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Cognitive Impairment and
Solutions
For many of us, our minds and memories hit
a few speed bumps as we enter our 30s and 40s. Usually we make little jokes
about these slipups, annoying as they can be, and chalk them up to the normal
aging process. Yet medical researchers are now redefining "normal"
aging in the brain, and their findings suggest that "senior moments"
may not be inevitable. In fact, they may be completely avoidable.
Lack of cognitive stimulation has been
demonstrated to result in decreased cognitive abilities over time. Daily
practice on computer programs can provide sufficient stimulation to maintain
hard-won cognitive gains, fill leisure time, provide respite for
caregivers, and allow interaction with family members and peers. It's based
on the use it or loose it phenomenon.
In the first population-based study of
cognitive impairment in the United States, nearly one in four older African
Americans in Indianapolis were found to have measurable cognitive problems
(short of dementia or Alzheimer's). The prevalence of cognitive impairment grew
significantly with age, with rates increasing by about 10 percent for every 10
years of age after age 65. Of those aged 85 and older, 38% had some degree of
cognitive impairment. Surveys in other countries (which cannot be directly
compared due to differences in methodology, diagnostic criteria, etc) have
reported results ranging from 10.7% in Italy to 26.6% in Finland.
Cognitive
training programs can reverse cognitive impairment. The
Seattle
Longitudinal Studies of adult intelligence suggested
that the observed decline in many mature adults is probably a function of disuse
and is often reversible.
It is heavily documented that cognitive function (memory, reasoning,
problem-solving, etc) declines with age. However, age related memory decline by
itself could sometimes be associated with physical factors.
Other
factors that have also been implicated in age-related cognitive decline are
obesity, smoking, and high blood pressure. Indeed, researchers have suggested that risk
factors for cardiovascular disease are also risk factors for cognitive decline:
what's bad for the heart is also bad for the brain.
Memory training
A review of the research shows that memory training can significantly
improve memory performance in older adults. Research
indicates that training which includes instruction designed to modify people's expectations
and beliefs about memory, is more successful than training which deals solely
with memory strategies. Providing more background information about the memory
strategies - why it works, etc - also appears to lead to greater memory
improvement. It has also been suggested that a complex and intellectually
stimulating environment helps prevent cognitive decline in later life.
Certainly, it seems that, cognitive decline is less in those who engage
more frequently in cognitively stimulating activities.
Cognitive training programs are the perfect stimulation to
prevent or reverse cognitive impairment.
The Seattle
Longitudinal Studies of adult intelligence suggested that the observed
decline in many community-dwelling older people is probably a function of disuse
and is often reversible. It
was found that some 2/3 of participants in cognitive training programs showed
significant improvement, and 40% of those who had declined significantly were
indeed returned to their earlier (pre-decline) level of cognitive functioning.
These training gains were retained for over seven years. We
have the best of the cognitive training tools on the market available at our
center as well as providing home versions if you prefer.
Our memory
coaching encourages a regimen of nutrition, exercise, supplements, and cognitive
training. This regimen is designed to increase the potential for quick recall
with improved concentration and memory for everyday living.
Everyday memory encompasses
our memory for future actions and events…our memory of people…our memory for
our own past… and our memory of cognitive and physical skills. Once we realize that memory is working with different types of
information in different ways - we have made a tremendous step forward in
understanding memory and in being able to use it more effectively. However, we
must always keep in mind that cognitive training programs should be supported by
proper nutrition and exercise for optimum health and mental performance.
For
info related to brain plasticity and new brain research Click
here. The brain can heal and be revitalized with new neuropathways. Our cognitive training
programs work off the principles of brain plasticity,
building new neural pathways through stimulation and recent brain research.
The brain can heal and be
revitalized at any age.
For auditory decline please consider The
Listening Program.
For visual decline See Visual
processing programs
For info related to
brain plasticity and new brain research Click
here.
For additional reading on memory continue to the bottom
of this page
Nutritional
supplements are available to improve cognitive functioning and memory. Most
commonly marketed ‘memory formulas’ demonstrate a lack of understanding of
basic brain chemistry, and often end up only weakening the memory of the user
rather than strengthening it. We have a nutritional supplement called Memorin. To find out more about it click here
( Memorin
)
For additional reading click here (Training
Improves Age-Related Memory Decline)
. This article tells you why our programs work. (You will need to Arrow back or
page back to our site)
Yes! Many things can be done to help those
with memory difficulties. There are several good interventions, ranging
from medications to non-medication treatments. We
provide the best of the alternative treatments. They have been heavily
researched and have a consistent record of accomplishment in aiding their users
in obtaining optimum performance. Click on the Home page button to find out the
benefits of our programs.
Excepts from “The Memory Key”
Copyright © 2000-1 Capital
Research Limited were included with
permission
Additional
information:
The Aging Brain (condensed)
by Susie Blackmun
Why do we age? Why is each species' life span so well
defined? Stephen Salloway, M.D., an associate professor of neurology and
psychiatry at Brown University, posed these and other questions to his audience
in "The Aging Brain," a presentation held during the 10th Annual U.S.
Psychiatric & Mental Health Congress. "Apoptosis," programmed cell
death, may play a role in aging, according to Salloway. "It may be that
cells are only meant to live so long, and then are phased out."
