Brain Gym and Mild Cognitive Impairment Among Seniors

Dr. Elsa LEE Sau Ha (Hong Kong)
October, 2009

Bing Sir is 62 years old now. He was a taxi driver before retirement. When he was 56, his memory and concentration started to drop. At times, he would forget the directions or customer’s destination. Thus, he decided to retire. He regretted to tell us that unfortunately his cognitive ability also retired with his work. More and more strange incidents related to his memory happened. For example, he could not find his eye glasses or watch after bath. The more he became confused, the more difficult it was for him to find his lost items.

In December, 2008, with the encouragement of a social worker of the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Kei Oi Neighborhood Centre for the Elderly, Bing Sir received a cognitive assessment. He was found to have the tendency to be suffering from Mild Cognitive Impairment. Then, he had participated in a Brain Gym� group with 11 members and practiced Brain Gym� frequently in the group. Bing sir said that he found himself to have significant cognitive and emotional improvement. Sometimes, he would still loose his eye glasses. Nevertheless, he could keep calm and could recall and go back to the places where he had been in the last 30 minutes. He could find his lost items more easily. He thought that his concentration and organization ability was also enhanced.