Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Fight Brain Decline Every Day

A recent study of 7,000 British government workers found that decline in brain function can occur as early as age 45. While the findings have some scientists calling for more research in the hope of treating decline when it first begins, one expert says the brain can be improved at any age. And this is particularly important considering that brain function peaks around age 30.

“At any age the brain is subject to improvement,” Dr. Michael Merzenich, professor emeritus from the University of California, San Francisco, and a longtime researcher of brain plasticity, tells Newsmax Health. “It’s plastic and you can improve your faculties at any age. But it’s more and more important that you do that to maintain yourself in the middle and toward the end of life.”

Once brain function peaks, it begins its decline as we continue to age, he says. Decline for women is a bit slower than it is for men because of hormonal differences, experts believe. But once women have gone through menopause, their cognitive decline begins catching up with that of men, and by age 65 it is about equal, Merzenich says.

Researchers previously regarded the brain as rather static, that its functionality and structure were capable of little more than deteriorating as we aged, he explains.

“But we now know that that’s completely incorrect,” he says. “We now know from research over the last 20 or 30 years that each time you acquire a new skill or a new ability, you’re actually changing the physical machinery of your brain. And that’s its plasticity.”

Merzenich, founding chief executive officer of the Scientific Learning Corporation and co-founder of Posit Science, has studied brain plasticity and learning for years. His companies have developed software programs that test and strengthen the brain and its visual, auditory, and cognitive functions — tools that create a sort of “brain gym” that he likens to a workout for the body.

“You can actually train the brain systematically to refine and strengthen its abilities, to speed up its processes, to make it operate more reliably by specific forms of intensive exercises,” he says.

The software programs, which have been clinically studied, work on distinct areas of memory and processing speed, and are designed to improve focus, thinking, and remembering.

In addition to these programs, the following everyday habits and activities — when done at a more conscious level — can help improve brain function including memory, processing, and perception, according to Merzenich.

Reading

Reading is important because it helps us acquire information, he says. “Having a strong and active mature life is to continue to grow with the information you have at hand. You need to load your reference library continuously.”

Taking a walk and looking around

Absorb your environment as you stroll — leave the headphones and cellphone at home and take in all the details of your surroundings, he says. When you return home, reconstruct in detail the route and scenery in your head. Merzenich says he does this forward and backwards on a daily basis. “That form of (mental) exercise is incredibly important because it keeps alive brain machinery that we know specifically deteriorates in older age to contribute to the onset of Alzheimer’s disease.”

Learning something new

What you choose to do, whether it’s taking up pottery or ping-pong, should be physically and cognitively challenging and really matter to you. “The brain is a learning machine and basically it needs new learning,” he says.

Becoming fully engaged

No matter what you are doing, be present and look for the surprises, he says. Practice what the meditators call mindfulness. Doing this exercises the way the brain takes in information in detail, a function that deteriorates with age. “People now are sleepwalking across the landscape,” he observes. “People are to a large extent drinking in every detail they see on their high-definition TV.”

Being regularly social

Daily social activity is important not only to stave off loneliness but to exercise the “very substantial part of the brain dedicated to social cognition,” he says. And being involved in a social activity that’s meaningful is particularly valuable. “It’s been demonstrated over and over again to be good for your brain health.”

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