• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Tracking Health and Wellness Applications of Brain Science

Spanish
sb-logo-with-brain
  • Resources
    • Monthly eNewsletter
    • Solving the Brain Fitness Puzzle
    • The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness
    • How to evaluate brain training claims
    • Resources at a Glance
  • Brain Teasers
    • Top 25 Brain Teasers & Games for Teens and Adults
    • Brain Teasers for each Cognitive Ability
    • More Mind Teasers & Games for Adults of any Age
  • Virtual Summits
    • 2019 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
    • Speaker Roster
    • Brainnovations Pitch Contest
    • 2017 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
    • 2016 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
    • 2015 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
    • 2014 SharpBrains Virtual Summit
  • Report: Pervasive Neurotechnology
  • Report: Digital Brain Health
  • About
    • Mission & Team
    • Endorsements
    • Public Speaking
    • In the News
    • Contact Us

Brain maintenance: cognitive enhancement first, Alzheimer’s delay second

lBrain main­te­nance may play a role in post­pon­ing the emer­gence of demen­tia-relat­ed symp­toms. A sig­nif­i­cant amount of research has been con­duct­ed on healthy aging in the past two decades. A num­ber of fac­tors have been asso­ci­at­ed with reduced risks of devel­op­ing Alzheimer’s Dis­ease symptoms.

Among these fac­tors, men­tal activ­i­ties range quite high.  As we described ear­li­er, peo­ple who remain intel­lec­tu­al­ly active and engaged in hob­bies through­out their lives reduce their risk of devel­op­ing Alzheimer’s dis­ease and oth­er demen­tias. In a 2001 study con­duct­ed by Dr. Yaakov Stern, lead­ing researcher on the cog­ni­tive reserve, indi­vid­u­als with the high­est lev­el of leisure activ­i­ties pre­sent­ed thir­ty-eight per­cent less risk (con­trol­ling for oth­er fac­tors) of devel­op­ing Alzheimer’s symp­toms. For each addi­tion­al type of activ­i­ty, the risks were reduced by eight per­cent. It is believed that intel­lec­tu­al­ly stim­u­lat­ing hob­bies or activ­i­ties help build­ing up cog­ni­tive reserve. This can help post­pon­ing the appear­ance of the dementia’s symptoms.

Inter­est­ing­ly, edu­ca­tion also seems to have a pro­tec­tive effect. Research into cog­ni­tive reserve found that the more edu­ca­tion peo­ple have, the less they suf­fer from age-relat­ed decline. High lev­els of edu­ca­tion have also been asso­ci­at­ed with low­er risks lev­els for Alzheimer’s dis­ease (Snow­don et al., 1989; Wil­son et al., 2002). It is pos­si­ble that the effect of edu­ca­tion is relat­ed to the effects of intel­lec­tu­al stim­u­la­tion as well-edu­cat­ed peo­ple are more like­ly to have cog­ni­tive­ly stim­u­lat­ing jobs.

Accord­ing to Dr. Arthur Kramer (whose inter­view you can find at the end of this chap­ter) the two key lifestyle habits that may help some­one delay Alzheimer’s symp­toms and improve over­all brain health are to stay phys­i­cal­ly active and to main­tain life­long intel­lec­tu­al engage­ment. How­ev­er, no spe­cif­ic pro­gram has been shown to pre­vent Alzheimer’s dis­ease completely.

In sum, brain main­te­nance in gen­er­al can be viewed as a way of delay­ing cog­ni­tive declines asso­ci­at­ed with aging and demen­tia to occur too ear­ly. Note how­ev­er that, as Dr. Jer­ri Edwards points out, it is too ear­ly to say whether we can real­ly reverse decline in a per­ma­nent way. Brain func­tions are com­plex and well-con­duct­ed stud­ies look­ing at the long-term effects of brain exer­cis­es are yet to be conducted.

What about brain train­ing itself? 

We can define brain train­ing as the struc­tured use of cog­ni­tive exer­cis­es aimed at improv­ing spe­cif­ic brain func­tions. In this view, pre­vent­ing Alzheimer’s is not the main or only premise (or objec­tive) of brain train­ing. Rather, improv­ing qual­i­ty of life and cog­ni­tive per­for­mance is. The same as one goes to a health club and engages in a work­out cir­cuit to improve phys­i­cal abil­i­ties, brain train­ing can be viewed as a “mental work­out” to help main­tain a vari­ety of cog­ni­tive abil­i­ties rel­e­vant to our work and life.

Keep learn­ing by read­ing more arti­cles in the Resources sec­tion, and also please con­sid­er join­ing our free month­ly Brain Fit­ness eNewsletter

This new online resource is based on the con­tent from the book The Sharp­Brains Guide to Brain Fit­ness (May 2009, $19.95), by Alvaro Fer­nan­dez and Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print
  • More
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Pock­et

Primary Sidebar

Top Articles on Brain Health and Neuroplasticity

  1. Can you grow your hippocampus? Yes. Here’s how, and why it matters
  2. How learning changes your brain
  3. To harness neuroplasticity, start with enthusiasm
  4. Three ways to protect your mental health during –and after– COVID-19
  5. Why you turn down the radio when you're lost
  6. Solving the Brain Fitness Puzzle Is the Key to Self-Empowered Aging
  7. Ten neu­rotech­nolo­gies about to trans­form brain enhance­ment & health
  8. Five reasons the future of brain enhancement is digital, pervasive and (hopefully) bright
  9. What Educators and Parents Should Know About Neuroplasticity and Dance
  10. The Ten Habits of Highly Effective Brains
  11. Six tips to build resilience and prevent brain-damaging stress
  12. Can brain training work? Yes, if it meets these 5 conditions
  13. What are cognitive abilities and how to boost them?
  14. Eight Tips To Remember What You Read
  15. Twenty Must-Know Facts to Harness Neuroplasticity and Improve Brain Health

Top 10 Brain Teasers and Illusions

  1. You think you know the colors? Try the Stroop Test
  2. Check out this brief attention experiment
  3. Test your stress level
  4. Guess: Are there more brain connections or leaves in the Amazon?
  5. Quick brain teasers to flex two key men­tal mus­cles
  6. Count the Fs in this sentence
  7. Can you iden­tify Apple’s logo?
  8. Ten classic optical illu­sions to trick your mind
  9. What do you see?
  10. Fun Mental Rotation challenge
  • Check our Top 25 Brain Teasers, Games and Illusions

Join 12,620 readers exploring, at no cost, the latest in neuroplasticity and brain health.

By subscribing you agree to receive our free, monthly eNewsletter. We don't rent or sell emails collected, and you may unsubscribe at any time.

IMPORTANT: Please check your inbox or spam folder in a couple minutes and confirm your subscription.

Get In Touch!

Contact Us

660 4th Street, Suite 205,
San Francisco, CA 94107 USA

About Us

SharpBrains is an independent market research firm tracking health and performance applications of brain science. We prepare general and tailored market reports, publish consumer guides, produce an annual global and virtual conference, and provide strategic advisory services.

© 2022 SharpBrains. All Rights Reserved - Privacy Policy