An Invitation to my 120th Birthday Celebration.

After 39 years of teaching, my last words to my students on that final day came in the form of an invitation: "You're all invited to my 120th Birthday. Celebrate it by skiing with me." I think it was Sara who shot up her hand saying: "Wait, wait." (pausing for a quick calculation) "I'll be 77 years old!"
"Don't worry." says I, "I'll slow down for you!"

"Never limit yourself." had been an underlying lesson for my students. I realized that I'd need to engineer a comprehensive plan for myself to optimize the quality of my life to 120 and Beyond.

In order to take good care of your brain for the long game, begin by taking mindful care of your body. Read on to chart your own course for 120 and Beyond.


Thursday, May 31, 2018

Healthspan

Once there was talk about lifespan, but here we focus on HEALTHSPAN, optimizing health and well being in order to enjoy a longer lifespan without avoidable disabilities. Watch this video by neuroscientist and author Lisa Genova for clues on what can be done to protect your cognitive reserve.



Notes from Lisa Genova's Ted Talk

A single human brain makes over 100 trillion synapses.

Alzheimer’s is the result of loosing synapses.

At 9:52 neuroplasticity,  cognitive reserve and what we learned by studying  678 retired nun.s


At 12:00 cognitive reserve=more functional  synapses…  we build cognitive reserve by increasing our formal education, high degree of literacy,  in people who "engage regularly in mentally stimulating activity".


Mentally stimulative activity creates many extra back up synapses via recruitment of multiple pathways.  These extra pathways provide cognitive recall when some synaptic pathways have been compromised by Alzheimers.


Mentally stimulative activity is not crossword puzzles which is the retrieval of information you already know.  Instead, pave new neural roads: new books, learning new languages, Italian, Japanese, learning from new Ted Talks,  meeting new friends, taking notes.

 


Mentally stimulative activity is rich in meaning that recruits sight, sound, association, emotion or in other terms, the four quadrants of Barbara Clark's integrative learning model:  kinesthetic, sensory, intuitive, cognitive activities.


People with Alzheimers don’t lose their emotional memory. "You might not remember what I said, but you will remember how I made you feel."



Neuroscientist Lisa Genova is also the author of among other books, Still Alice which was the book behind the movie of the same name.