Supporting Material
Saturday, April 30, 2005
"A number of studies have reported that mental and social activities, such as reading, dancing, playing music or singing in a choir could delay onset of dementia. It has been proposed that such activities increase brain activity, stimulate establishment of new connections between nerve cells and may even result in the production of new nerve cells.
Over the years of mental stimulation a brain can build many connections between nerve cells. When such a brain becomes affected by Alzheimer's disease some of these connections are disruppted, but the brain may be able to de-route the flow of information to intact connections. Because of this, active brains that have many connections between nerve cells, tend to remain free of dementia symptoms for longer. In contrast, a flow of information in an inactive brain, that has few connections between nerve cells, is easily disrupted at the onset of Alzheimer's disease." Source: Alzheimers Australia
"Those [people] who have challenged their brains more than others have built up more reserves, and that may actually delay the onset of Alzheimer's," reports Dr. Cohen, author of The Creative Age: Awakening Human Potential in the Second Half of Life. Gene Cohen, MD, PhD, Director of the Center on Aging, Health and the Humanities at George Washington University.
The significance of such a delay should not be underestimated. A five-year delay in the onset of AD across the entire population would "cut the incidence of the disease in half," reports Dr. Cohen, reducing the resources spent on medical care and freeing family members whoenter.com/14088.cfm">Somerset Medical Center
"This is the first demonstration," he said, "in a genetically clean, carefully controlled animal model showing that an enhanced environment can have such a tremendously beneficial impact, protecting the brain from the pathological hallmarks of this insidious disease."
These findings support a "potentially causal inverse relationship between a more engaging, enriched life and AD progression," note Stanislav Karsten and Daniel Geschwind of UCLA in an accompanying editorial. They also provide "clear initial directions for exploring the role of the environment and the molecular pathways perturbed in AD and other neurodegenerative disorders." Source -
Enriched environment delays onset of Alzheimer's in mice
"Intellectual activities seemed particularly protective, he said, noting that those whose leisure centred on mind-challenging hobbies were about two and a half times less likely to develop Alzheimer's.... Physical activity does not appear to offer protection against dementia. The only exception was frequent dancing. The researchers postulated that music might engage the dancer's mind." Source - Neurological Foundation of New Zealand
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