Mental Exercise in Early Middle Years Reduced Brain Plaques Later in Life

Think you're too young to try to prevent Alzheimer's disease? Think again.

The latest research published in the Archives of Neurology journal concludes (as have other studies) that brain exercise is an important tool in reducing your risk of Alzheimer's. But this time, researchers looked at the level of mental exercise in early and middle life as self-reported by 65 participants with an average age of 76. They found that individuals who reported an active cognitive lifestyle (defined by reading, writing and playing games) in their early and middle years displayed fewer beta-amyloid deposits on current PET scans. Beta-amyloid deposits are found in abundance in the brains of people with Alzheimer's disease and are a main component of amyloid plaques, one of the diagnostic hallmarks of the disease. Interestingly, no correlation was found with current mental activity and beta-amyloid deposits.

Most of the other research up to now has connected current mental fitness and activity levels with the absence of symptoms of Alzheimer's. This new research is significant in two ways:

• It correlates brain exercise in the early and middle years of life with outcomes later in life.
• It demonstrates a reduction in the physiological development of brain plaques that accompany Alzheimer's disease.

If our brains are impacted decades before Alzheimer's develops and we can reduce the risk simply by working out mentally, that's a pretty time and cost-efficient way to work towards prevention of a disease that affects over 5.3 million Americans.

Wondering where to start? Here's a list of 12 ways to exercise your brain.