Latest US Study Finds Brain Training Linked to Decreased Risk of Alzheimer’s.

Have you ever worried, like me, that someday you might suffer from Alzheimer’s? Recently, my sister Allison and I nursed our lovely mother, Jeanie, through the final stages of of this form of dementia. Sadly it’s an experience that more and more of our age group are going through. You probably know of someone yourself who has Alzheimer’s.It’s scary to watch because the person you knew so well gradually drifts away from you as memory loss takes over. No-one really knows what causes it. No-one has yet discovered a cure for it. And thousands more are being diagnosed with it every day.

That’s why this new research is such good news for healthy over-50′s.
It’s a huge, 800 page study prepared for an NIH State-of-the-Science Conference “Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease and Cognitive Decline,  and its findings are music to the ears of everyone over 50 who wants to keep a sharp, alert brain for the rest of their life.

And who doesn’t!

Scientists, as you know, are very cautious about making promises but this is what they said:

“Of all the factors reviewed, including diet and dietary supplements, physical exercise, social engagement, and other leisure activities, only cognitive training was found to have a high level of evidence for being associated with a decreased risk of cognitive decline.”

This is fantastic news for Baby Boomers!

What the scientists are saying is this:

Although eating brain food, physical fitness and social activity are all really important, ‘only cognitive training was said to have a “high degree of evidence” in this report’.

(‘Cognitive’ means brain and memory activities).

This new knowledge is of critical importance.

It means you don’t have to accept memory loss as a consequence of getting older.

You can do something about it!

At 50+, you are confidently expecting to live a full and positive life, with plenty of time to enjoy the leisure activities you’ve promised yourself and your family during your busy earning years.
You’re entitled to those years – but more and more of us are being robbed of them through memory loss and Alzheimer’s.

But you can do something about that. Take action today.

Sign up on this page for our FREE six-day Brain Tune course.

It will set you on the right path to build essential new brain connections. That’s the best, non-prescription protection against Alzheimer’s.

For further information, you can read lots of articles on this site, including  Nine Secrets of a Sharp Brain After 55 and Keep that Boomer Brain Growing

However, new research from the Wellcome Department of Cognitive Neurology has found that taxi drivers’ brains actually grow when they have to learn so much new information.

Their brains adapt to specialise in and store the vast quantities of navigational information needed to do their job, while leaving other parts of their brains free to regale with their insights.

Why is it excellent news? We can’t all be taxi-drivers but we all want a brain that remembers well. The really interesting thing about the brains of taxi drivers in the London study, was that the more they needed to learn about the streets and landmarks of London, the larger that area of their brain grew to accommodate all the new learning.

That’s the opposite of “the older you are the more brain cells you lose”, a long-standing over-simplification that is losing credibility as study after study demonstrate the opposite.

Researcher Eleanor Maguire of the Wellcome Department of Cognitive Neurology described the study:

“We got the taxi drivers to imagine they were driving from point to point [on London streets] while their brains were being observed using MRI scans. We also asked them to recall other types of memory that didn’t involve any navigation, like describing famous landmarks like the Statue of Liberty or the Sydney Opera House.”

What the study showed was that taxi drivers become adept at navigating in their imagination, and that this activates a different area of the brain, (the hippocampus), than they (and us) use for doing something seemingly related such as describing a landmark like the Statue of Liberty.  What’s even more stunning, is the hippocampus in these cabbies actually got heavier as they formed all the connections necessary to navigate detailed maps in their minds.

The Knowledge

When a new London cabbie joins the ranks (I couldn’t resist!) they have not yet developed what is known as “The Knowledge”, that mental map of landmarks and streets necessary to navigate the sprawling and, in places, ancient metropolis.  The most remarkable thing about the study is that you can practically measure the weight of The Knowledge in the human brain.  The study showed a before and after picture that clearly demonstrates an amazing degree of new brain growth in a remarkably short period of time.

The MRI scans showed most brain activity for taxi-drivers occurred when imagining using the information – when actively thinking, not just driving around.  You need to be engaged in recall to see the effect.

