Continued activity, learning can improve aging brain
December 23rd 2008 20:17
Signature Tune
From TimesDaily.com
Memory and cognition research has shown that seniors can benefit from not only continual learning, but also physical activity, plenty of sleep and a host of molecular factors such as vitamin B12.
In July, a five-year study concluded that participants who took statins, a class of cholesterol-fighting drugs, were half as likely to develop dementia as those participants who didn't take the drug.
"We aren't suggesting that people should take statins unless they are necessary for other reasons. We hope this study and others like it will open the door to trials that would test the ability of statins to prevent dementia and other types of cognitive impairment," said study author Mary Haan, with the University of Michigan School of Public Health in Ann Arbor.
In August, a five-year study showed that participants with higher levels of vitamin B12 in their blood were six times less likely to have brain shrinkage. Vitamin B12 is an essential nutrient found in meat, fish and milk. In the study, from the University of Oxford, U.K., researchers compared brain scans, memory tests and vitamin B12 levels from 107 participants from 61 to 87 years old throughout five years.
In September, governmental researchers concluded that just 20 minutes of activity each day can prevent memory deterioration. A team based at the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research divided 170 volunteers aged 50 years or older into groups that exercised 150 minutes each week and those that didn't exercise.
During a period of 18 months, cognition tests showed those who exercised out-scored the non-exercise control group, which had a decline in cognition.
In October, psychologists found that seniors trained in a strategic video game "Rise of Nations" switched between different types of cognitive tasks faster, had better reasoning ability and had improved short term memory of visual cues. "In medical terminology, these would be dose-response effects," said University of Illinois psychology professor Arthur Kramer, an author on the study. "The more drug - or in this case the more training on the video game - the more benefit."
"The old saying use it or lose it is more true than we originally thought," said Martine Wilson, president of the five-county Coalition of Alzheimer's and Related Disorders, which recently opened an office at the Shoals Family Success Center in Florence.
"Keep your brain active, intellectually and spiritually, to keep your brain healthy," Wilson said.
Kathy Jo Spears, CARD member and Alabama Cares Coordinator at the Northwest Alabama Council of Local Governments, said, "The activity helps with the blood flow, and it keeps your health up."
But she warned that seniors can do all the right things and still have to battle dementia.
In the past 10 years, Spears said she's noticed a bigger push for more activities in the senior community.
Many retirement agencies and communities are gearing toward more activities across a broad range to help seniors in the hopes of helping them keep their mental sharpness.
Louise Graham, an 85-year-old resident at Mitchell-Hollingsworth in Florence, recently underwent a memory test from Jerolyn Herron, director of resident services.
She was told of three items - table, apple and penny - and after correctly spelling "world" backwards was asked to repeat the list.
"World, apple. That's all I can remember," Graham said and laughed.
When asked her age, Graham said, "I am an 85-year-old woman - wait a minute, I believe I passed 85." Herron helped Graham figure out she was, in fact, 86.
Graham scored a 28 out of 30 on the test.
Her roommate, Anna Counts, 100, said of her memory, "It's not as sharp as it was; I'm writing my autobiography and it's getting more difficult."
Counts, whose career spanned from Army chauffeur to Army mapping service, said she's never quit thinking. "I guess I've always dealt with details," she said as a way of stimulating her brain.
Counts has difficulty hearing, a challenge for any senior to stay in touch with the world. But she said she's kept her curiosity, including a fascination with computers.
"I don't know if I've got sense to learn it," she said.
Back at the class for retirees, Mitchell Burford, a nine-year-member also teaches "The World Around Us," one of 10 classes, presented with the program.
He said his classmates range from those with an eighth-grade education to Ph.D. trained, all with a curiosity that this year ranges from digital photography, classical mythology, great books and opera.
"You can sit in front of a TV and your mind rots," said the former pathologist.
"We try to stay away from politics, other than that, anything goes."
Trevor Stokes can be reached at 740-5728 or trevor.stokes@TimesDaily.com.
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