You will find lots of information about physical exercise as well as mental exercise will help prevent Alzheimer’s.
If you search brain games and Alzheimer’s, you will find a lot of information. Many of which says that brain games and being mentally and socially active may help prevent Alzheimer’s. The Alzheimer’s Association has an “Stay Mentally Active” article.
Online brain games have appeared and becoming more popular — one of which is Lumosity with research behind it as found here.
Books such as The Brain Trust Program has some mental arithmetic type exercises that helps train the brain, and you can record your progress based on the memory tests and a trail making tests provided in the book.
While it is true that mental exercises and brain games and being socially active can help stave off Alzheimer’s by building more neural connections and a larger cognitive reserve, I think ultimately the root cause of Alzheimer’s is a hardware problem more than a software problem. What I mean is that it is the energy metabolism and cellular detoxification that has degraded rather than lack of mental stimulation.
So it is a good idea keep the neural cells as healthy as possible. The way to do this is physical exercise which boost BDNF production, adequate sleep to help with cellular detoxification, and supply it with health nutrition via a rich whole foods diet.
While I have tried Lumosity and the brain exercise in the Brain Trust Program, I’m going to certainly continue to do my cardio and weight training physical exercises. There are many studies that showed that people who walked more has less cognitive decline.
While both helps, I believe physical exercises are better than mental exercises in preventing Alzheimer’s.