The brain and ageing

No organ is more critical than our brain, which means the wear and tear of ageing will show up first in thought function; we begin to get slower in our movement and manners, easily muddled, more forgetful and eventually a little silly. Shakespeare summed up the final stage well in his Seven Ages of Man: we go back to a kind of second childhood, where we are not fully capable mentally. This may be quite mild, where the patient is known to be a little ìdottyî (short for dotage), or as severe as full-blown dementia. The ìSeventh Ageî applies to women also. In fact women tend to suffer more from the dementias, a fact we attend to in the section of memory.

You do not want to enter this finale stage, for sure. Many people dread losing their faculties as they get older and even, half jokingly, ask someone to put a bullet to their head, rather than allow this to happen, so great is the abhorrence of becoming mentally inept. We urge you to follow the advice given throughout this book and with luck you never will. Age-related deterioration of the brain is not inevitable, as many lucid centenarians prove, so donít buy into this mind set. Treasure yourself and be determined to go on and on, enjoying life to the full, right to the very end.

Facts you may not know

The human brain has been described as the ì3 pound universeî, meaning that all our thoughts, actions, perceptions, emotions, desires and dreams are contained in an organ weighing no more than 50 ounces, lodged inside the skull! There are approximately 100 billion brain cells (neurones), each making between 5,000 and 50,000 hard-wired connections or ìsynapsesî. That means around 4 quadrillion connections! This awesome power needs a great deal of energy (a total of 25 watts, for those who are technically minded). In fact our brain, which is only 2% of body weight, requires over 25% of our nutritional energy output. That makes the brain very vulnerable to damage and degeneration, from lack of oxygen, poor nutrition, toxic overload and chemical deposits, including drugs. It means we have to look after our brain with extra care.

At the age of 75 you still have 85% of the brain cells that you were born with, and the good news is that scientists at the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California have now proven that brain cells can replace themselves. Previously it was always thought that loss of brain cells was permanent, but we can now potentially regenerate and revitalize our brains. This is great news.

Therefore, the more we can look after our diet, take the right nutrients and keep our minds active ñ the better our brain ës will work.

What you can do

The first point to grasp is that your brain thrives on activity! Itís a use it or lose it thing. Science has shown that the number of connections in the brain can be increased, no matter the starting point, by simply making demands of the mind. More connections mean more brain power. Any kind of stimulus is valid, be it crosswords, conversation, creative hobbies, sports or the arts, but doing what you love has the most benefits.

Which brings us to the point that smiles and laughter produce endorphins which help raise our mood. Robert Holden founder of The Happiness Project gives a simple technique you can use every day: read more