Decipher Wealth

The Harvard Medical School Guide to Achieving Optimal Memory by Aaron P. Nelson, Ph.D. with Susan Gilbert caught my attention not because of the long name, but because I wanted to achieve a better memory and understand how aging is going to affect my memory.  This book does an excellent job of explaining how memory works, what scientific studies have shown will improve and protect your memory, how aging affects the brain and most importantly how to combat the decline in cognitive functions people associate with aging.

I was surprised to find what Doctor Nelson recommended as the best ways to improve and protect your memory.  The first being that you should focus on getting quality sleep for 8 hours.  This has been shown to improve learning because researchers have found that the same neural pathways that were active during learning are reactivated during sleep.  This is believed to be memory consolidation at work.  Your brain is reinforcing what you learned during the day while you sleep.

The MacArthur Foundation Study of Aging in America found that sedentary people showed a greater decline in memory than people who had regular physical activity.  This surprises many people, but it shouldn’t.  Your brain uses over 20% of the calories you consume in a day and like all parts of your body, it needs oxygen to work properly.  Having a high level of cardiovascular fitness allows your body to get more oxygen to your brain allowing your brain to achieve a higher level of activation in key regions of the brain.  Exercise also reduces so many health risks I’d run out of room if I listed them all, but here are a few: Heart attack, stroke, hypertension, many kinds of cancer, obesity, osteoporosis and more.  Exercise helps you sleep better too!

The debate is still going strong on if TV makes you stupid, but it certainly isn’t doing anything for your memory because it is a passive activity.  Your brain doesn’t have to do anything but sit there.  The MacArthur study found that the best predictor of mental capacity was level of education.  This is believed to such a benefit because continued learning strengthens brain connection which makes the brain more resilient to the effects of aging.  Turning off the TV and reading a book or learning something new protects your brain.

Achieving Optimal Memory covers much more than the tips I focused on.  There are several exercises included to help you determine if you really are loosing your memory.  What should be expected to happen as you age and what you can do about it.  I would highly recommend this book for anyone that is concerned about their memory or those that are looking to gain an advantage though having a sharper memory.