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By Janice Kleinschmidt
 PHOTOGRAPHY BY TAYLOR SHERRILL |
People spend hours sculpting their bodies at gyms, but how much do they do to keep the gray (and white) matter between their ears in good shape? Brain fitness helps keep neural networks firing so you can remember where you put your car keys when you’re 100 (even if they won’t let you drive then).
Dr. Barry Gordon, who directs the Division of Cognitive Neurology/Neuro-psychology and The Memory Clinic at The Johns Hopkins University and is a founding member of the Mind/Brain Institute, says episodic memory (remembering events of specific times and places) begins to decline at the age of 18. Eeek. Who knew?
Fortunately, brain researchers claim we can take a number of steps to impact our brains’ abilities as we age. That includes not only memory, but also abstract thinking, reasoning, imagination, and — believe it or not — the ability to appreciate beauty.
“What we frequently call beauty involves understanding relationships and depth,” Gordon explains. “Keeping our brains active lets us plumb those levels.”
The concept is easy to understand in terms of appreciating a poem, but further holds true for gazing upon a vase a flowers — what Gordon refers to as “a visual poem.”
“You can also get people to appreciate things better if you stretch their minds,” he says. “If you took a drawing class, you would have a different perspective [on the vase]. You would notice shadows, light and line, depth and texture.”
Much like a fiber-optic relay system used for telephone communication, the brain sends electrical and chemical signals between nerve cells (neurons). Fibers emerging from the cell body (axons) form connections, or synapses, that allow neurotransmitters to cross gaps and latch onto the receptors of other neurons. Repetition of a thought or action causes the same circuit of synapses to fire, encoding the experience into memory.
The reason older people seem to have inferior episodic memories lies in the speed with which they can recall specifics. “It’s not because you can’t store it, but because you can’t write it down in your head fast enough,” Gordon says. “There’s a lot of evidence that people who are older in general can show as good a learning capacity as people who are younger, but you have to give them extra time.”
“People’s language functions are preserved very well,” agrees Dr. Guy McKhann, professor of neurology and neuroscience at The Johns Hopkins University. “On the other hand, one of the things that does not persist as well is the ability to multitask. … In a sense, the flexibility of our brain slows down as we get older.” The answer, he says, lies in concentrating on one thing at a time. The same goes for learning. Older people may need to employ tricks such as writing things down, repeating them, visualizing them, and making associations with things they already know. “But once you get them into your memory system, you retain them just as much as someone younger,” McKhann says.
In fact, Gordon notes, older people actually have stronger memories because they have a richer set of connections. “Also, the older you are, the more experience you have — the more you have seen the same thing — and then more things run together,” he says. The situ-ation is similar to looking up a word in Webster’s Abridged Dictionary or looking up the same word in Oxford’s English Dictionary. It may take longer to access the definition, but it will
be deeper.
A few years ago, Dr. Lawrence Katz of Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., coined the term “neurobics” to describe a scientifically based brain exercise program to fend off the effects of mental aging. To be neurobic, an exercise must do one or more of the following:
* Involve at least one of the five senses in a new way or combine senses in unexpected ways. For example, close your eyes and rely on your sense of touch and hearing to pour a glass of water.
*Engage your attention. Do something unusual, fun, or surprising. For example, if you spend most Saturdays around the house, visit art galleries or a museum, go for a hike, or take the family on a picnic.
* Break routine. Take a different route to work or try a new recipe with ingredients you don’t normally use. Instead of watching television, read a book; play a game (especially complex games like chess or bridge or word games like Scrabble); work on a crossword, Sudoku, or jigsaw puzzle; learn a foreign language or other skill that requires concentration.
Social contacts also are important. The more contact we have with others, the better we may be at retaining mental sharpness. Since people by nature are unpredictable, activities that engage us with other humans are an excellent way to give our brains a workout.
However, don’t stop exercising at the neck. Physical activity, particularly aerobics, increases levels of certain chemicals in the brain that encourage nerve cells to grow. It also alleviates stress, elevates mood and energy levels, and enhances general health — all of which in turn contribute to a better-functioning brain.
Gordon and McKhann agree that maintaining good physical health, particularly aerobic fitness, is vital to mental fitness.
Gordon further points out that people need to fine-tune visual and hearing problems; someone with an apparent memory problem, for example, simply may not be hearing everything and may just need a hearing aid. And both doctors say keeping the mind active is key.
Perhaps the most critical aspect to mentally aging well, McKhann says, is “that you still see yourself as having a role to play, though it may be a different role than when you were younger.”
Food for Thought
Blueberries could be called the perfect brain food. Multiple scientific studies have shown that this little fruit packs a powerful punch with compounds that boost neuron signals and protect the brain from free radicals.
In a University of Barcelona study, scientists fed lab rats blueberries. After eight weeks, they noted a reversal in age-related declines in the rats’ ability to find their way through a maze. In a follow-up study, they determined that polyphenols in blueberries localize in brain regions important to learning and memory.
Health24 — a health information provider whose parent company, Media 24, publishes Men’s Health, Shape, and other lifestyle magazines — recommends eating 30 blueberries (65 grams) daily to reap the most benefits.
While blueberries boost memory, strawberries have proven beneficial for cognitive functions; and, as rats again have shown, spinach and spirulina aid memory and learning.
From the Bookshelf
Brain Builders!: A Lifelong Guide to Sharper Thinking, Better Memory, and an Age-Proof Mind by Richard Leviton (Prentice Hall Press, 1995)
Seven-step program to age-proof your brain, emphasizing the importance of diet, exercise, and music to the thought process.
Exercises for the Whole Brain by Allen Bragdon (Walker & Co., 2004)
Mental exercises from the New York Times syndicated column “Playspace.” 60 brain-awakening exercises to stimulate a different combination of brain circuits.
Keep Your Brain Alive by Lawrence Katz and Manning Rubin (Workman Publishing Co., 1998)
Eighty-three neurobic exercises that help stimulate the production of nutrients that grow brain cells.
The Memory Bible: An Innovative Strategy for Keeping Your Brain Young by Gary Small (Hyperion, 2003)
Tips for brain fitness; puzzles, quizzes, and other techniques to enhance memory.
Intelligent Memory: Improve Your Memory No Matter What Your Age by Barry Gordon (Penguin, 2004)
Exercises focusing on paying better attention, expanding conscious memory, and learning to store more memories.
The Memory Workbook: Breakthrough Techniques to Exercise Your Brain and Improve Your Memory by Douglas J. Mason (New Harbinger Publications, 2001)
How to rewire mental habits that interfere with memory; how to max-imize receptiveness of your senses; information on medications, memory disorders, and resources.
Mental Gymnastics
1. Sort coins or select the right house or car key using your sense of touch
rather than sight.
2. Break patterns by occasionally rearranging items you use on a regular basis.
3. Take a different route to work, the grocery store, or other frequent destination.
4. Use your nondominant hand to write, brush your teeth, eat, or perform another activity that comes as second nature, forcing the opposite side of your brain to create pathways.
From the Land of Sudoku
In April and May, Nintendo brought the first two titles in its Brain Training series to the United States. In Japan, the electronic game Titan found that games based on the work of prominent neuroscientist Ryuta Kawashima opened new markets: Older consumers and nongamers bought Nintendo’s handheld devices simply to play the brain games. The three titles released in Japan have sold more than a million copies each, the latest accomplishing the feat in less than a month.
Brain Age: Train Your Brain in Minutes a Day! and Big Brain Academy offer number and word exercises that test an individual’s brain power in areas such as logic, memory, math, and analysis. One Nintendo executive calls it “a treadmill for the mind.” |
