Where did I put my keys?

Ways to keep your brain performing at its best

by Ruth Weinstock

Is your life a litter of reminder lists? Keys left somewhere? Forgotten pots burning on the stove? “Losing it” can be annoying, time consuming and worse. And it makes you wonder, is this just a brain cramp or the start of something more?

We are born to learn — and remember. Human brains are made to register, encode and store information for later retrieval and use. The brain’s ability to access details about our experiences helps form our unique personalities, as well as contributing to personal growth and purpose. Our ability to confidently transfer information from our short-term or “working” memory, for storage and retrieval from our longer-term memory, is central to our basic sense of competence and productivity.

“Our memory helps in relationships and offering people the experience of being held in heart and mind,” reflects Shawn Zevit, a Philadelphia-based organizational consultant in the areas of leadership, community building and creativity. “It keeps our sense of engagement with the world active. Memory is also key to reaction time, decision making, learning from past missteps and using more of the brain’s untapped resource.”

It’s no surprise that boomers, concerned that their memories sometimes seem more spaced-out than sharp, are making brain health a hot topic today. In November 2007, The New York Times reported that the U.S. brain-training market was expected to soar from $2 million in 2005 to $80 million only two years later. While temporary memory lapses are a far cry from full-blown cognitive impairment, they can still be worrisome. Bernard Gershenson, an English professor at the College of San Mateo in California, comments, “Because our generation is generally aware of Alzheimer’s, we’re all wary about occasional forgetfulness.”

NEW ANSWERS

The good news is that new research has accelerated scientists’ understanding of brain health. Dr. Paul Nussbaum, a professor in neurological surgery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, states, “Do we know conclusively how to prevent brain decline? No. Do we have some ideas about how to reduce our risk for the disease? We think so.”

Some of the most exciting new answers are rooted in the concept of brain plasticity — the capacity of the brain to physically change its structure, particularly as new experiences are encountered. Dr. Michael Merzenich, a pioneering neurophysiologist at the Keck Center for Integrative Neurosciences at the University of California, San Francisco, calls the discovery that the brain can literally reshape itself, “a kind of revolution, with implications that extend across the lifespan.”

“Our brains begin a slow decline starting at age 30,” Merzenich explains. “The average older brain hasn’t had much new learning in a long time. It’s as though that part of the brain is turned down low because of disuse.” Degraded messages the older brain receives from senses that are less acute than they were decades earlier also contribute to decline. (It’s harder to remember a fuzzy sound than a clear word.)

But, states Merzenich, “People don’t understand the extent to which brain health is under their control. They believe they are stuck with their inherited brain endowment. We have the ability at any point in life to do the right things to maintain brain fitness and keep our memories.”

TEACH YOUR NEURONS NEW TRICKS

What is recommended? Try new and complex experiences; seeking learning with increasing levels of difficulty; choose activities that require mental focus and engage the senses and movement. (See Tips.)

When you kick the demand on your brain up a notch, you are asking your mental couch potato to rev into a cerebral spurt. Think of the state of high alertness you’d be in while learning to juggle multiple balls in the air, or new dance steps. Picture concentrating on hearing your friend’s words in a noisy restaurant, punching in phone numbers with your non-dominant hand, or playing a trivia game where the speedy one wins. These activities, and others, increase your attentiveness and apparently encourage the release of brain chemicals for learning and remembering.

Dr. Merzenich advocates intensive and progressively challenging activities to train the brain. In 2003, he co-founded Posit Science to develop programs based on recent research. The 65-year-old Merzenich credits his company’s Brain Fitness program with enabling him to ace the answers to three-quarters of the previous week’s New York Times crossword puzzle, without consulting the clues. A recent study of the program, done by scientists from the Mayo Clinic and the University of Southern California, showed 60-year-olds could achieve brain activity equivalent to 49-year-olds.

BUYER BEWARE

The brain health industry is burgeoning. Millions have bought Nintendo’s “Brain Age” video game, though it promises only fun. A host of other hawkers hope you will purchase their products to recharge your mental batteries.

But it’s buyer beware. Before spending, examine the scientific evidence to back up the claims of the many brain fitness programs. Check out the free trials on the web. Or look into the brain health resources offered by AARP and the Alzheimer’s Association. The Posit Science site is one of a number with useful guidelines for understanding your brain and strengthening mental resilience.

The bottom line? When life offers you an opportunity to run up mental stairs, don’t take the easy escalator. Make an effort to process information in spite of distraction. Improve your recall by memorizing song lyrics or poems. Tackle complex jigsaw puzzles. Knitting, carpentry and other hobbies that involve the senses, hand-eye coordination and decision making are all good for the noggin. Take delight in becoming adept at doing daily tasks with your “other” hand. Make large and small mental challenges into a private game you play.

And don’t stress when your new normal is striding purposefully to the bedroom room, only to stop and wonder, ‘Why the heck am I here?’ Bernard Gershenson, who facilitated a support group for Alzheimer’s caregivers for six years, points out, “There’s a big difference between forgetting where you put the keys and forgetting what the keys are for.”

Freelance writer Ruth Weinstock has taught courses in memoir writing and is fascinated by the human brain and creativity. When asked if she sees an upside to aging, she said ”Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can’t remember them either.”

TIPS FOR BRAIN HEALTH

Ask yourself: How much of my life is spent on choices associated with brain health?