Brain Science:
We are continuing with the second pillar of brain health- Discovery. Last text was on when to retire. This one is on how to maintain brain health after retirement. Most of you who are my age have retired years ago. Some of us have done it in a way that has been great for our brain health. Some have not fared so well. We should be about celebrating these people who have done well and try to learn how they do it. One answer is something called brain elasticity (a plastic brain). This text is about that concept. The key component of this trait is the term cognitive reserve. Gupta explains this concept as a backup system in your brain that results from enriched life experiences. These experiences result in the brains ability to improvise and navigate around impediments that prevent the brain from getting a task done. The concept of cognitive reserve is fairly new (1980s). There are two generally accepted forms of reserve,
1. Neural reserve and
2. Neural compensation.
Neural reserve has to do with existing neural networks that have been used frequently and have become strong due to use. Neural compensation has to do with creating new networks.
Needless to say neural reserve builds over a lifetime use of existing networks. Neural compensation occurs as you develop new lines of thought and challenge your brain to experience something new. These new pathways are the creative part of your brain. You can build both forms of cognitive reserve by thinking, learning, strategizing and solving problems. A broader term than that refers to all of this is the brain's Placidity. The stronger the networks and the more you create them means your brain is more plastic.
Brain Facts:
· In the late 1980s the Department of Neuroscience at the University of California San Diego studied older people in nursing homes. The study found that people with no apparent signs of dementia had autopsy brain scans consistent with advanced Alzheimer’s. Their paper was the first to use the term cognitive reserve, suggesting these individuals had enough brain capacity to offset the damage and continue to function as usual. The researchers noted that the people who escaped symptoms of dementia had higher brain weights and a greater number of neurons.
· According to the Center for Integrative Neuroscience at UCSF, Dr. Adam Gazzaley, “What one thing can everyone do to preserve brain function and prevent neurodegenerative decline, his advice: “Lead a rich, active, dynamic, complex life.”
· In Fact, feeling you have a purpose in life right now might reduce your risk of future dementia by up to 20 percent. In 2017, JAMA- Psychiatry, published a study out of Harvard revealing that older adults with a higher sense of purpose tend to retain strong hand grips and walking speeds.
So What:
Sometimes I get the feeling I am talking to the choir. As most of you are friends or relatives I know most have a strong sense of purpose. If you do, I'm just trying to reinforce that. If by chance you don’t then let me encourage you to look for one. With purpose comes the motivation to remain physically active and take better care of yourself.
With a sense of purpose you tend to become immersed in what you are doing. Your brain gets into it. Finding purpose does not have to be of great consequence, it just needs to be something you can get mentally into and immerse your brain into. For me my first six months of retirement was not good. I did not realize that I was responsible for finding my purpose. When you're working that is a no brainer, when you retire you have to come up with it. After about six months I figured I needed to do things, and being who I am, I needed to be good at it. So here is what I came up with: Golf, duck carving, hooch making, furniture building, bar building, doctoral student coaching, project in Dominican Republic and maybe this; sending texts. See these things are therapy for me too!
At this point I am reminded of what the proctologists say to male patients… “Use it or lose it”. Brain science says the same… “Use it or lose it.”
Comments