Como prevenir o envelhcimento da mente?

Mental Reserves Keep Brains Agile

The brain, like every other part of the body, changes with age, and those changes can impede clear thinking and memory. Yet many older people seem to remain sharp as a tack well into their 80s and beyond.

Exercise: Mental ...
Cognitive reserve is greater in people who complete higher levels of education. The more intellectual challenges to the brain early in life, the more neurons and connections the brain is likely to develop and perhaps maintain into later years. Better-educated people may go on to choose more intellectually demanding occupations and pursue brain-stimulating hobbies, resulting in a form of lifelong learning.

If you’re doing the same thing over and over again, without introducing new mental challenges, it won’t be beneficial,thus, as with muscles, it’s “use it or lose it.” The brain requires continued stresses to maintain or enhance its strength. Long-term studies in other countries, including Sweden and China, have also found that continued social interactions helped protect against dementia.

... and Physical

“elderly people who have been athletic all their lives have much better executive function than sedentary people of the same age. Exercise may help by improving blood flow (and hence oxygen and nutrients) to the brain, reducing the risk of ministrokes and clogged blood vessels, and stimulating growth factors that promote the formation of new neurons and neuronal connections.


By JANE E. BRODY Published: December 11, 2007