Age and The Brain

Computer Tools and Games Keep Brain Sharp

Encouraging News

I find information like the following information, taken from the Society for Neuroscience website, and AARP, most encouraging.

I know that I spent a time last year fighting off some old, family of origin value about reaching 60 years old.

I was feeling sad, and implicit in all that internal dialogue about reaching this birthday of all the birthdays I have had, was the implication that I was no longer as functional and that I should begin to slow down and putter around the yard, and look for a Social Security check and grouse about the youngsters.

It was a struggle to remember all that I have going on, Chi Gong, a thriving business, learning how to build web sites, my little two year old daughter, my eight year old boy, who is developing an interest in baseball, my 42 year old wife and our life together, my work outs, my interest in alternative energy and housing, my involvement in innumerable deeply committed relationships, all of that was lost in this morose feeling of "old."

So I worked with those thoughts and found that doing Chi Gong was of particular benefit at this time, as I have moved through some pretty extraordinary physical tests, not like Shao Lin monks of Kung Fu fame, but pretty extraordinary for middle class, midwesterner.

Remembering that helped me to move back to an excitement about today, and a recognition of the changes brought by time. The value of love and gentleness came back to me. And I re-engaged.

From the Society on Neuroscience, Brain Briefing, July 2000;

Brain Plasticity, Language Processing and Reading

Many scientists once believed that as we aged the brain's networks cemented in place. But now an enormous amount of evidence uncovered in the past two decades finds that the brain never stops changing and adjusting. One line of research is showing that this flexibility can help maintain language processing even in the face of severe obstacles. Futhermore, some research suggests that special brain exercises can tap into the brain's adaptive capacities and help people overcome certain language and reading problems.

People who lose their eye-sight do not have to rely on audio novels to fulfill a book obsession. They can learn to read compositions in Braille, a writing composed of raised dots arranged in specific patterns, with their fingertips.

It's one of the benefits of having a plastic brain. That doesn't mean your brain is molded from a high-molecular-weight polymer similar to your toothbrush. It means that the brain is flexible. It compensates for obstacles. It adapts. It adjusts. Once, researchers believed that only young brains were plastic. They thought that the connections between the brain's neurons developed in the first few years of childhood. Then they became fixed and very hard to change. An enormous amount of animal and human data uncovered in the past two decades, however, confirms that the brain retains its plasticity throughout life.

One line of research provides evidence that older brains can adapt in order to overcome a number of barriers and aid language processing and reading. The new findings are leading to:

A better understanding of the many different ways that the brain can process language. Clearer ideas on how children and adults naturally can overcome language-processing obstacles. Insights into how strategies may reroute brain networks and help those with reading, speech or hearing disabilities. Ways to help second-language learners recognize new language sounds and to eliminate accents. An increasing number of studies detail how the brain naturally reorganizes to overcome language and reading obstacles. For example, one new experiment shows how young and old brain networks modify to handle a loss of sight and

Stay Sharp Longer

By Kelly Griffin, September & October 2005

Nine simple habits that can boost your brainpower

You can't stop Alzheimer's disease, but you may be able to delay its devastating effects. A mysterious capacity called neural reserve seems to protect a few lucky AD sufferers from having any symptoms at all. These people perform normally on cognitive tests and are thought to be free of the disease. But at autopsy they are discovered to have all the brain plaques and tangles of AD. Doctors say that neural reserve—a built-in redundancy of the machinery of the brain—allowed these people to continue thinking normally, even as the disease progressed.

Scientists argue over whether this surplus capacity is the result of extra neurons, extra connections, or some other factor. But they agree that it is good to have.

So how do you get this magical protection? Some of it comes from your genes. But new research suggests that there are things you can do to add to your neural reserve.

Regular exercise, social interaction, and a healthy diet are crucial. But so is doing familiar things in unfamiliar ways. Disrupting routines can stimulate nerve cells, enhance blood flow, and increase the production of chemicals called neurotrophins that protect those precious brain cells.

The number of opportunities to inject novelty into everyday tasks is limited only by your imagination. Here are a few suggestions to get you started:

1. Switch Sides Use your nondominant hand for routine activities such as brushing your teeth. Put the mouse on the other side of your computer. For an extra challenge, try buttoning your shirt one-handed. These changes recruit little-used connections in your brain.

2. Change the Scenery Rearranging a room is a good way to remap the visual and spatial networks in your brain. Or try rearranging the items in your kitchen cabinets or dresser drawers, or taking a new route to work. Even a simple change, like moving the wastepaper basket to a new spot, alters motor pathways in your brain.

3. Make Hand Signals Learning to spell using the manual alphabet will work out your motor and visual cortex at the same time. You can find illustrations of the 26 hand positions alongside the definition of "manual alphabet" in some dictionaries or online.

4. Do It Blindfolded Try familiar activities with your eyes closed. Sort coins using only your sense of touch. Savor a bowl of blueberries, focusing on your senses of smell and taste. Why blueberries? Because they contain compounds that bridge the communication gap between aging nerve cells. "Blueberries are the Dr. Phil for old neurons," says Tufts University neuroscientist James Joseph, Ph.D. "They get them talking to one another."

5. Puzzle It Out Crosswords are great for sharpening language skills, but working on your spatial intelligence with a jigsaw puzzle is more likely to activate new pathways in your brain. You don't have to do it all at once; try putting a few pieces in place a day.

6. Share Story Time Take turns reading aloud with a friend or loved one. Both reading out loud and listening promote the interaction of your brain's left and right hemispheres and activate little-used pathways. Reading silently activates a much smaller part of your mental real estate, as does watching TV together.

7. Catch a Whiff Smell is the only sense that connects directly to a part of the brain called the limbic system, which is involved in processing emotions and storing memories. That's why certain odors can make you feel nostalgic. Listening to music while burning a scented candle will build brain connections by combining two senses—hearing and smell—that don't ordinarily collaborate.

8. Report the News Describing things to others is an excellent way to improve your visual memory. Make it a goal to notice one new thing every day and then tell someone about it later. This will help you improve both attention and memory skills. It will also open your eyes to things you've never noticed before and give you the opportunity to share your discovery with another person.

9. Take a Walk Older adults who start a regular walking program improve significantly on tests of high-level "executive" functions such as planning, scheduling, and task coordination. Aerobic exercise raises levels of a chemical called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, which protects nerve cells from the damage caused by free radicals, boosts the number of connections between neurons, promotes the formation of new capillaries in the brain, and may even be involved in the construction of new neurons from adult stem cells. Studies that have combined strength training, such as lifting weights, with aerobic activity have yielded even greater improvement in cognitive function.

I know Amazon.com has some very interesting tools available which aid and abet the brain health strategies that the SNF folks and the AARP folks talk about in the above information.

I have been using tools like these for a long time in order to keep my brain focused and awake and able to pay attention. Check out the self-improvement store at Amazon.com

Good literature also helps keep the brain sharp, and so does supplemental retirement income....