It’s a case of use it or lose it. Stimulating your brain intellectually can cause measurable changes in structures and slow the aging process.
Engaging in mental exercise is similar to physical exercise. It can make the brain grow new connections between neurons and even grow brand new cells.
Mice that were raised in a stimulating environment were smarter, performed better on tests of memory and learning than those housed in Spartan environments.
How stimulating is your cage? Do you engage in a variety of activities, and are you continually learning and stretching yourself with new thoughts, new learning, new ideas?
It is well-documented that women with college degrees live several years longer and retain better mental and physical abilities after the age of seventy-five than less educated women.
The point is that exerting your brain intellectually spurs brain cells to grow new branches, creating millions of new connections or synapses between neurons. More cells and more connections give you more brain capacity. It also means that you have a larger supply of brain matter should you have an injury or a disease that affects the brain.
Dr. David Snowdon of the University of Kentucky’s Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, heads a long-range study of elderly nuns. The most highly educated of them have a larger cortex with more branches and connections. This protects them in old age from symptoms of decline and disease such as Alzheimer’s.
The brain literally thrives on novelty in order to survive. According to Arnold Scheibel, director of the Brain Research Institute at UCLA, this is a feature important to survival in primitive man.
“The brain stem has an area called the reticular formation. It’s wired to respond selectively to the new and exotic. This was a survival mechanism when we were on the lookout for predators. Now, new challenges activate your reticular formation and stimulate the growth of dendrites (strands that connect the neurons). That’s why people should not only remain active, but take up new pursuits.”
It’s a case of use it or lose it. Stimulating your brain intellectually can cause measurable changes in structures and slow the aging process.
Engaging in mental exercise is similar to physical exercise. It can make the brain grow new connections between neurons and even grow brand new cells.
Mice that were raised in a stimulating environment were smarter, performed better on tests of memory and learning than those housed in Spartan environments.
How stimulating is your cage? Do you engage in a variety of activities, and are you continually learning and stretching yourself with new thoughts, new learning, new ideas?
It is well-documented that women with college degrees live several years longer and retain better mental and physical abilities after the age of seventy-five than less educated women.
The point is that exerting your brain intellectually spurs brain cells to grow new branches, creating millions of new connections or synapses between neurons. More cells and more connections give you more brain capacity. It also means that you have a larger supply of brain matter should you have an injury or a disease that affects the brain.
Dr. David Snowdon of the University of Kentucky’s Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, heads a long-range study of elderly nuns. The most highly educated of them have a larger cortex with more branches and connections. This protects them in old age from symptoms of decline and disease such as Alzheimer’s.
The brain literally thrives on novelty in order to survive. According to Arnold Scheibel, director of the Brain Research Institute at UCLA, this is a feature important to survival in primitive man.