They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but scientific findings seem to indicate otherwise. Research shows that our brains literally rewire in response to new stimulation. And when it comes to computer use, Internet activity may stimulate and possibly improve brain function, according to scientists at UCLA.

“Technology may be changing our minds and changing the way we think,” said Dr. Gary Small, a neuroscientist speaking last month at the UCLA Technology & Aging Conference at the Skirball Cultural Center.

Small, director of the UCLA Center on Aging, described results of research he and colleagues performed with volunteers between the ages of 55 and 76. Half of the participants were familiar with how to search the Internet, and the other half were new to it. The participants engaged in Internet searching while simultaneously undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).

The MRI images clearly showed activity in the areas of the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning — but only in the Web-savvy group. The inexperienced group showed no such activity.

However, after just five one-hour sessions of practice, the Web newbies showed activation in the same areas of the brain as the savvy group.

“Five hours on the Internet and the naive subjects had already rewired their brains,” said Small, writing about the findings in “iBrain: Surviving the Technological Alteration of the Modern Mind” (HarperCollins). “Recent studies demonstrate that older brains do remain malleable and plastic throughout life. Even areas of the brain that were reserved for specialized tasks can be recruited and retrained.”

In other words, “use it or lose it” applies to the brain. Indeed, Small notes, “Several studies have shown that exercising the brain with mental aerobics not only can improve cognitive performance scores but also may delay brain degeneration.”

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Do your mental aerobics and brain games at Myfitbrain.

Who would have thought that one could improve brain health? I mean, if I go to the gym and do biceps exercises, or squats, there is a way to measure my progress.

Muscles grow and can be measured or I can move more resistance, lift a heavier weight, and I feel better, (because of the endorphins released when I resistance train) but if I go read classical literature or research in a field I am unfamiliar with, I cannot measure my brain’s health or growth in the same way as I can a muscle’s growth or health.

(When was the last time anyone complimented you on your axon definition? See?)

If I am still thinking, creating words in my brain, then it must be healthy, right?

Not necessarily. Changes in my brain’s health are subtle and cumulative, and we are not sure that once things like Alzheimer’s disease have begun that cognitive function can be regained.

It turns out that I need to take care of improving my brain’s health just like I do my musculature and skeletal health.
Continue reading about how to improve and keep your brain healthy at: Brain Health

“We have to realize that the era of the magic bullet—drugs for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease—is over. We need to take a holistic approach, like they do for heart disease. What works for the heart, works for the head.” — Dr. Khalsa, ca. 1994

Recent research confirms what we have known for some time now: magic bullet drugs are not the final answer in fighting Alzheimer’s. The only effective way to prevent or even slow Alzheimer’s at this time in history is by harnessing the power of a holistic or integrative medical approach.

By understanding the key elements of prevention – its pillars, as it were – you can better protect and care for yourself and your loved ones who are struggling with this disease.

Read about the 4 pillars of prevention here: Alzheimer’s Prevention

People can obtain their mental stimulation in many ways, but it takes work.  Properly constructed brain games offer people an alternative way to get their brain exercise.  Just as some people only get exercise by going to a gym, the only way some people will push their brain in novel ways is by using a structured brain game software program such as Myfitbrain.

Brain games alone will not keep your brain sharp though.  It is important to also get physical exercise, eat a proper diet, and get sufficient sleep.  The brain is a very sensitive and complex organ.  In order to maximize its capabilities, a person needs to take care of its environment by treating it well.  Treating it well also includes minimizing stress.

Stress management is important to enable our brains to build and utilize new neurons.  Our bodies are only meant to deal with stress in short sporadic situations – like running away from lions and tigers and bears – on my!  When we put our bodies and brain under stress for extended periods of time, our brain is not operating at its peak efficiency for the long term.  If we do not replace the neurons that die as a natural part of aging or die due to injury or too much alcohol, our brains will begin to shrink.  As our brains shrink, they become more susceptible to showing the effects of diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

Many of things we should do for our brain are similar to what we should do for our hearts.  An exception is the mental exercises which push the brain in novel ways and require the brain to make use of the neurons it creates when we are eating right, sleeping well, getting aerobic exercise, and minimizing stress.