When the researchers taught their subjects a new motor skill, the scientists found that their brains had also changed. The strength of synapses between neurons in the motor cortex of their brains had increased through a process consistent with the use of LTP. Previously "the link between LTP, synaptic modification and learning was tentative," said senior author John Donoghue, professor of neuroscience. "This latest study provides strong evidence that learning itself engages LTP in the cerebral cortex as a way to strengthen synaptic connections." -Science, October 20, 2000
		-Neurons

2. Elasticity and Plasticity
Research on the physical results of thinking has shown that just using the brain actually increases the number of dendritic branches that interconnect brain cells. The more we think, the better our brains function – regardless of age. The renowned brain researcher Dr. Marian Diamond says, "The nervous system possesses not just a 'morning' of plasticity, but an 'afternoon' and an 'evening' as well."

Dr. Diamond found that whether we are young or old, we can continue to learn. The brain can change at any age. A dendrite grows much like a tree – from trunk to limbs to branches to twigs – in an array of ever finer complexity.

In fact, older brains may have an advantage. She discovered that more highly developed neurons respond even better to intellectual enrichment than less developed ones do. The greatest increase in dendritic length occurred in the outermost dendritic branches, as a reaction to new information.

As she poetically describes it: "We began with a nerve cell, which starts in the embryo as just a sort of sphere. It sends its first branch out to overcome ignorance. As it reaches out, it is gathering knowledge and it is becoming creative. Then we become a little more idealistic, generous, and altruistic; but it is our six-sided dendrites which give us wisdom."

 -Key Terms:
Elastic comes from the Greek word for "drive" or "propulsion." It is the tendency of a material to return to its original shape after being stretched.

Elasticity is the basic animal drive that powers your muscles, giving you strength and balance – flexibility, mobility, and grace.

Plastic derives from the Greek word meaning "molded" or "formed." It is the tendency of the brain to shape itself according to experience. Plasticity is the basic mental drive that networks your brain, giving you cognition and memory – fluidity, versatility, and adaptability.

3. Special Exercises Help Higher Brain Functions -Study
Before enrolling in the trial, and four months later, the cognitive abilities of the participants were tested in four areas: memory, executive functioning, attention/concentration, and psychomotor speed.

Compared to the medication group, the exercisers showed significant improvements in the higher mental processes of memory and in "executive functions" that involve planning, organization, and the ability to mentally juggle different intellectual tasks at the same time.

"What we found so fascinating was that exercise had its beneficial effect in specific areas of cognitive function that are rooted in the frontal and prefrontal regions of the brain," said Blumenthal. The implications are that special exercises are even able to offset some of the mental declines that we often associate with the aging leader. -Journal of APA, January 2001

4. Set Mental Challenges Enhances Brain's Power and can even Protect the Brain From Cognitive Decline -Study
Contrary to popular myth, you do not lose mass quantities of brains cells as you get older. "There isn't much difference between a 25-year old brain and a 75-year old brain," says Dr. Monte S. Buchsbaum, who has scanned a lot of brains as director of the Neuroscience PET Laboratory at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Cognitive decline is not inevitable. When 6,000 older people were given mental tests throughout a ten-year period, almost 70% continued to maintain their brain power as they aged.

Certain areas of the brain are more prone to damage and deterioration over time. One is the hippocampus , which transfers new memories to long-term storage elsewhere in the brain. Another vulnerable area is the basal ganglia, which coordinates commands to move muscles. Research now indicates that special mental exercises can improve these areas and positively affect memory and physical coordination.

Latest Coaching Mind Tools  -Learn More

-Georgetown University,

Short Course Mind Training & Coaching Improves Cognitive Abilities
    for Years.
-Journal of the American Medical Association
-US Department of Health and Human Services

A recent major federally funded study has proved beyond a doubt that the cognitive functions, even in the elderly, can be enhanced through participation in short-course mind exercises.

In a landmark study* (funded by the National Institutes of Health at the US Department of Health and Human Services), published in the November 13, 2002, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association,  -it was found that two 1-hour training sessions a week for 5 weeks improved the reasoning, problem solving, concentration and memory skill sets of healthy independent adults who participated in the largest study of cognitive training conducted in the USA. The training not only improved the 2,802 participants' cognitive abilities, but the improvement persisted for 2 years after the training.

"The findings here were powerful and very specific,"  says Richard M. Suzman, Ph.D., Associate Director for the Behavioral and Social Research Program at NIA. The study assessed, in the laboratory and in "real world" measures, whether the cognitive training was effective. At the outset, certified coaches conducted 10 sessions of 60 to 75 minutes over a 5- to 6-week period. For all three groups, the training focused on developing strategies as well as providing exercises using these new strategies. All participants were assessed prior to training, immediately after training, and again 1 and 2 years later.

Immediately following the 5-week training period, the participants demonstrated reliable improvement on their respective cognitive ability. The training effects continued through 24 months, particularly for the participants who received some "booster" training. "The improvements in memory, problem solving, and concentration following training were sizeable," noted Karlene Ball, Ph.D., of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the study's corresponding author.

The US Department of Health and Human Services NIA leads the Federal effort in supporting and conducting biomedical, clinical, social, and behavioral research into the causes and treatment of cognitive problems associated with age.

*A single-blind clinical trial, tested the effectiveness and durability of three techniques to improve the ability of older people to think and reason. Investigators included Karlene Ball, Ph.D., Department of Psychology, University of Alabama at Birmingham and Daniel B. Berch, Ph.D., National Institute on Aging,** Karin F. Helmers, Ph.D., National Institute of Nursing Research; Jared B. Jobe, Ph.D., National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute; Mary D. Leveck, Ph.D., National Institute of Nursing Research; Michael Marsiske, Ph.D., Institute on Aging and Departments of Health Policy and Epidemiology and Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida; John N. Morris, Ph.D., Hebrew Rehabilitation Center for the Aged; George W. Rebok, Ph.D., Department of Mental Hygiene, Johns Hopkins University; David M. Smith M.D., Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine; Sharon L. Tennstedt, Ph.D., New England Research Institutes; Frederick W. Unverzagt, Ph.D. Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine; Sherry L. Willis, Ph.D., Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University; the ACTIVE Study Group.

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