Cross-Training Your Brain to Maintain Its Strength

A Growing Market

Scientists seem to agree that at least four activities can defend the brain against age and disease -- eating fresh fruits and vegetables, doing regular aerobic exercise, performing challenging mental tasks and engaging in social pursuits.

The Alzheimer's Association has promoted all four in the 5,000 Maintain Your Brain workshops it has conducted over the past three years at senior centers and corporate workplaces, including Lockheed Martin and Apple.

Physical exercise and so-called brain food have long been regarded as good for mental health -- exercise because it boosts blood circulation and gives the brain more oxygen; and foods rich in antioxidants, such as fish, fruits and vegetables, because the antioxidants attack cell-destroying agents.

But more recent attention is being focused on brain exercise because neuroscientists have been making fresh discoveries as baby boomers, worried about approaching old age, watch closely.

In fact, baby boomers may be the biggest catalyst of the brain-fitness boom. They started turning 60, and the nation's over-65 population will double between 2000 and 2030 -- from 35 million to 72 million people. That forecast has triggered an entrepreneurial rush to supply them with anti-aging products.

But retirement communities are not the only market for brain exercise. A growing body of research suggests that mental activity in middle age and earlier can help later in life. As a result, Web sites such as HappyNeuron.com are springing up to offer online games to people of all ages, while blogs like SharpBrains.com provide commentary on the fledgling industry.

"No technology trend in fitness has gotten more media attention than cognition training," said Andrew Carle, a George Mason University professor who studies brain-training products. "What's driving it is the jump we are seeing in Alzheimer's, which is an age-related disease."

More than 5 million Americans have Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia, in which a large number of the brain's 200 billion nerve cells degrade and die. The Alzheimer's population is projected to jump to 7.7 million Americans by 2030, by the time the last of the baby boomers have reached 65.

Brain decay actually is wider, because all human brains lose nerve cells as they age. Brain neurons typically start dying when people are in their 20s, a loss that accelerates and eventually causes cognitive declines that tend to show up first in memory and hearing.

Mental Challenges

Scientists have known for decades that brain decay is not inevitable, because long-term studies have shown that some minds stay relatively sharp while others decline dramatically, notes Shlomo Breznitz, psychology professor and former president of Israel's University of Haifa. More recent studies suggest a key difference may be the extent to which each brain is challenged throughout life.

"People who engage in very challenging tasks -- not just in work but during leisure activities such as reading, crossword puzzles, bridge, chess and travel -- tend to slow down their mental aging process very significantly," says Breznitz, who is also a member of Israel's legislature and has developed a brain-training program called MindFit.

To be effective, scientists say mental activity must become progressively more challenging. Otherwise, the brain adjusts and learns to perform repetitive tasks with less effort.