| The secret to the super.. |
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| Articles | Health | |||
“It's what keeps us going,” adds Georgia Scott, 99. “It's where our closest friends are.” In recent years, scientists have become intensely interested in what could be called a super memory club – the fewer than 1 in 200 of us who, like Scott and Cummins, have lived past 90 without a trace of dementia. It is a group that, for the first time, is large enough to provide a glimpse into the lucid brain at the furthest reach of human life, and to help researchers determine what, exactly, is essential in preserving mental sharpness. “These are the most successful agers on Earth, and they're only just beginning to teach us what's important – in their genes, in their routines, in their lives,” said Dr. Claudia Kawas, a neurologist at the University of California, Irvine. “We think, for example, that it's very important to use your brain, to keep challenging your mind, but all mental activities may not be equal. We're seeing some evidence that a social component may be crucial.” Laguna Woods, a retirement community of 20,000 south of Los Angeles, is at the center of the world's largest decades-long study of health and mental acuity in the elderly. Begun by University of Southern California researchers in 1981 and called the 90+ Study, it has included more than 14,000 people ages 65 and older, and more than 1,000 90 or older. The results of this study are starting to alter the way scientists understand the aging brain. The evidence suggests that people who spend long stretches of their days, three hours and more, engrossed in some mental activities like cards may be at reduced risk of developing dementia. Researchers are trying to tease apart cause from effect: Are they active because they are sharp, or sharp because they are active? Staying sharp and in the game To move into the gated village of Laguna Woods, a tidy array of bungalows and condos, people must meet several requirements. One is that they do not need full-time care. Their minds are sharp when they arrive, whether they are 65 or 95. They begin a new life. Make new friends. Try new activities. They are as busy as arriving freshmen at a new campus, with one big difference: They are less interested in the future. “We live for the day,” said Dr. Leon Manheimer, a resident in his 90s. Yet it is that ability to form new memories of the day, the present, that usually goes first in dementia cases, studies in Laguna Woods and elsewhere have found. The very old who live among their peers know this intimately, and have developed their own expertise. They diagnose each other. And they have learned to distinguish among different kinds of memory loss, which are manageable and which ominous. At Laguna Woods, many residents make such calculations in one place – at the bridge table. Contract bridge requires a strong memory. It involves four players, paired off, and each player must read his or her partner's strategy by closely following what is played. Good players remember every card. Forget one, or fall behind, and it can cost the team – and the connection. “When a partner starts to slip, you can't trust them,” said Julie Davis, 89. “It's terrible to say it that way, and worse to watch it happen. But other players get very annoyed. You can't help yourself.” Dual stimulations So far, scientists at Laguna Woods have found little evidence that diet or exercise affects the risk of dementia in people over 90. But some researchers argue that mental engagement – doing crossword puzzles, reading books – may delay the symptoms. And social connections, including interaction with friends, may be very important. In isolation, a healthy human mind can go blank and quickly become disoriented, psychologists have found. “There is quite a bit of evidence now suggesting that the more people you have contact with, in your own home or outside, the better you do” mentally and physically, Kawas said. “Interacting with people regularly, even strangers, uses easily as much brainpower as doing puzzles, and it wouldn't surprise me if this is what it's all about.” And bridge, she added, provides both kinds of stimulation. By Benedict Carey New York Times
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| Last Updated ( Sunday, 14 June 2009 09:59 ) |
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