THE BRAIN
We can’t reverse all the brain changes that come with getting older. But as we find out about how ageing affects the brain, research offers up new food solutions to slow cognitive decline, boost mood, improve memory, and protect against dementia and stroke.
AS WE AGE…
Our life’s experiences continue to shape our brains alongside a sequence of physical and chemical changes. Discover how what you eat can help redress the balance of age-related changes.
New brain cells are made
An adult brain has about 100 billion nerve cells – or neurons. As we get older, these numbers decrease and this decline tends to start in our 20s. But it’s reassuring to know that certain parts of our brain continue to create new neurons via the process of neurogenesis. The hippocampus (a part of the brain that’s key in learning and memory formation) is one such centre. And by the age of 50, all the neurons in the hippocampus we were born with will have been replaced by new ones. Research shows that we can influence neurogenesis via our lifestyle (via physical activity and dealing with stress) as well as through what we eat (with berries being heralded for their neurogenetic benefits).
The brain shrinks
The brain is super-organized: the cell bodies of neurons occupy its grey matter, while its white matter is home to the connecting fibres between neurons. From young adulthood the brain’s white matter is diminishing – about 15 per cent across a lifetime – and this white matter plays an important role in mood, walking, and balance. Information processing, thinking, and memory are functions that reside within the grey matter. The volume of grey matter also diminishes with age, but it’s not until significant reductions are seen that cognitive decline and dementia arise. Foods can counteract age-related reductions in cognitive powers, turn here to find out how.
Age-related brain shrinkage is not necessarily a sign of cognitive decline.
Sleep patterns can change
The body’s master clock, which sits in the brain’s hypothalamus, controls the production of various hormones, including those that influence sleep – melatonin and serotonin. The rhythm of changing levels of these hormones gives us our sleep/wake cycle. Many people believe that as you get older you need less sleep, but this isn’t true: adults continue to need about 7–9 hours of sleep a night. Many healthy older adults report few sleep problems, but some experience a shift in their cycles that causes them to wake up in the early hours of the morning. If your sleep patterns are changing then take a look at what you’re eating to see how it can make a difference.