Ohio state study finds that playing brain games before surgery helps improve recovery

COLUMBUS, Ohio – A new study by Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center and Ohio State University College of Medicine researchers finds that exercising the brain with “neurobics” before surgery may help prevent post-operative delirium. .

Essentially, your brain can be prepared for surgery, just like the body can, by keeping your mind active and energized, according to results published online in the journal JAMA Surgery.

To study the effects of neurobia in preventing delirium, the researchers gave 268 patients over the age of 60 an electronic tablet loaded with a brain game app. Patients were asked to play one hour of games a day in the days leading up to major surgery that required general anesthesia.

“Not all patients played the games as much as we asked, but those who played none saw benefits,” said Dr. Michelle Humeidan, associate professor of anesthesiology at Ohio State College of Medicine Wexner Medical Center and first author studies. “Patients who practiced neurobia were 40% less likely to experience postoperative delirium than those who did not, and the results improved the more hours they played.”

Electronic tablet-based preoperative cognitive exercise targeted memory, speed, attention, flexibility, and problem-solving functions. Those who played five to 10 hours reduced their risk by more than half, and those who played the prescribed 10 hours or more had a 61 percent reduction in delirium rates compared to the control group.

In recent years, doctors have embraced “pre-habilitation” for patients who have led to surgery, which can include exercise, a healthy diet, and checking for any chronic conditions. However, none of these interventions resolve postoperative delirium, a complication that is particularly common in older patients and causes confusion leading to longer hospital stays, slower recoveries, and even an increased risk of death.

“Our intervention reduced the risk of delirium in patients who were at least minimally compliant. Ideal activities, timing and effective dose for exercise-based cognitive interventions to reduce the risk and burden of postoperative delirium need further study, “said co-author Sergio Bergese, professor of anesthesiology and neurological surgery at Stony. Brook University, who was working at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center in 2015 when the study began.

Future research will explore exactly how brain games affect mechanisms in the brain and how much patients should practice neurobics to reap the full benefits.

“Using the app was ideal for this study because we could easily track how long and how often patients played,” said Humeidan, who is also an anesthetist at Ohio State Wexner Medical Center. “But things like reading the newspaper, doing crossword puzzles, or whatever you like to challenge your mind for an hour a day can improve your fitness and help prevent delirium too.”

This study also involved Ohio State researchers Joshua-Paolo C. Reyes, Christopher M. Nguyen, Elizabeth Sheridan, Alix Zuleta-Alarcon, Andrew Otey, and Mahmoud Abdel-Rasoul, along with Cory Roeth of Wright State University.