was happened to me as a result of which mother diagnosed the disease to him of Alzheimer. To every it stimulated it day of all the forms that were happened to me. For example, as she is a religious woman, every Sunday we went to a different church and soon in house we studied the artistic styles and architectonic of each of them�, Nuria explains. Because of this their classes consist, through short excursions of cultural nature to museums, concerts, spectacles, exhibitions or conferences, among others, this mental trainer on approval puts the memory of the majors, with duties including.

One is customized factories to help to people with a slight mental deterioration, in which subjects of general culture are touched, always starting off of the likings, tastes and desires of the pupils. “In the classes I have to a clown retired of more than 80 years than it wants to order its professional trajectory, a university professor of History of the Art interested in the relation between creativity, education and aging, a patient of Parkinson that has interest by the radio programs…�.
And it is that what in principle began being a spontaneous training has turned into something professional, a work in which Nuria overturns all their effort and its experience like cultural agent. “They are not only cultural activities, I adapt to which is. What they prefer. If to a gentleman it likes the fishing, from that liking development all type of exercises related to that subject�, counts Nuria.

In this task they help also Tárrega Aurora daily him, to help specialist in Gerontology, and Rescuing Jose, professor of Physical education. “We have extended our services towards the familiar advising, as well as the organization and celebration of specific celebrations for people majors. In addition, we have incorporated new techniques, like the therapy with animal, essentially dogs, and the rishowterapia�, comments Nuria. The classes are place every in the street Them Garrigues of Valencia (soothes social), or in the homes, residences or centers by day of the users.

But can be delayed the aging of the brain?

“Yes, we can delay it by physiological routes and whenever certain habits and healthful styles of life are adopted�. That is to say, at least, which declares Francisco Blackberry, university professor of Human Physiology in the Medicine Faculty of the University of Alcala of Madrid (UCM) and author of the book Can be delayed the aging of the brain? published by Publishing Alliance, in which Blackberry offers the 12 keys us necessary to avoid that our cerebral faculties are reduced as we turned years.
 
“The work is a proposal to reach a successful mental retirement�, affirms Blackberry. And it is that recent studies have concluded that are possible to enlentecer and, therefore, to delay the deterioration of the intrinsic brain to the process of aging, adopting determined life styles. “To adopt, at the same time, the 12 keys that set out in this book would be an enormous and truly difficult challenge, but those that they adopt half will get to live beyond the 80 years in good physical state and mental�, it assures the university professor.

Also, the author ruins some “myths�, like thinking that our longevity depends if our parents and grandparents have lived many or few years, when the certain thing is that the genetics affects only a 25 percent, whereas the 75 percent depends on the habits that we adopted in our life; or that the cerebral aging takes place by the death of neurons, when what it happens it really is that the connections among them become. Between the keys: to eat little and well, to avoid psychological stress, not to smoke and to make exercise physical as as much mental.

Practical exerciseses to activate the mind

• It reads an article daily or a fragment of a book aloud and soon tries to write everything what remembers of the same.
• It solves mathematical problems or it does crucigramas or puzzles.
• It remembers festivals important and familiar dates of birthday or other events to facilitate the temporary direction.
• It uses external aid of memory: agendas, calendars, reminders, notes, clocks, etc.
• It takes advantage of the daily tasks to exercise the linguistic capacities (to name foods that are eating, utensils that is using, why they serve, it bought where them…).
• It identifies all the sounds of the place where one is.
• Hand throws of the old photos to remember histories of the past.
• It realizes activities with the closed eyes and explores objects and textures.
• It uses the nondominant hand for the accomplishment of habitual tasks (to take the control of the television, telephone, to wash the teeth, etc.).
• It repeats and to memorize the numerical series, the stations of the year, the months, phrases, words…
• It describes to images or situations of the daily life, objects, etc.
• It writes summaries of the news of the press or programs of television.
• It realizes creative activities: seam, drawing, manualidades, modelaje, maquetismo.

The book of the memory

One is a full album of memories, where the children do of interviewers and pick up the experiences of their grandparents, protagonists of the book, at the same time as the historical landmarks are reviewed, social, political and cultural of the country in last the six decades. This work comprises of the Somosmemoria project, of the Somoslibros publishing house, in which the Foundation Pasqual Maragall also collaborates.