BRITAIN. Age-Old Problem That's All in the Mind

Ian Robertson has been called The Mind Doctor, and he has a seven-point plan to keep our brains youthful forever. Sheena Hastings reports. LEEDS, YORKSHIRE (Yorkshire Post Today), November 7, 2005: THE liveliest, most fun-to-be-with and youthful over-70s I know have certain common characteristics. Among them are a couple who take part in Latin-American dancing conventions around the world, a computer Scrabble whiz, and an 82-year-old who recently set a cracking pace as he scaled the lower reaches of Everest, leaving those several decades younger panting in his wake. I know several people who have become highly proficient in a new language or technical skill since they retired, and a woman of 72 who, with no previous experience in the field, has successfully launched an entertainment business. Then there's an 86-year-old whose physical mobility is very limited but is mentally like a super-sharp 25-year-old, which is probably something to do with the fact that he is an insatiable reader of history, dissects several newspapers a day, likes to discuss their contents in depth and breadth, and makes himself exercise despite the discomfort. He knows how to text on a mobile phone, and gets his grand-kids to explain rap lyrics, which they think is sweet but rather embarrassing. These people don't appear to view their older decades as a slow inexorable slide into decrepitude and death. They have lively, quick minds and see their advancing years as an interesting new phase of life, in which they continue to satisfy their curiosity about the world.Most of them look much younger than their years, and the women in particular often have a way of dressing which shows that, even if they don't spend their money at Top Shop, they enjoy shopping with grand-daughters and will probably buy the Monsoon version. In their appearance, behaviour and attitudes, they are still very much in the swim – and possibly doing 50 lengths daily. They don't necessarily know it, but they are going about life in a manner that's calculated to keep their brain, above all, in optimal health for as long as possible. They may even be reversing the effects of ageing on their grey matter, says Ian Robertson, director of the Institute of Neuroscience at Trinity College Dublin, and author of Stay Sharp With The Mind Doctor. Mind and body are closely attuned, and state of mind definitely plays a leading role in either keeping you young or helping to hurry along the body's ageing process. As our older population expands, scientists studying this growing group are able to understand more than ever how we can alter the path of our own degeneration. In one experiment, volunteers of all ages had to solve word puzzles, arranging the words into sentences. Unbeknown to them, only half of the group got words that were linked to ageing (grey, slow, old etc), and the others did not. Everyone then left, thinking the experiment was over. In fact, it was just beginning. They were all filmed as they walked down the corridor, and those who had been exposed to the age-related words walked significantly more slowly. They had no idea that this had happened, but the words had been an unconscious influence on their behaviour. So, in a nutshell, if you think of yourself as an old crock, you'll probably behave and look like one. That's why optimists live longer than pessimists and their immune systems function better.Food for thought, isn't it? Research has also firmly established that if you continue to pursue new activities and seek out learning (not necessarily formally), your brain function will not deteriorate anywhere near as fast as a person who gives up the ghost at 70 and decides their old age will centre around tea, Hob-nobs and daytime TV. An Australian study introduced a group of pensioners to the learning of German. These 70 to 80-year-olds had no particular reason to learn it, but they set about the task and many of them were transformed by the experience from being crustaceans into active, zestful people who had an appetite for other new challenges. They were, literally, bringing their brains back to life.Prof Robertson has come up with a seven-point action plan to help us all to prolong our mental agility… and the plan is by no means all about jigsaws or Soduko. The basic recipe is: keep fit and reduce stress, exercise your memory, keep learning, be cool, eat a healthy diet, keep up your social life and think young. Oh, and don't wait until you're 70 to execute this regime. "This doesn't just apply to people at the older end of the spectrum," says the professor. "The brain needs stimulation of all kinds, including the increased blood flow and oxygenation brought by regular exercise. While essential for the rest of the body, too, physical exercise thickens the surface of the brain and improves connections between the front and back lobes. "Recent tests have proven that people who take two or three regular sessions of exercise a week are 40 per cent less likely to suffer from Alzheimer's Disease. I now go to the gym or play tennis three times a week. "While we all have interests that become habitual, the healthy brain needs novelty to stay fighting fit." It's wired to respond to the new, so meeting new people, doing new activities, taking trips to strange places or talking about a completely different subject all stimulate the frontal lobes – the ones most susceptible to ageing." Changing your usual route for a walk or car journey can also help. The brain definitely doesn't like routine. Read a book about art, rather than another one by a novelist you already know."Dark fruit like berries, lots of fresh vegetables and oily fish feed stimulate the brain cells, as does 'thinking young', like the women who pass through the portals of Top Shop with their grand-daughters, or those who take up badminton and read Marie-Claire at 70." A lot of what will happen to us when we're older is in our hands. The concept of age and retirement age is based on concepts we understood 50 years ago. Back then, when people didn't live as long, 60 or 65 was 'old'. "Since then everything has shifted, and 80 is the new 60. Retirement is a mad concept for many people, who lead a healthy life and are mentally and physically still very powerful at 70 and over." Longer life means that if we don't do what we can to stay mentally competent into our 70s and 80s then we will be at the mercy of the state, and the pensions and health systems will collapse around us. "Besides, if you are going to live a very long life, you want as much of it as possible to be healthy and enjoyable. We've got the research now to show that we can all be 'surgeons' to our own brain." sheena.hastings@ypn.co.uk Stay Sharp with The Mind Doctor by Prof Ian Robertson is published by Vermilion. THE MIND DOCTOR'S seven-step GUIDE TO KEEPING YOUR BRAIN POWER 1. Aerobic exercise 2. Mental stimulation 3. Continued learning 4. Stress reduction 5. Good diet 6. Rich and varied social life 7. Thinking young