Life span, however, does not rely upon genes alone,
Salloway continued. Environmental factors and injuries take a toll, free
radicals contribute to cell damage, and trophic factors that nourish neurons
decline with time. The immune function changes with activities, environment and
age, exposing us to infections and diseases. We influence the quality and length
of our lives by bad habits such as smoking and alcohol consumption, and by good
habits such as regular exercise and proper nutrition.
Structural Brain Changes
According to Salloway, aging causes the brain to lose
about 7% to 8% of its original weight.
Cell loss is not uniform: gray matter degenerates before
white matter, and the frontal lobes deteriorate faster than other lobes. This
pattern may cause some of the executive dysfunction seen in the elderly.
"Cells accumulate junk," said Salloway. "Just as we collect
clutter in our lives, so do our neurons and glial cells." Plaques and
tangles develop. Ventricles enlarge mildly in 50% of older people, but
substantially in older adults with Alzheimer's disease. Blood vessels twist and
perivascular spaces dilate. Small blood vessels narrow and fatty deposits begin
to accumulate. If this arteriosclerosis progresses, Salloway said, cognitive
impairment, depression and gait instability can result. An additive effect
occurs when other diseases are present, he explained. "The more diseases,
the worse the symptoms."
Chemical Changes
Salloway, who is the immediate past executive director of
the American Neuropsychiatric Association-a group at the interface between
neuroscience, clinical neurology, and psychiatry and mental health
disciplines-calls the relationship between neurotransmitters and aging "a
work in progress." Aging causes a decrease in the enzyme that
synthesizes acetylcholine, possibly contributing to memory loss. Norepinephrine
concentrations vary, which may influence how older people respond to stress.
There is evidence that fenfluramine (Pondimin), which releases serotonin,
declines and reduces interaction with the environment, which may play a role in
old-age apathy and late-onset depression. Dopamine, important not only for motor
systems but also for cognitive speed, finds fewer receptors and may be another
factor contributing to executive dysfunction.
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Glutamate, the most common excitatory neurotransmitter, is
important for forming connections that allow the brain to retain and store new
information. Because a decline in glutamate receptor activity may interfere with
this ability, glutamate drugs are currently undergoing trials for the treatment
of memory disorders.
Estrogen may play a role, too. "Part of what we are
hearing about estrogen in memory may be related to its effect on glutamate and
the glutamate system," Salloway predicted.
Cognitive Changes
Intellect peaks at age 30 and plateaus between 50 and 60,
Salloway reported. At age 70, intellect begins to decline, as does vigilance
(the ability to pay attention), visual perception, hearing acuity and verbal
memory.
Conscious memory, however, begins to fade when people are
in their 50s, impairing new memory formation and conscious recall of details of
events. Imaging studies show that older people sometimes use different parts of
the brain than do younger people. "It's very likely that this is
compensatory, that they can't use their normal limbic memory circuits as well,
so they are activating nearby circuits as an auxiliary system," Salloway
said.
"What I think is the most exciting area is finding
modifiers that allow your brain to live longer and help you," said Salloway.
"Vitamin E, for instance, appears to slow down the course of Alzheimer's
disease, while estrogen may have a modifying effect on synaptic connections. As
we learn more about these," he concluded, "we are going to be able to
use them for ourselves and for our patients to preserve the quality of their
lives-particularly their cognitive life-better for longer."
Brain Chemical May Thwart
Ravages of Aging: Study (condensed)
By Keith Mulvihill
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A brain chemical called
GABA essentially turned back the clocks in the brains of older monkeys, whose
brain function briefly operated at levels normally seen in monkeys less than
half their age.
The finding may one day help scientists reverse similar
age-related deterioration in the brains of people, according to the report
published Friday in the journal Science.
GABA, or gamma-aminobutyric acid, is a messenger chemical
that is essential for optimizing how brain cells transmit messages to each other
and acts to put a damper on unwanted brain signaling activity, explained the
study's lead author Dr. Audie G. Leventhal at the University of Utah School of
Medicine in Salt Lake City.
In the current study, Leventhal's team evaluated how a
brain region called the visual cortex in old and young monkeys responds to
micro-shots of GABA.
Monkeys between the ages of 26 and 32 -- considered very
old for monkeys -- that got GABA directly delivered to their neurons responded
to visual patterns, such as flashing vertical and horizontal lines, in much the
same way as monkeys aged 7 to 9 years old did, according to Leventhal.
Without GABA delivery, the monkeys' aged brains had more
difficulty firing neurons that specifically gauge various aspects of depth
perception, motion and color, explained Leventhal. Instead, older monkeys have
more random firings that make it difficult to observe visual nuances.
In younger monkeys, GABA had no effect since their brains
already had optimal GABA functioning.
"The challenge now is to go and look at a variety of
GABA-increasing drugs and see how they influence other areas of the brain"
and whether or not they improve brain functions known to decline as people age,
such as hearing and memory, said Leventhal.
"It may be that already approved GABA (boosting
drugs) have a positive effect on mental decline in the brains of older adults,
but nobody has ever looked," he told Reuters Health.
Nonetheless, the findings raise some hope that a general
decline in GABA may be correctable, explained Leventhal, who noted that people
are born and die with the same nerve cells and more research should be conducted
in preserving their function.
SOURCE: Science 2003;300:812-815.
Theanine appears to have a role in the formation of the
inhibitory neurotransmitter Gamma Amino Butyric Acid (GABA). GABA interacts with
release
of the neurotransmitters dopamine and serotonin, playing a key role in the
relaxation effect. See Product information on
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