Tell your doctor that you have to search harder to recall the names of distant friends or remember where you last placed your keys, and he’s likely chalk it up to ‘mild cognitive decline’ and tell you to get used to the inevitable slippery slope of ageing.
But as this month’s cover story (page 28) demonstrates, he’d be resoundingly wrong. The latest brain evidence demonstrates the astonishing likelihood that the brain is far more malleable than originally thought, with the capacity to grow new brain cells and make new neural connections throughout your life, even in your twilight years.
In fact, scientists are now discovering that the brain can not only stay sharp, but be enhanced at any point in your life. So malleable are those little grey cells that you can increase the rate at which new cells grow by three to five times – even in old age.
The question is no longer whether it’s possible to regenerate your brain, but the best way to do so, for there is a wide variation in this capacity, called ‘neurogenesis’, depending on how you live your life.
Not surprisingly, diet plays a major role in helping the brain renew its own cells. A high-sugar, highly processed diet is undoubtedly a cognitive killer, whereas a diet bursting with whole foods, omega fatty acids and plant polyphenols is superfood for the brain.
Psychologist Brant Cortright, who has researched brain enhancement for his new book, The Neurogenesis Diet and Lifestyle, details all the most important brain foods in our cover story, and also discusses the powerful and synergistic role that exercise plays when combined with an optimal diet. Like food, some forms of exercise are better for your brain than others, with aerobic exercise and walking – our personal favourite – scoring high.
Diet and exercise are the two main pillars of a healthy brain. But there are several others that help to keep your brain young. Minimizing stress and maintaining strong social links protects against mental disorders like depression, and also slows cognitive decline.
Another important factor has to do with what scientists refer to as an ‘enriched environment’, which means a life full of surprises, variation and stimulation, all of which help the brain to make new connections. Studies of ageing animals show that a living area full of other animals, and fun and complex things to do – actually increases cortical thickness, brain cell growth and branching, and even density in the spinal cord.
A similar thing happens in people who maintain a sense of curiosity throughout life. In 1991, the medical journal Nursing Forum published a study examining the factors that had contributed to the longevity of 17 war nurses who’d lived through the American Civil War. Being married, having a vibrant social life, devoting yourself to a life of service and having a strong faith all played a part, but maintaining a ‘pioneering spirit’ – a constant interest in new things – appeared to be an important key to an overflowing fountain of youth.
But perhaps the greatest X factor of all is your own perception of how old you are. In 1981, eight men in their 70s and 80s attended a five-day retreat at a monastery in Peterborough, New Hampshire, organized by Harvard University, throughout which they were asked to pretend they were 22 years younger than they actually were.
When they got to the retreat, they were immersed in constant reminders from two decades earlier: old issues of LIFE magazine and The Saturday Evening Post, popular 1950s TV shows, radio stations playing Perry Como and Nat
King Cole.
The men were also asked to discuss events that had been current then too: Fidel Castro’s sudden ascendancy to power in Cuba; Nikita Khrushchev’s standoff with Eisenhower during his visit to the US; home runs hit by Mickey Mantle; and knockout punches by Floyd Patterson. This carried on throughout the five days of the retreat.
At the end of the retreat, the researchers took the same physiological measurements they’d taken at the start of the study, and discovered that the men had actually had grown ‘taller’. In fact, their height, weight and gait had improved; their posture had straightened; their joints had become more flexible; and their hearing, eyesight, grip strength, memory and general cognitive function had all improved.
By the end of the five days, many of these octogenarians had given up their canes and were playing touch football.
Once they’d been reminded of their younger selves, their bodies actually became younger – and all in less than a week. And once they pretended to be younger, their brains and bodies followed suit. All of this suggests that you – and your brain – are only as old as you decide to be.
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