Americans lapping up young-at-brain 145;recipes146;

Dozens of studies are under way. Organisations like AARP are offering tips on brain health. The Alzheimer8217;s Association conducts hundreds of 8216;Maintain Your Brain8217; workshops at corporations like Apple Computer and Lockheed Martin. Web sites like HappyNeuron.com offer subscribers cranial calisthenics. MyBrainTrainer.com is marketed to anyone who 8220;ever wished you could be a little quicker, a little sharper mentally.8221;

And Nintendo8217;s Brain Age, a video game intended for baby boomers and their elders, features simple math, syllable-counting, word memory activities and the quick reading aloud of passages from the likes of Poe and Dickens, which 8220;gives your prefrontal cortex a workout,8221; the instructions say.

8220;I just felt that, Hey, this is something I ought to do,8221; said Roy Gustafson, 85, who tried it at a Nintendo promotion at his Redmond, Washington, retirement community. He quickly got top scores his 8220;brain age8221; was low 208217;s, and decided to quit while ahead. But almost daily, he plays the Sudoku games in the handheld device, saying, 8220;It keeps me alert.8221;

Whether the hopes for brain health programmes are realistic is still largely unknown, scientists say.

Certainly most brain-healthy recommendations are not considered bad for people. They do not have the potential risks of drugs or herbal supplements. And things like physical exercise and Omega-3 fatty acids help the body, even if they do not end up bettering the mind.

Few scientists believe brain health activities prevent dementia, only that they might delay it. The strongest evidence suggests that cardiovascular exercise also probably helps the brain, by improving blood circulation, experts say. Perhaps people with healthier brains are more likely to do brain-stimulating activities, not the reverse.