Just two hours a day spent keeping the mind and body busy is as effective at warding¹ off dementia as drug treatment, research reveals.

Simple activities such as gardening, doing crosswords² or sudoku, making snacks and singing helps keep the brain healthy, and even slow the course of dementia in sufferers already diagnosed with the condition.

It confirms longstanding theories that keeping the brain active helps keep it healthy.

Researchers in Bavaria trialled a two-hour therapy session, called MAKS, in nursing homes for six days a week for a year.

Sessions began with a 10-minute “spiritual” introduction, in which the 98 participants discussed topics such as “happiness”， or sang a song or hymn³.

They included gentle exercise, such as bowling⁴ or croquet, half an hour of solving puzzles in groups and 40 minutes of everyday activities such as preparing a snack, simple gardening work or doing woodwork, as well as uplifting activities such as singing.

The impact was “at least as good as” treatment with cholinesterase inhibitors, typically prescribed to treat dementia, study author Professor Elmar Graessel, from the Friedrich-Alexander University in Erlangen, said.

据英国《每日邮报》12月1日报道，一项研究显示，每天两小时的身心忙碌能有效避免麻醉药品引起的痴呆症。

一些简单的活动，如园艺工作、玩填字游戏或九宫格游戏、做小吃以及唱歌能帮助大脑保持健康，甚至能减缓痴呆确诊病人的病情恶化。

该研究证实了一个长期理论——让大脑保持活跃有利于身体健康。

德国巴伐利亚州的研究人员用一年时间在养老院进行了一项名为MAKS的心理辅导实验课，课程每周6天，每节课2小时。

课程开始时要进行10分钟的“心灵”热身课。有98位听课者会在这一阶段讨论如“幸福”一类的话题，或是唱一首歌或赞美诗。

课程内容包括如打保龄球或门球一类的温和运动，半小时的解谜游戏和40分钟的每日活动，如做一道小吃、简单的园艺工作或木工活。课程还包括一些如唱歌一类的令人振奋的活动。

来自德国埃朗根市弗里德里希-亚历山大大学的教授艾尔玛-格兰赛尔是该项研究的主创者。他说：“该课程的作用至少和胆碱脂酸抑制剂(一种治疗痴呆的典型指定药物)的治疗效果一样好。”