Seniors, their families and caregivers can learn about “Total Brain Fitness” and the new Medicare drug benefit at two lectures scheduled Oct. 11 at the Los Altos Senior Center.

Social worker Susan Diamond will offer tips to keep the brain healthy and active in the Senior Health Chat 10:30 a.m. to noon. She will cover nutrition for the brain, mental aerobic workouts, managing stress and depression and “laughing yoga.”

That evening from 7-8:30, a speaker from the Council on Aging will explain the prescription drug rule changes taking effect soon for Medicare.

The session is aimed at family and caregivers, but anyone may attend.

There is no charge for either talk. Enrollment begins Nov. 15 and ends May 15 for the new Medicare drug benefit that may help pay for some senior prescriptions. It is a complex system that seniors will have to learn about to decide whether to enroll, according to Judith Pruess-Mellow, who heads Senior New Ways, one of the non-profits sponsoring the workshop.

The plan provides no relief to those whose annual drug cost is less than $250. For the range, $250 to $2,250, the plan provides quite a bit of coverage, Pruess-Mellow said.

If prescription costs are $2,250 to $5,100, what she calls “the doughnut hole” in the plan, then seniors pay 100 percent of their costs.

“The government was trying to figure out how to pay for this plan, so they have this doughnut hole,” she said. “It’s designed to keep doctors from over-prescribing drugs.”

The lectures are sponsored by the senior center, New Ways and the Community Services Agency.

For more information, call the senior center at 947-2797.