For a Sharp brain you need stimulation (LINK)
May 16th 2008 06:53
Signature Tune
Most scientists recommend eating a Mediterranean-style diet, including fish and nuts containing omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidant-rich fruits and vegetables, olive oil and possibly some red wine. (Blueberries are also recommended.) Some also suggest avoiding playing games like football, because of the risk of head injuries, staying away from pesticides and insecticides that contain neurotoxins and not drinking excessively.
“Another thing that’s important as people get older is to maintain flexible attitudes and be willing to try new things,” said K. Warner Schaie, who in 1956 started the Seattle Longitudinal Study, which follows the psychological development of participants through adulthood. “You have to expect things will shift over time and won’t be the same as when you were young. Those who manage to roll with the punches, and enjoy change rather than fighting it, tend to do well.”
Regular physical activity may improve brain function, both by increasing blood flow to the brain and stimulating the production of hormones and nerve growth factors involved in neurogenesis. Animal studies have found that physically active animals have better memories and more cells in their hippocampus. Exercise also plays a role in countering diseases like Type 2 diabetes, which increases the risk of dementia. Cholesterol and hypertension, which affect vascular health, also need to be kept in check.
This is from the New York Times but they've not said a great deal about stimulation as yet, BUT
The birth of new nerve cells, she said, “has been shown to occur in the adult — not only in adult rats and monkeys, but also in older adult humans.” Most of the areas that show neurogenesis and that have been investigated so far are important for learning and memory, particularly the hippocampus.
Studies of older people who have maintained their mental acuity provide some clues. They tend to be socially connected, with strong ties to relatives, friends and community. They are often both physically healthy and physically active. And they tend to be engaged in stimulating or intellectually challenging activities.
The big question is whether they remain mentally alert because they engage in these activities, or whether they are able to engage in these activities because they are cognitively intact.
“We don’t know whether this is an example of reverse causation or not — it’s probably a two-way street,” said Bruce S. McEwen, who heads the neuroendocrinology lab at Rockefeller University in New York.
But some interventional studies that have introduced older adults to exercise regimens have reported remarkable results. Researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign recruited a group of sedentary adults between the ages of 60 and 75, assigning half of them to an aerobic exercise program that met three times a week to walk, while a control group did anaerobic stretching and toning.
The scientists measured the group’s cognitive function before and after the six-month program and found improvements among those who had done the walking.
“Six months of exercise will buy you a 15 to 20 percent improvement in memory, decision-making ability and attention,” said Arthur F. Kramer, a professor of psychology at the University of Illinois. “It will also buy you increases in the volume of various brain regions in the prefrontal and temporal cortex, and more efficient neuronetworks that support the kind of cognition we examined.”
Other studies have found improvements in cognitive function after a combined regimen of physical exercise and cognitive training.
So the stimulation to which they refer appears to be by physical means and they don't pay a lot of attention to mental stimulation, although it is mentioned.
No doubt that will come up in another article as similar themes are being aired, everywhere.
It's more of the same, I realize, but repetition often does what other things fail to do.
So do see what you can do with computer art while you are there, at your computer.
| 38 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
Subscribe to this blog
