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Published on Leave a comment on Lifestyle Changes That Benefit the Aging Brain

As people age, they frequently start wondering what they can do to prevent memory and thinking problems, and especially dementia. The good news is that several large studies found that there are a number of lifestyle changes that one can do to have a healthier (memory! thinking!) brain in later years. Even if you are already in your 60s and 70s.

The evidence points to diet (e.g., Mediterranean style diet, ), exercise, and socializing being all important for brain health. In fact, it can result in keeping brains several years "younger" than in those with unhealthy lifestyles. Also, studies find that challenging your brain by learning something new, such as learning a new language or musical instrument or online cognitive training, is beneficial for the brain.

Adopting a lifestyle that promotes brain health is so very important, because it is NORMAL that as we age, there are brain changes, including brain shrinkage (volume of the brain). Therefore you want to slow down or delay these age related changes as much as possible. Researchers feel that adopting these lifestyle changes are so effective that they should be medically prescribed.

Excerpts from NPR: Trying to keep your brain young? A big new study finds these lifestyle changes help

Scientists have unveiled the strongest evidence yet that a combination of diet, exercise and brain training can improve thinking and memory in older Americans.

A study of more than 2,100 sedentary people in their 60s and 70s found that those who spent two years on the intensive regimen not only improved their mental abilities but appeared to reduce the usual declines associated with aging. ...continue reading "Lifestyle Changes That Benefit the Aging Brain"

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People are living longer these days, but the desire is to age with mental faculties intact. Thus it is great to find research that looks at how one can increase the odds of not having cognitive problems or dementia in old age.

The research here suggests several things one can do, starting in middle-age, that may help in delaying thinking and memory problems: participating in arts, crafts, socializing, and computer activities. The lead researcher Dr. Roberts said: "The key point we want to get across is that you need to start these activities early"....if you start these activities earlier, perhaps in your 20s, "keep doing them throughout your life; don't stop as you get older."

Note that: Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is an intermediate stage between the expected cognitive decline of normal aging and the more serious decline of dementia. It can involve problems with memory, language, thinking and judgment that are greater than normal age-related changes. From Medical Xpress:

Can arts, crafts and computer use preserve your memory?

People who participate in arts and craft activities and who socialize in middle and old age may delay the development in very old age of the thinking and memory problems that often lead to dementia, according to a new study published in the April 8, 2015, online issue of Neurology.

People age 85 and older make up the fastest growing age group in the United States and worldwide."As millions of older US adults are reaching the age where they may experience these memory and thinking problem called Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI), it is important we look to find lifestyle changes that may stave off the condition," said study author Rosebud Roberts, MB, ChB, MS, of Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. and a member of the American Academy of Neurology. "Our study supports the idea that engaging the mind may protect neurons, or the building blocks of the brain, from dying, stimulate growth of new neurons, or may help recruit new neurons to maintain cognitive activities in old age."

The study involved 256 people with an average age of 87 who were free of memory and thinking problems at the start of the study. The participants reported their participation in arts, such as painting, drawing and sculpting; crafts, like woodworking, pottery, ceramics, quilting, quilting and sewing; social activities, such as going to the theater, movies, concerts, socializing with friends, book clubs, Bible study and travel; and computer activities such as using the Internet, computer games, conducting web searches and online purchases.

After an average of four years, 121 people developed mild cognitive impairment. Participants who engaged in arts in both middle and old age were 73 percent less likely to develop MCI than those who did not report engaging in artistic activities. Those who crafted in middle and old age were 45 percent less likely to develop MCI and people who socialized in middle and old age were 55 percent less likely to develop MCI compared to those who did not engage in like activities. Computer use in later life was associated with a 53 percent reduced risk of MCI.

On the other hand, risk factors such as having the APOE gene, having high blood pressure in middle age, depression and risk factors related to blood vessels increased the risk of developing MCI.