According to the findings of the research, those who do not flex their mental muscles enough are twice at risk of developing shrinkage in a major memory center of the brain in their old age.
On the other hand, those who constantly challenge their brains with activities like solving crosswords, learning new languages and skills, or even provide enough fodder for the brain through seeing new places and making new acquaintances, are at a much better position to stave off memory-related disorders in their old age.
Brain scans of fifty people who had crossed the sixty year benchmark were made the subject of the experiment, which was conducted over a three-year-period, to record the findings. Questionnaires were designed to gauge the mental agility of the subjects over their lifetime.
The results indicated that those among the subjects who were involved in an active mental life had a better-developed hippocampus, which serves as an important memory center in the brain.
Most significantly, the researchers noted that the rate of degeneration of the hippocampus for the mentally active subjects during the course of the three-year study period was half the rate recorded in those with lesser brain activity.
"This is a significant finding because a small hippocampus is a specific risk factor for developing Alzheimer's disease," said Michael Valenzuela of the school of psychiatry at the University of NSW.
The study points to the link between lifestyle and dementia and corroborates the findings of previous population studies that showed mental activity could slow down the onset of degenerative brain diseases like Huntington's, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's.
The good news emerging from the study’s findings is pretty good, it seems: one can apparently control the risk of dementia right into their advanced years. “Our prior research shows the risk for dementia is quite malleable, even into late life,” Dr Valenzuela said.
Dr. Valenzuela added, “We’ve got strong evidence here that people who use their brains more have less brain shrinkage. I hope people take this as a further call to arms to get out there and use their brains, get engaged in anything from tai chi to world travel, in the knowledge that it may help delay or prevent the onset of dementia.”
Effectively, the new study’s findings prove the authenticity of the ‘use-it-or-lose-it’ principle as far as the brain is concerned.
According to Dr. Valenzuela, people should be up and active to stave off brain shrinkage in old age. He also said a number of drug companies were currently involved in finding pharmaceutical solutions to arrest the shrinkage of the hippocampus. The findings of the new research have been published in the journal PLoS One.
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