Brain Health

Maintaining a healthy brain is as important as maintaining a healthy body, especially as you age.

Here are some suggestions to help keep your mind sharp, courtesy of AARP:

Don't drink excessive amounts of alcohol, smoke, or use illegal drugs.
Get regular exercise and enough sleep.
Learn how to reduce stress.
If you notice significant changes in your memory or brain function, speak with your doctor.
Prescription medications -- especially when taken in combination -- may affect your mental and physical performance, so let your doctor know about all medications that you take.
Stay physically and socially active, and avoid staying at home by yourself.

Want a better memory?

People who want to learn things might do better by simply stopping to smell the roses, researchers reported on Thursday.

German researchers found they could use odors to re-activate new memories in the brains of people while they slept -- and the volunteers remembered better later.

Writing in the journal Science, they said their study showed that memories are indeed consolidated during sleep, and show that smells and perhaps other stimuli can reinforce brain learning pathways.

Jan Born of the University of Lubeck in Germany and colleagues had 74 volunteers learn to play games similar to the game of "Concentration" in which they must find matched pairs of objects or cards by turning only one over at a time.

full report...