Get smart: use your mind or lose it - wellness: supplements and functional foods; MyBrainTrainer.com improves concentration and mental-processing speed

Better Nutrition, Jan, 2004 by Joe Lewandowski

Doug McCracken doesn't seem like the kind of guy who needs to do anything extra to keep his brain sharp. Not only is he employed by a publishing company as a songwriter in Nashville, he's also a parttime emergency room physician.

But a year ago, McCracken, 43, noticed that he was growing forgetful about daily details. So he started poking around the Internet looking for some brain exercise activities. He found MyBrainTrainer.com, a site that uses simple tests to improve reflex speed, memory and reasoning ability. Now, 6 months after starting the regimen of mental gymnastics, McCracken believes he's given his brain a boost--he says his memory. and reaction time are improving.

McGracken's experience reflects the growing body of research that shows that people who engage in intellectually stimulating activities can sharpen their mental acuity and maintain it well into old age.

As we learn new skills and concepts, the brain sparks development of synaptic connections--the electrical /chemical circuits that link neurons, the brain cells. Each cell in the brain can potentially be connected to thousands of others. The more connections, the more dense the brain, and the greater the intellectual capacity.

For most of us, the brain is thoroughly stimulated well into our 50s thanks to jobs, continuing education, relationships, child raising and so forth. But people who become less mentally active as they grow older often don't receive--or seek-the stimulation needed to continue forming synapses.

Karlene Ball, a psychology professor at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, worked as a lead researcher in a major federally funded study of people aged 64-96. The study proved beyond a doubt that the cognitive functions of the elderly can be enhanced through demanding activities that forced them to reason and react quickly. Better news still: A follow-up 5 years later showed thai participants retained their cognitive abilities--even though they hadn't performed any practice exercises.

Mind Sprints

MyBrainTrainer.com focuses on improving concentration and mental-processing speed, explains Bruce Friedman, a Los Angeles businessman who owns the site. Menial sharpness is crucial for maintaining peak performance in everyday life--from driving a car to negotiating a business deal to learning a new software program.

Says Friedman, "What we're enabling you to do is process and retrieve information ... in a much more efficient manner. This is not entertainment. These exercises have been developed to improve your cognitive processes."

The exercises on the site aren't intimidating. You won't be asked In name the leaders of file Peloponnesian Wars. But yon might have fun testing your reaction time, making quick decisions and comparing your results to others in your age group or profession.

And during the process, you just might grow a few new synapses.

Feed Your Head

Vitamin A

Vitamin A deficiencies have been shown to cause significant learning disabilities, especially affecting spatial and memory functions.

Vitamin C

By mitigating brain-cell oxidation, vitamin C may support memory.

Vitamin E

Another antioxidant, it has been shown to support memory and to slow cognitive decline in Alzheimer's patients when used with the drug donepezil.

Vitamin [B.sub.12]

Deficiencies of this vitamin in tire elderly have been linked to slowed cognitive function and possibly Alzheimer's.

Folic Acid

This vitamin may help inhibit the action of homocysteine, a sulfur-containing amino acid associated with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and stroke; folic acid is essential to pre-natal brain development.

Choline

A major component of lecithin, it has been shown to improve speech and visual memory. It is also important to pre-natal brain development.

Alpha-Lipoic Acid (ALA)

ALA inhibits age-related oxidative stress in the brain, thereby supporting improved memory function.

L-Carnitine

This amino acid derivative may reduce or inhibit degradation of memory function by reducing oxidative damage to neurons.

Ginkgo Biloba

Traditionally regarded as a memory booster, this herb is used as such in many functional foods.