| "> | | | | lapses and what constitutes normal mental ageing and |
| | | | what is impending Alzheimer’s, Science cannot |
| Want to stay mentally fit as you age? Brain | | | | yet tell for sure. But there seems to be a distinct |
| specialists say that simple physical and mental | | | | difference. |
| exercise is the answer to stay mentally sharp as you | | | | A healthy brain is a bushy one. Branchlike tentacles |
| get older. | | | | extend from the ends of brain cells, enabling them to |
| When our memory is affected by the ageing process, | | | | communicate with each other. The more you learn, |
| some people’s brains compensate to stay | | | | the more those connections form. Alzheimer’s |
| sharp. Now, scientists want to find how those | | | | kills neurons, so the cells disappear along with |
| brains do that so that they can help everyone else | | | | connections their neighbours need. According to Dr |
| stay sharp. | | | | Carol Barnes of the University of Arizona, with normal |
| New research is showing that memory and other brain | | | | ageing, the cells do not die but their bushes can shrivel |
| functions decline even in otherwise healthy people as | | | | to skinny twigs. Cells that are less connected have a |
| they age, as anyone who habitually misplaces car | | | | harder time sending messages. Moreover, |
| keys have suspected. This is not Alzheimer’s | | | | Alzheimer’s seems to target first a different |
| disease but the process of wear and tear in the brains | | | | spot in the hippocampus, the brain’s memory |
| due to normal ageing. | | | | centre, from where ageing does. |
| If you are 65 years old today, chances are good that | | | | There are two fronts that we can fight back. |
| you will continue to live to 83 and beyond. A new | | | | Some brains are capable of withstanding a lot of |
| problem arises. How do you protect the brain from | | | | punishment from Alzheimer’s but the patients |
| the ravages of time? A very important question as the | | | | show little tell-tale signs of it’s symptoms. This |
| population greys and improvements in healthcare | | | | is known as cognitive reserve and autopsy |
| means people who are 50 today are expected to live | | | | studies have found between 20 and 40 percent of |
| for another 40 years. | | | | elders who displayed no confusion actually had brains |
| I don’t think we’ve recognised, as | | | | riddled with Alzheimer’s trademark plagues. |
| scientists or a society, (that) this is the front-and-center | | | | Brain scans show younger people tend to use |
| public health issue we face as a nation. Dr Denise | | | | different neural networks than older people when |
| Park, director of the University of Illinois’ Center | | | | performing the same task. Compensation is how the |
| for Healthy Minds, told fellow brain specialists | | | | brain adapts when old pathways can no longer |
| assembled by the United States government | | | | function, to reroute itself and use an alternative route. |
| recently. We need to understand how to defer | | | | Scientist agree that physical exercise is the best |
| normal cognitive ageing, the way we’ve | | | | proven remedy to stave off the ageing process. In |
| invested in fighting heart disease and cancer.. | | | | fact when 70-year olds started a walking programme |
| There are intriguing clues, gleaned from discoveries | | | | three days a week, and sophisticated scans showed |
| that some older people’s brains literally work | | | | their brains’ activity patterns started resembling |
| around ageing’s damage, making new | | | | those of younger people. |
| pathways when old ones disintegrates. | | | | It has also been shown that people with higher |
| It’s not just fanciful or pie-in-the-sky to try | | | | education, more challenging occupations and enriched |
| harnessing that ability, said Dr Richard Hodes, director | | | | social lives build more cognitive reserve than couch |
| of the National Institute on Aging, which organized the | | | | potatoes. This is what is known as the |
| meeting to seek advice on the most promising | | | | use-it-or-lose-it theory. |
| research. | | | | What about medication? Scientists are studying if an |
| On top of the list that scientist have found has work | | | | old blood pressure drug called guanfacine can work |
| for memory and mental sharpness is simple physical | | | | for children with attention deficit disorder. It works in |
| exercise. It appears to be as good for the brain as it | | | | the same brain region, the prefrontal cortex, where |
| is good for the body. Other options that have yielded | | | | elder brains forge new networks. If it works in a |
| promising results include brain-training games to | | | | six-year-old, we hope it will work in the elderly, said |
| medications that may keep brain networks better | | | | Yale University neurobiologist Amy Arnsten. |
| connected. | | | | But why wait for the results to be out, you can start |
| For older folks who worry about periodic memory | | | | training your brain today. |