Song Chall: Brain Shrinkage

Subject: Song Chall: Brain Shrinkage
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 14 Jul 08 - 02:11 AM

Brain shrinks faster when not in use

By Tamara McLean
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,24016992-29277,00.html?from=public_rss

July 14, 2008 02:44pm
Article from: AAP

THE brain shrinks faster if it is not stimulated, Australian researchers say.

Brain scans have revealed that people who do not engage in complex mental activity over their lifetime have twice the shrinkage in a key part of the brain in old age.

The finding sheds more light on the link between lifestyle and dementia, and adds strength to the evidence that mental gymnastics, like puzzles and new languages, stave off ageing diseases.

"We've got strong evidence here that people who use their brains more have less brain shrinkage," said Michael Valenzuela of the school of psychiatry at the University of NSW.

"I hope people take this as a further call to arms to get out there and use their brains, get engaged in anything from tai chi to world travel, in the knowledge that it may help delay or prevent the onset of dementia."

Mental activity has been found to delay the onset of the degenerative brain diseases, such as Huntington's, Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, in large population studies.

Dr Valenzuela and his team were investigating the reasons behind this "use it or lose it" principle by studying the brains of 60-year-olds over three years and testing their lifetime mental agility with questionnaires.

Of the 50 people studied, those who had been more mentally active over their lives had a larger hippocampus, an important memory centre in the brain.

Critically, over the three-year period the area shrank at half the rate of those who had lower mental activity.

"This is a significant finding because a small hippocampus is a specific risk factor for developing Alzheimer's disease," said Dr Valenzuela, whose work is published in the journal PLoS ONE.

He said while many drug companies were trying to find a pharmaceutical target to prevent the shrinkage of the hippocampus, people could help themselves.

"Our prior research shows the risk for dementia is quite malleable, even into late life," he said.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up this morning - my brain was half its size...

Subject: Song Challenge - If I'd Only Used My Brain
From: Genie
Date: 14 Jul 08 - 03:44 AM

IF I"D ONLY USED MY BRAIN
(with apologies to Yip Harburg and Harold Arlen)

Oh, I'd while away the hours

Just gazin' at the flowers
 - Most learnin' I'd disdain.

Now they say my mind would be more
Agile and I'd clearly see more
If I'd only used my brain.

If I'd tackled me more riddles,

Maybe took up bluegrass fiddle--

Hey! They say "No pain, no gain! --
I'd be better at me thunkin',
And me cortex far less shrunken
If I'd only used my brain.

Oh, now they tell us why
We need to use it more!

If I'd known what puns and cryptograms were for

I'd done that kind of stuff lots more.

I would not be so befuddled,

My thoughts all dim and muddled
,
Pure reasoning a strain.

If I'd been a bit contrari-
an
 And done a lot more query-
in'
 And only used my brain.