hamper neuronal function; and cogni- tive decline may be exacerbated. Already, one in five people older than 65 suffer from “mild cognitive impairment” (persistent memory prob- lems severe enough to be noticeable by others). According to the Alzheim- er’s Association, if we live to age 90, as many as half of us could ultimately be diagnosed with that disease.
The good news: Such fates
are far from inevitable. “People seem to expect that as soon as we start to need reading glasses, we should also expect some of these cognitive issues to arise, but it does not need to be that way,” says Naples, Florida-based Neurology Doctor David Perlmutter, co-author of Power up Your Brain. “You can absolutely do things early on in life and throughout your lifetime that work to maintain the bulk and function of the brain.”
Here’s how: Stay lean. It may seem coun-
terintuitive, but mounting evidence
A Brain-Building Blueprint How to Keep the Mind Young and Memory Sharp
by Lisa Marshall
“Have you seen my keys?” “Now, why did I come in here?” “Her name is on the tip of my tongue.” If you catch yourself uttering such phrases, listen up:
“M
emory generally starts to decline in our 30s, as the brain shrinks with
age. One of the first and most promi- nent signs is that ‘tip of the tongue’ phenomenon,” advises neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt, Ph.D., co-author of Welcome to Your Brain. Studies show that the adult
brain can shrink as much as one-half 16
Northern & Central New Mexico
to 1 percent annually in midlife, as neurons in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus wither and the branches between them thin. Add hormonal changes, which can starve gray matter of nourishing estrogen and progester- one; less-than-stellar cardiovascular health, which tends to limit blood flow to the brain; and a gummy pro- tein called amyloid plaque, which can
NewMexico-NaturalAwakeningsMag.com
suggests that in order to grow a bigger brain, many of us should be eating less. “The key to the brain maintain- ing and even regenerating itself is the activation of a set of genes that code for a protein called brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF),” explains Perlmutter. “BDNF is significantly enhanced in people that simply cut down their calorie consumption.” Several animal and human stud- ies support this conclusion. One 2009 study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, di- vided 50 men and women age 50 and older into three groups that slashed calorie intake by 20 percent, 30 per- cent and not at all. After three months, the groups that restricted their calories
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