Do You Have A Healthy Brain? The Secret to Mental Agility

We all know to exercise our bodies to keep fit,professor of neurology, University Hospitals of
but how often do you think about exercising yourCleveland. He said "A relative increase in the
brain? And what type of exercise does it needamount of time devoted to intellectual activities
anyway? What are the facts? What is the secretfrom early adulthood (ages 20-39) to
to mental agility?mid-adulthood (ages 40-60) was associated with a
Keeping mentally active will keep your brain insignificant decrease in the probability of having
good shape. Getting older does not mean thatAlzheimer's disease later in life."
you have to be forgetful!An intellectual or physical hobby stimulates the
Recent research into Alzheimer's disease foundbrain and may reduce neurodegeneration as seen
that people who were less active between thein diseases such as Alzheimer's. So sitting watching
ages of 20 and 60 years are almost 4 timesthe TV isn't enough for your brain, you need to
more likely to develop the disease. The brain, likekeep it active. One way is by learning new things.
the rest of the body, needs to be kept active toMany of the finalists in the Learning in Later Life
keep healthy.Campaign 2000 to find England's oldest and most
You exercise your body to keep it in shape. Nowinspiring learners had art and painting as their
it has been shown that exercising your brain canhobby.
keep it in shape too.England's Oldest Learner was Fred Moore who
That leaves us with the question of what to dowas then aged 107 years. Fred continued with art
to keep our brains active. The researchclasses until he died at the age of 109. The
discovered that how you spend your leisure timemanager of his residential home said "Fred was a
can affect the health of your brain.remarkable chap. He kept his memory, going back
Leisure activities can be divided into -to the death of Queen Victoria, and always
Passive activities, which include watching TV,retained his great sense of humor."
participating in social activities, and listening toSo it's official then, learning a new hobby is good
music.for you. Fancy learning to paint? Painting can be
Intellectual activities are reading, painting, playing adone indoors and outdoors, as well as by yourself
musical instrument, woodworking.or in a group.
Physical activities, for example, gardening, playingIt is never too late to start. Local night classes
sport, working out at the gym, walking, jogging.offer a range of options. Have a look online too.
The only 'activity' that the Alzheimer's patientsRemember you can have a healthy brain and
had performed more frequently than the controlenjoy a hobby too. Don't leave it until tomorrow,
group was watching TV!begin today!
The research team was lead by Robert Friedland,