Even a few brisk walks every week can have a big effect.
That’s advice from Sue Halpern in her book “Can’t Remember What I Forgot.”
Why?
Because exercise stimulates the creation of new neurons in the hippocampus, which is crucial for forming new memories. And exercise counters the shrinking of the prefrontal cortex which is the part of your brain that manages concentration and working memory.
Halpern’s not just an advice giver. She’s a nature writer and novelist and gets deeply involved in the topic. She undergoes brain scans, takes batteries of cognitive tests, visits the labs of leading neuroscientists and tracks drug-development efforts.
Some of the material in the book comes from a 2005 New Yorker article in which she writes about going with a team of researchers from the Taub Institute for Research on Alzheimer’s Disease as they gather data in the Dominican Republic, testing and interviewing people to build extended family trees.
“Can’t Remember What I Forgot,” is subtitled “The Good News From the Front Lines of Memory Research.” It doesn’t have a lot of good news but it’s a down-to-earth look at memory research.
You can also read a review in the New York Times Book Review.
Need a rest after that brisk walk? How about playing some solitaire on your PC. We’ve got a 100 or so variations on our web site, Brain Games Software.