So, what does this study mean for you, my boomer friends?

It is a stunning example of the fact that your brain will grow if it is challenged to learn new information, particularly complex information. Setting out to learn the complete map of London might not be the challenge for you, but I’m sure there are others that your brain will thank you for. Maybe the map of New York? Just joking!

Three Lessons

1. Challenge yourself to learn something new.
2. The more complex the better.
3. Try to hold the new knowledge in your mind.  Apply it, use it, imagine yourself using it, explain it to someone else. Manipulating information in your mind like this helps you to re-grow new brain connections to retain the knowledge.

What can you do right now to start building a better brain?

It’s never too late to start re-growing YOUR brain connections.  The science is clear that it’s the best, non-prescription protection against memory loss.  Fill in the Memory Check box below and you’ll get two things:

1. A quick check of how sharp your memory is right now.
2. A brief 6-part course that will give you some easy-to-follow tools to help you build your brain and keep it fit.

Is my memory normal?

Click ‘Memory Check’ to find out.

→     Memory Check

Remember: you can do this on-line, or print it off and complete it by hand.

To get your correct scores, place the numeral of your choice into the correct column (e.g. if you think 3 describes your memory, place a 3 in the third column).
On-line, your scores add up downwards automatically. On paper you will have to add them up yourself.
Then add the scores across the bottom of the page to get your grand total.

If you have any queries or comments, contact the author: To email us

If you’d like to improve your memory score, sign up for Brain Tune below. It’s free! And we will never share your details with anyone.

Kindest regards

Gillian Eadie
MEd, BA, LTCL, Churchill Fellow
CEO Brain and Memory Foundation.

To purchase your own copy of the life-changing book, Seven Second Memory: Memory techniques that will change your life, visit http://sevensecondmemory.com; also available for reading on Kindle,  iPad, iPhone or other smartphones.

What was that word again?

A family meal was in progress and there was lively discussion about the latest neighbourhood scandal. Forty-something, Ben J. had taken off with the 18 year-old babysitter. Hilarity prevailed as one after the other of us imagined what might become of the odd couple. Let’s face it, Ben wasn’t exactly slim! Then, because actually nor were most of us, a quotation from the Scottish poet, Robert Burns, started tugging at my brain. Something to do with being able to see ourselves as others see us. I knew it real well … how did it begin?

It was on the tip of my tongue. Do you know, try as I might, I couldn’t remember how that quotation began.

Why was this simple memory task so hard? Does it mean my brain is shot?

Well, there is good news and not so good news. What’s not so good is that the brain gradually gets older and having something you want to remember on the tip of the tongue (TOT’s for short) happens more to older people. But the good news is that they don’t mean that Alzheimer’s is the next step – and TOT’s can be almost eliminated if the brain, on a regular basis, is tuned up by exercise and being challenged to do difficult things.

Dr Allison Lamont PhD, specialist in age-related memory loss, explains what is happening when something is on the tip of the tongue, and you can’t recall it.

“People often think that words are stored in a unit in our head, and that we have a little place in our minds where we file everything we know about (for example) Robert Burns.”

“But information isn’t stored in our minds that way”, she explains, “there is a network operating across different parts of the brain that connects information, and you can sometimes lose access to one part and not the others. So you can remember that Robert Burns was Scottish, and see a picture of him in your mind’s eye, but on this occasion you were not able to recall the phrase you wanted because it’s not conveniently stored with the other facts you know.”

From the age of about 50 onwards, the connections in our information network weaken, causing occasional let downs in memory. This is especially true if we a particular connection hasn’t been activated for some time. The connection is still there, but it is weak and needs attention.

Lamont says that becoming fully engaged in life, using language and logic skills as much as possible, learning new things, socializing and being involved in lively conversations all help to keep brain connections firing. She is also enthusiastic about using brain-sharpening techniques that have proved to be successful in activating the brain. So committed is she to helping baby boomers push back the effects of ageing on the brain, she has written a book called Seven Second Memory. Plus six other powerful memory techniques to rewire the brain for a youthful mind. It’s worth a read and it is a great way to starting fighting back against tip of the tongue problems.

