This is presenting stave off mental turn down associated with aged age and that can be engage in rationally demanding behavior and preserve a positive outlook and keep up in your social life.

“How people spend their lives does really have an impact on how they age cognitively,” said study co-author Robert S. Wilson, a professor of neurological and behavioral sciences at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. “The observational studies suggest people who are more intellectually active, socially integrated, physically active and who are relatively free from negative emotions like depression and anxiety all seem to be associated with aging better cognitively.

“There is going to be a huge burden of old people who are cognitively impaired,” