The other morning, I heard a report on NPR’s Morning Edition. The subject was senior moments—what they mean, when to worry, and what to do about them.
The reporter spoke with Dr. David Bennett, who directs the Alzheimer’s Disease Center at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. After 16 years of studying thousands of samples of postmortem brain tissue, Dr. Bennett has concluded that “a lot of people have a little bit of Alzheimer’s.” Even among those who showed no symptoms, he said, “It’s hard not to have at least a little bit of Alzheimer’s pathology.”
While he recognizes this knowledge “could frighten a lot of people,” Bennett sees in the finding both a positive and an opportunity:
The positive is many people clearly are able to tolerate “a little bit of Alzheimer’s” in their brains—or even more than a little bit.
The opportunity comes in the form of building a cognitive reserve—that is, extra brain capacity that compensates for whatever damage accumulates from whichever cause, be it illness or injury.
“I think of cognitive reserve like the side streets when there’s an accident on the expressway,” Bennett says. “Everything comes to a dead stop, and you get off and you meander through the side streets, and you can actually get to your destination.”
What this emphasizes is the importance for all of us of being proactive in protecting our brain health.
Both physical exercise and brain exercise are two ways to build up that cognitive reserve, so, let’s get to it! There is too much at stake to sit on the sidelines!
Good to know that such a place in our brain exists. Is it just up to tolerating or recovering from a little bit of Alzheimer’s?
Comment by perfit training — May 12, 2011 @ 9:15 pm
Thanks for reading our blog, and thanks for your question!
I think there are two pieces of good news in this story…the first is that we all can, in fact, tolerate a little Alzheimer’s because each of us has a lot of brain to work with, most of which we haven’t ever tapped; the second is that, although there doesn’t seem to be a way to recover significant cognitive losses due to dementia, whether you choose to battle that little bit of Alzheimer’s or slow the progress of more advanced Alzheimer’s, you can.
Building your cognitive reserve now, when your brain is its healthiest, means you will have already mapped out tons of those side streets Dr. Bennett mentions, whenever you eventually need them. Those detours and alternate routes will then be there for you from the outset of natural brain aging or for that little bit of Alzheimer’s. Even for those who unfortunately do develop more advanced Alzheimer’s, maintaining the largest network of side streets as possible in your arsenal, ready for the battle ahead, is going to make it significantly easier to slow the progress of the disease, or other forms of dementia, for that matter. And that’s true whether you started building your cognitive reserve before or after diagnosis.
So don’t wonder WHEN you should begin building your cognitive reserve using a brain fitness program like ours. The answer is: The sooner, the better!
Comment by Dan Michel — May 24, 2011 @ 2:37 pm
Thanks for the reply. So it means cognitive reserves could prevent Alzheimer’s to happen and it could battle an ongoing Alzheimer’s? If a person is suffering an Alzheimer’s disease does it also mean that he lacks cognitive reserves and needs to undergo somekind of activity to acquire it?
Comment by perfit guy — May 29, 2011 @ 6:21 am
Unfortunately, nothing at this point in time can completely prevent Alzheimer’s disease. And while a lack of cognitive reserve does not cause Alzheimer’s, having any amount of cognitive reserve, as you say, will help in the battle with Alzheimer’s if it should come to that. There are two ways in which brain fitness and building upon a cognitive reserve can have a significant positive impact on a person’s Alzheimer’s outlook, whether you think you may develop it or you already have it:
* Those of us who are concerned about developing Alzheimer’s disease, either because of our family’s health history or simply by the news that Alzheimer’s is on the rise among the aging population, can build our cognitive reserve right now to “bank some brain cells” toward delaying its impact should we eventually develop it and toward managing its effects if/when it does develop.
* Even after diagnosis, though, continuing to challenge the mind with a brain fitness program will not only maintain the cognitive reserve built before diagnosis but also can expand it further. This maintenance and expansion is important because preserving and building on your cognitive reserve will help reroute new brain nerve pathways around, and therefore compensate for, existing pathways that are being damaged as the Alzheimer’s progresses.
Happily, Dakim BrainFitness provides the means for building on your cognitive reserve right now, regardless of which scenario applies.
As with body fitness, where being in the best physical condition possible can extend your life, help you delay or manage illness, and maximize the quality of your years ahead, brain fitness does the same for your cognitive conditioning. The cognitive reserve you build through your brain fitness efforts today works in your favor to extend your years of brain health, help delay or manage cognitive illness, and maximize the quality of those coming years with your family and friends.
Comment by Dan Michel — June 9, 2011 @ 5:58 pm
Thanks men! I really appreciate your efforts to answer my question.
Comment by perfit guy — June 28, 2011 @ 6:06 am