Brain Fitness Exercises
Senior Citizens and Driving Skills

Are Brain Exercises an Answer to
Senior Safety

Brain fitness exercises have been scientifically validated to improve senior citizens driving skills. Automobile insurance companies are now acknowledging the benefits of incorporating brain fitness exercises to improve senior citizens and driving skills.

There are physical changes that occur as we age and these changes affect our ability to drive. Read more on seniors driving here.

We take our ability to drive for granted. Driving involves many complex thinking skills as well as many physical abilities. Driving is a complex skill that requires multitasking abilities. According to research statistics it actually takes 3 years for a driver to incorporate all the skills and become a safe driver.

When driving we are constantly reacting to speeds and distance. We must be aware of what is going on around us. While we are driving we are constantly looking at what is in front of us, what is happening on the sides of our car as we switch lanes or merge into traffic. We must also be aware of what is behind us as well.

While we are driving, we are also paying attention to road signs, traffic lights and other sounds around us. We are doing all this while we are planning how to get to our destination. All this processing in our brains must take place rapidly and our response must be quick as well.

The good news is that even as we age, we can improve our driving skills. Seniors citizens with good driving skills can improve driving safety. Incorporating a brain fitness program into your daily life can promote independence and a better quality of life. There are multiple cognitive (or thinking skills) that are required for driving safety.

Here are a few skills that we use when we drive:

• Perceptual speed
• Speed estimation
• Switching Attention
• Visual perception
• Short term memory
• Visual short term memory
• Spatial attention
• Time estimation
• Hand eye coordination
• Assessing distance
• Motor reaction time
• Concentration
• Auditory memory

Staying mentally fit is as important to maintaining independence and quality of life as physical exercise. It has been proven that challenging our brain, flexing our mental muscles, will stimulate brain cell growth and improve our brain fitness.