Brain Games and Cognitive Reserve

Scientists studing “cognitive reserve” [resources for withstanding brain aging], are seeking methods for improving brain health:

Physical exercise is the best-proven prescription so far, the scientists agreed. Memory improved when 72-year-olds started a walking program three days a week, and sophisticated scans showed their brains’ activity patterns started resembling those of younger people…

Then there’s the “use-it-or-lose-it” theory, that people with higher education, more challenging occupations and enriched social lives build more cognitive reserve than couch potatoes.

Everything from doing crossword puzzles to various computer-based brain-training programs has been touted, but nothing is yet proven to work [while] animal studies suggesting low-dose estrogen and drugs that might mimic or ramp up brain signaling are promising possibilities. [via Wired News]

This entry was posted on October 18, 2007 at 9:41 am and is filed under neuroscience. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your own site.