A new research has suggested that brain exercise throughout lifetime can slow cognitive decline and protect the brain against dementia in old age.
The new study conducted by the American researchers shows that mental activities such as reading books or writing letters help the brain stay sharp.
Some 300 people over the age of 55 were examined through different tests that measured memory and thinking over the course of six years, according to the study published in Neurology.
The participants answered a questionnaire about whether they read books, wrote letters and took part in other activities linked to mental stimulation during childhood, adolescence, middle age, and in later life.
After death, their brains were also studied in seeking for evidence of the physical signs of dementia, such as brain lesions and plaques.
The team explored that the people who had a record of keeping the brain busy, both early and late in life, had a rate of cognitive decline estimated at 15% slower than those who did not.
Å“Exercising the brain across a lifetime is important for brain health in old age,” said the study leader Dr Robert Wilson of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
Å“The brain that we have in old age depends in part on what we habitually ask it to do in life,” he added.
To reduce the risk of developing dementia, the experts suggest some ways such as eating a balanced diet, exercising regularly, reading more and doing crosswords.
The lifetime risk of Alzheimerâ„¢s for women is 17% and for men is one in ten. By 2050, the Alzheimerâ„¢s Association estimates that the prevalence of dementia will double due to the increased proportion of the elderly in the population.
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Republished with permission from: Press TV