Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/study-shows-mental-exercises-slow-memory-loss Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Transcript A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association showed the benefits of a workout regimen for the brain. NewsHour health correspondent Susan Dentzer reports on the findings. Read the Full Transcript Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors. GWEN IFILL: Now, maintaining your mental muscle. A study out in today's Journal of the American Medical Association finds that there may be such a thing as a workout for your brain.The study showed mental exercises could help seniors' slow some of the memory decline that comes with aging. Our health correspondent, Susan Dentzer, is here with the details.OK, Susan, we've all been through this. We can't find the keys. We don't remember the name of the person we just met. Do these studies show us that there's a way to counteract some of that? SUSAN DENTZER, NewsHour Health Correspondent: Yes, indeed, Gwen. They offer at least some evidence that you can halt that normal decline.Most people feel that they get — as they get into their 60s, 70s, 80s, that they get rusty in their thinking skills. Part of it is memory. It's also reasoning. If you have a bottle of pills that says, "Take every other day," can you figure out which days to take them on?How quickly can you process information? If you're driving and you see a sign that says, "Detour," how quickly can you integrate that into what you need to do next? All of us will get rusty as our age increases, so the question is: Can you do something behaviorally that counteracts that? And the study does indeed offer evidence that you can.