BRAIN DAMAGE

A large body of evidence indicates that people who are mentally active throughout their lives are significantly less likely to suffer senility, and a handful of studies have found that mental exercises can boost brain function.

But it remains far from clear exactly which of the myriad use-it-or-lose-it methods promoted by researchers, self-help books and health groups protect the brain in the long term, and actually reduce the risk for dementia. 8220;We8217;re right at the cusp of understanding this,8221; said Sherry Willis of Pennsylvania State University. 8220;Because brain imaging work has become so much more technologically sophisticated, we8217;re now at the point where we literally look inside people8217;s brains to try to understand what8217;s going on.8221;

8220;It8217;s really critical that we find ways to prevent, or at least delay the onset of, cognitive decline,8221; said Neil Buckholtz of the National Institute on Aging. 8220;Once the pathology is established in the brain, it8217;s very difficult to treat. We need better ways to prevent the disease in the first place.8221;

Several large studies are examining antioxidants such as selenium, vitamins C and E and folate, as well as the popular herbal remedy ginkgo biloba. Researchers also remain hopeful that anti-inflammatory painkillers such as Celebrex and the hormone estrogen may prove useful, despite safety concerns. Other researchers are exploring whether cholesterol drugs might protect the brain as well as the heart. It has become increasingly clear that the same strategies that cut the risk for heart attacks and strokes 8212; eating well, avoiding obesity and diabetes, and exercising regularly 8212; protect the brain, too.

8220;We don8217;t have to wait until tomorrow when we have some kind of wonder drug,8221; said Arthur Kramer of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, who has found that sedentary elderly people who start exercising regularly are sharper and experience growth in crucial brain areas. 8220;Many things that we can do today can engender cognitive vitality and successful aging, and one of them is exercise.8221;

Among the most tantalizing evidence are studies that have given rise to the use-it-or-lose-it theory. Several large projects have found that people who are more educated, have more intellectually challenging jobs and engage in more mentally stimulating activities, are much less likely to develop Alzheimer8217;s and other forms of dementia.

Scientists suspect that a lifetime of thinking a lot may create a 8220;cognitive reserve8221; 8212; a reservoir of brain power that people can draw upon even if they suffer damaging silent strokes or protein deposits that are the hallmarks of Alzheimer8217;s.

8220;Some people might have brain networks that are more efficient and so have a greater capacity to compensate for disease,8221; said Yaakov Stern of Columbia University, who is using brain scans to try to zero in on the circuits that matter most. 8220;So when they are challenged by disease, those networks continue to operate longer.8221;

But it is also possible that such people are born with brains that lead them to pursue intellectually stimulating lives, and are inherently less prone to dementia.

8220;There8217;s a lot of things that highly educated people do to take care of themselves,8221; said Jerome Yesavage of Stanford University, who is evaluating the benefits of combining cognitive training exercises with a drug already used to slow the progression of Alzheimer8217;s.

In one of the first major attempts to test whether mental training works, a federally funded study involving more than 2,800 elderly people found that those who received 10 brain-training lessons scored much better on thinking tests, and the effect lasted for at least three years.

8220;It was pretty amazing,8221; said Michelle Carlson of Johns Hopkins, whose team found that elderly volunteers scored much better on problem-solving tests and that their frontal lobes seem to have been reinvigorated. The prescription combines a healthful diet with daily exercise, relaxation techniques and memory exercises, such as making a mental note of one piece of a family member8217;s wardrobe each morning. 8220;One of the most striking findings was how it affected function in the area of the brain that creates everyday working memory,8221; Gary Small of UCLA said. 8220;We may not have conclusive proof. But the evidence is strong. And these are all healthy choices for other reasons.8221;

LAT-WP