cognitive decline

“There’s a lot of hype in this field in terms of brain improvement. I did set out to find out what actually works and what we know. What we do with our bodies has a huge impact on our brains. Our brains are more like our hearts in that everything you do for your heart is thought to be equally as good or better for your brain. Exercise is the best studied thing you can do to your brain. It increases brain volume, produces new baby brain cells in grownup brains. Even when our muscles contract, it produces growth chemicals. Using your body can help your brain.” From the NYT article, The Talents of a Middle-Aged Brain.

A strong body and a strong mind can be obtained through exercise. Prior blog entries dealing with cognitive decline and exercise:

From this article Good Diets Fight Bad Alzheimer Genes:

 The researchers are exhilarated to find that a diet high in Omega 3 oils and low in cholesterol appears to significantly reduce the negative effects of the APOE4 gene in mouse models.

The APOE4 gene is a known risk factor for Alzheimer's and is present in 50% of all Alzheimer's patients.

Another quote:

The main take-away message here is that good diets can alleviate the effects of bad genes. Of course nutritionists have had this general idea for a while, but it's nice to be able to show that this approach can be applied to specifically counteract the negative effects of Alzheimer's disease-related genes,"

In past blog entries we have reported on various foods that have been linked to slowing cognitive decline.  Possible foods that might slow cognitive decline are:

Curry
Tuna and eggs
Fatty Fish
Green, black, and oolong tea
Walnuts
Blueberries
Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids

A NYT article Taking Early Retirement May Retire Memory, Too reports on a study by two economists that shows that in countries where people work longer people have sharper memories.  See the graph.

While the study is not conclusive it does point to an interesting result. If causation is established rather than just correlation it would be important to know what aspect of work is producing cognitive longevity.  A quote from the article: 

"If work does help maintain cognitive functioning, it will be important to find out what aspect of work is doing that, Dr. Suzman said. “Is it the social engagement and interaction or the cognitive component of work, or is it the aerobic component of work?” he asked. “Or is it the absence of what happens when you retire, which could be increased TV watching?”