Here is the third install­ment of ques­tions from Brain Fit­ness 101: Answers to Your Top 25 Ques­tions. To down­load the com­plete ver­sion, please click here.

Ques­tion:
What is brain fitness?

Key Points:

• Brain fit­ness is the state of hav­ing quick, effi­cient, and flex­i­ble cog­ni­tive processing.
• Brain fit­ness is likely to be a con­se­quence of increased num­ber of neu­rons, func­tional con­nec­tions between neu­rons, and pro­cess­ing speed.

Answer:
Brain fit­ness grew out of the study of neu­ropsy­chol­ogy and neu­ro­science, and is the sci­ence of main­tain­ing and train­ing cog­ni­tive abil­i­ties through neu­ro­plas­tic­ity and stim­u­lat­ing neu­ro­ge­n­e­sis, the cre­ation of new neu­rons, neural con­nec­tions, and brain vas­cu­lar­iza­tion. Cog­ni­tive abil­i­ties like atten­tion, stress and emo­tional man­age­ment, mem­ory, visual/spatial pro­cess­ing, audi­tory processes and lan­guage, motor coor­di­na­tion, and exec­u­tive func­tions like plan­ning and prob­lem solv­ing dimin­ish over time unless they are used reg­u­larly. It is evi­dent in an abil­ity to assim­i­late infor­ma­tion, com­pre­hend rela­tion­ships, and develop rea­son­able con­clu­sions and plans.

Brain fit­ness can be devel­oped by for­mal edu­ca­tion, being actively men­tally engaged in life, con­tin­u­ing to learn, and exer­cises designed to chal­lenge cog­ni­tive skills. Healthy lifestyle habits includ­ing men­tal stim­u­la­tion, phys­i­cal exer­cise, good nutri­tion, stress man­age­ment, and sleep can improve brain fit­ness. On the other hand, chronic stress, anx­i­ety, depres­sion, aging, decreas­ing estro­gen, excess oxy­tocin, and pro­longed cor­ti­sol can decrease brain fit­ness as well as gen­eral health.

Brain fit­ness can be eval­u­ated by behav­ioral per­for­mance as seen in cog­ni­tive reserve, improved mem­ory, atten­tion con­cen­tra­tion, exec­u­tive func­tions, decision-making, men­tal flex­i­bil­ity, and other core capa­bil­i­ties. Sci­en­tists are also begin­ning to learn how to mea­sure brain fit­ness phys­i­cally at the cel­lu­lar level by study­ing neu­ro­ge­n­e­sis, the cre­ation of new neu­rons, and increased func­tional con­nec­tions of synapses and den­drites between neurons.

New tech­nolo­gies and brain imag­ing devices have shown that active brain func­tion results in an increase in blood flow to the areas of the brain involved in car­ry­ing out the task, bring­ing with it oxy­gen and nutri­ents for the cells. Addi­tion­ally, stem cells con­cen­trate in the areas where there is greater brain activ­ity and learn to func­tion in the same capac­ity as the sur­round­ing cells. In essence, the cells grow in the active areas of the brain.

A great deal of research has shown that prac­tic­ing cog­ni­tive skills encour­ages their preser­va­tion and devel­op­ment at all ages. Research into cog­ni­tive reserves found that the more edu­ca­tion peo­ple had and the more their minds were occu­pied, the less they suf­fered from age-related decline. Peo­ple who remain intel­lec­tu­ally active and engage in hob­bies reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s dis­ease by one third. All of these facts show that cog­ni­tive train­ing — exer­cis­ing your brain — pro­tects your brain against decline in mem­ory, con­cen­tra­tion and infor­ma­tion processing.

Fur­ther Reading

• Hultsch D, et al. Use it or lose it: Engaged lifestyle as a buffer of cog­ni­tive decline in aging? Psy­chol­ogy and Aging. 1999;14:245–263.
• Scarmeas N, Stern Y. Cog­ni­tive reserve and lifestyle. J Clin Exp Neu­ropsy­chol. 2003;25:625–33.
• Willis SL, Tennst­edt SL, Mar­siske M, et al. Long-term effects of cog­ni­tive train­ing on every­day func­tional out­comes in older adults. JAMA. 2006;296:2805–14.
• Wolin­sky FD, Unverzagt FW, Smith DM, Jones R, Stod­dard A, Tennst­edt SL. The ACTIVE Cog­ni­tive Train­ing Trial and Health-Related Qual­ity of Life: Pro­tec­tion That Lasts for 5 Years. J Geron­tol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2006;61:1324–9.
• Men­tal Fit­ness: Exer­cises for The Brain
• Brain Fit­ness Programs

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