From today’s WSJ:
How to Keep Your Aging Brain Fit: Aerobics
Forget Crossword Puzzles – Study Says
3 Hours of Exercise a Week
Can Bolster Memory, Intellect
By SHARON BEGLEY
November 16, 2006; Page D1
The key to keeping intellectually sharp as we age may not be mental gymnastics, as commonly recommended, but real gymnastics.
According to a new study, the brain’s long, slow decline may not be inevitable. For the first time, scientists have found something that not only halts the brain shrinkage that starts in a person’s 40s, especially in regions responsible for memory and higher cognition, but actually reverses it: aerobic exercise. As little as three hours a week of brisk walking – no Stairmaster required – apparently increases blood flow to the brain and triggers biochemical changes that increase production of new brain neurons.
As brains age, normal wear and tear starting in middle age causes them to process information more slowly, which means it takes longer to make judgments and grasp complex information. Older brains also take longer to switch from one task to another and are less adept at “multitasking” (such as driving while simultaneously tuning the radio and checking the tailgater).
(Interesting. Plus, I can see some good jokes coming out of this one.)