In a cheery room in Cockeysville, two dozen people sit with their heads down, focused on the papers in front of them. The only sound is the scratching of pencils on paper.

The sight triggers memories of school days, but this is no group of middle schoolers eking their way through a math class pop quiz. It's the Brain Aerobics class at Broadmead Senior Living Community.

Once a week, speech pathologist Chuck Warnke leads the class through a variety of mental activities, including riddles, word games and history puzzles one activity challenged class members to remember the prices of products, from a gallon of milk to a pair of women's leather boots, from 1972.

Like regular aerobics, Brain Aerobics is all about working out. "It's a set of exercises that engage as many different parts of the brain as possible," explains Warnke, who launched the Broadmead class about four years ago.

As the U.S. population ages, brain health is an increasingly hot topic. According to the Alzheimer's Association, more than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's disease that includes 1 in 8 older Americans.

"Three-quarters of people over 80 don't have memory problems at all," says Dr. Michael Ankrom, a geriatrician at GBMC Greater Gilchrist. "But it's an understandable fear. None of us want to not be in control of our environment and that's essentially what dementia does."

To stay as mentally fit as possible, Ankrom recommends that his patients stay physically fit, get enough sleep, stay hydrated and engage in mental activities like Brain Aerobics.

"We often think of the brain like we think of muscles use it or lose it," says Ankrom. "That's not totally true, but we do get foggy. Like with math if you don't use it every day, it's harder to do."

The best brain-stimulating activities are enjoyable and social, say Warnke and Ankrom.

Warnke points out that while solitary activities (like crossword puzzles or reading) are valuable, they are not as mentally challenging as activities that force interaction with others, or that jar people out of their everyday routines.

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Senior centers turn to brain aerobics classes