Reading is the best torment
Reading and intellectual games will help the brain not to age
Any kind of mental activity – reading, writing or intellectual games – will help to preserve the structural integrity of the brain of elderly people for many years. These are the findings of a study by American scientists presented at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA: Reading, Writing and Playing Games May Help Aging Brains Stay Healthy).
Previous studies have proven that mental activity in old age has a beneficial effect on cognitive abilities in general, however, Konstantinos Arfanakis and his colleagues from Rush University Medical Center and the Illinois Institute of Technology have proven that such activity can influence the structure of white matter of the brain.
The white matter consists of nerve fibers – axons – and provides information transfer between different parts of the brain. The scientists used diffusion tensor imaging (DTV), an MRI technique that allows us to evaluate the diffusion of water molecules along the myelin sheath of axons of nerve cells in the brain. This allows you to get information about the integration of white matter structures and the connections between them. In white matter, it is easier for water molecules to move along axons and much more difficult to move perpendicular to them. As a result of this difference in diffusion, diffusive anisotropy occurs. The higher it is, the better and more efficiently the white matter "works", but after 30 years the anisotropy begins to decrease steadily.
152 people took part in the study, the average age of which was 81 years. All of them were participants in the Rush Memory and Aging Project, a major study of risk factors for Alzheimer's disease. None of them had symptoms of Alzheimer's disease or other serious cognitive impairment at the time of the DTV. Before the DTV, the participants filled out questionnaires where they indicated how many times a week they were engaged in any kind of mental activity - reading books and newspapers, writing letters, playing chess, cards or board games.
The results of the study revealed noticeable differences in the structure and anisotropy of the white matter of the brain of those whose mental activity remains quite high, and those who are not so mentally active. The greatest differences were observed in the structure of the areas involved in cognitive activity. Thus, the authors of the study say, active mental activity will help older people maintain their mental health and cognitive skills longer.
Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru29.11.2012