With the number of U.S. seniors with Alzheimer’s skyrocketing, much research is underway to determine how to stave off this mental deterioration, keeping people physically and mentally sound as they age.

A recent report in the December Journals of Gerontology: Medical Sciences found that older women who volunteered for Experience Corps – tutoring elementary school children, had increased brain activity in regions important to cognitive function after a period of six months.

What was exciting about these results, is that it shows a direct correlation between community-based programs and improved cognitive functions. Until now, much study has been done on the brain-boosting power of cognitive, physical and social leisure activities, but little was known about the effectiveness of community-based service.

“This finding is best captured by a personal observation from one of the volunteers, who stated that ‘it [Experience Corps] removed the cobwebs from my brain.” wrote Michelle C. Carlson, of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

The seventeen women enrolled in this study were low-income African-Americans with little education, aged 65 and older, and deemed high-risk for cognitive declines, based on a mental state evaluation. Eight of the women actually participated in the tutoring program in Baltimore elementary schools, while the other nine served as the control.

Via functional magnetic resonance imaging, researchers assessed neural activity in the brain prior to the volunteering experience, and again after six months. Based on the fMRI assessment, the women who actively participated in Experience Corps saw improvements in mental function compared with those in the control group.

There you have it, doing your civic duty and assisting others is highly rewarding to all participants. These meaningful activities seem to be more enriching than highly stimulating activities performed alone

By Jose Sonik

Can’t think clearly? Maybe it’s your blood pressure. North Carolina State University at Raleigh researcher Dr. Allaire has found a link between high blood pressure and mental function. Very simply, seniors with high blood pressure have poorer cognition than those with healthy blood pressure. “High blood pressure” means over 130.

~ by Lydia Yolen

Relax actively. That’s the advice of researchers to the retired and the elderly. Not only is it beneficial for your heart, it’s beneficial for your mind.

This news is the conclusion of numerous studies concerning how exercise affects the brain. Exercise causes a chain of reactions that release chemicals into the bloodstream, while regular aerobic workouts build up the presence of these chemicals. The results are startling. Far from the usual shrinking that accompanies aging, the brain begins to grow.

Children have flourishing brains that branch out new neurons with an exuberant frequency. The adult brain begins trimming back unused neurons, and some also die on their own. Until these recent studies, scientists believed that these dead neurons could never regrow. Now they know differently.

In a study by Columbia University’s Scott Small and the Salk Institute’s Fred Gage, subjects asked to exercise regularly seemed to sprout new neurons; the more fit they became the more neurons they grew. The neurons appeared in the section of the brain dedicated to learning and memory, one of the first sections to age. “It’s not just a matter of slowing down the aging process,” explained Arthur Kramer, of the University of Illinois. “It’s a matter of reversing it.”

Exercise does more than just grow a bigger brain. A research group at the University of Washington found that people who exercise three or more times a week have a 30% lower risk of developing Alzheimer’s. Nor did the exercise have to be an intense aerobic workout. Lead researcher Dr. Eric Larson said that a 15-minute walk three times a week was enough to reduce the risk. A similar study found that five to six hours of vigorous physical activity each week led to a 40% decrease in risk of developing Parkinson’s Disease.

Scientists don’t know why this happens, and they haven’t yet zeroed in on the best exercises. But until they figure it out, one thing remains clear: being a couch potato is bad for the brain. So move!