By the way, that quotation from Robert Burns? Well, my 92 year-old mother, who has challenged herself with mental arithmetic and memorizing poetry for the past forty years, rescued me at the dinner table. With only a moment’s hesitation she came up with this:

‘O,wad some Power the giftie gie us to see oursels as others see us.’
(O would some power give us the gift to see ourselves as others see us.)
Robert Burns, Poem “To a Louse” – verse 8
Scottish national poet (1759 – 1796)

To find out more about your amazing memory, look up How To Improve Your Brain and What Causes Memory Loss?

Confident and independent lifestyles.

Until the financial crisis these past years, there had never been a better time in history to be 60. Boomers as a generation are more wealthy, living more interesting lives and have more years ahead of them to look forward to than ever before. Among the Americans who celebrated their 60th in that year were our two most recent presidents, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton as well as other well-known celebrities like Cher, Donald Trump, Sylvester Stallone and Dolly Parton.

There were 78.2 million boomers in the US in 2005 and since then, 7918 people turn 60 each day – that’s 330 each hour!

And lots of you will be called James or Mary, because they were the most popular names in 1946. As I said, we are the generation that has worked hard, studied hard and made wealth for our companies and families.

So we should all be on top of the world, right?

Yes, so long as you can still remember all that way back!

The sad thing is that more and more boomers are beginning to suffer memory loss and the devastating side effects that arise from that. On an average, boomer annual health care spending will be around $3899 at 60 and rising each year. It’s estimated that there will be 57.8 million boomers living in 2030, aged between 66 and 84. What will you be doing? Will you be living active, fulfilled and interesting lives? Or will you be living in one of the 5000+ continuing care retirement facilities.

Ending up in care is currently one of the worst fears of baby boomers, who abhor the idea of losing their independence and not being able to manage their own lives.

Without an active and alert memory, though, this will be the reality for a growing percentage of boomers. So the time to do something for your memory is now, while you still have it!

The media is full of advertisements for anti-aging serums, anti-wrinkle potions, hair loss formulae and medications to keep you young.

In reality, it is your active mind and body that determines the youthfulness of your future.

Your memory is your life – so take steps now to build memory resilience. Research shows that the brain, when stimulated, can grow in capacity and effectiveness.

Without stimulation, is loses size, density and forgetfulness takes over.

Look up Seven Second Memory for an excellent introduction for steps you can be taking for your brain’s future, now.

For more free help and personal advice on keeping that boomer brain growing and improving your memory, please visit the Brain and Memory Foundation.

As it turns out, that teacher was mostly wrong about the cells.

It’s true that the brain discards used cells and bits of waste, but actually you can grow new cells, as your brain needs them.

The more that you require your brain to learn or do, the faster your neurons create dendrites to reach out to make connections with other neurons in your brain.

If you are getting lazy in your thinking, then your brain doesn’t need any new connections so, of course, as you get older, your brain shrinks in size. Left to itself, your brain will naturally reduce in size by up to 20% by the age of 75 or older.

Recent discoveries by neuroscientists, though, show that intellectual activity will combat normal shrinkage. It truly is a case of ‘use it or lose it’.

Your brain can make new dendritic connections at any age; you can have a youthful brain all of your life.

To be sure that this is true for you, though, you have to push your brain into being more active. Get involved in debates and local campaigns, listen to presentations, try a new genre in reading, and discuss your views knowledgeably afterwards.

Fight the memory loss that some boomers experience by learning new information, trying out new sports, interests and social groups.

Your dendrites will be forced into growth, your brain will expand and you will, even into older age, have an alert, responsive and reliable memory that would have amazed my grade school teacher.

Read other articles in this series to find out how nutrition, stress, sleep and other factors will help your brain stay young for life. Nine Secrets of a Sharp Brain After 55

Also see these articles on forgetfulness, how to stop losing things and improving your memory