Trying to keep your mind in tip-top shape? An expert tells us how you can fight brain decline by living an active and engaged life.
According to the Alzheimer’s Association, more than five million Americans are currently living with Alzheimer’s. By 2050, that number could rise as high as 16 million. While most people associate brain decline with aging, from those classic “senior moments” to more severe memory loss from diseases like Alzheimer’s, recent research studies reveal that younger people also need to pay attention to brain health.
María P. Aranda, associate professor in the Department of Adult Mental Health and Wellness at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work and executive director of the USC Edward R. Roybal Institute on Aging, has suggestions on how making a few simple lifestyle adjustments can improve brain health for anyone — at any age.
When Do We Need to Start Worrying about Brain Health?
Recent studies have shown that brain changes occur much sooner than experts once believed. We used to think that brain changes began as we entered our sixties, but now we know that changes — such as decreases in the volume of grey matter in the prefrontal cortex region of the brain — begin to occur in our early 20s.
“That doesn’t mean that a person in their 20s who experiences decreases in grey matter is going to suffer from a neurocognitive illness such as Alzheimer’s,” Aranda said. “We know that’s not true. But we do know that brain volume peaks in the early 20s and gradually declines thereafter, most notably in the prefrontal cortex region which controls brain functions such as planning, paying attention, and getting organized.”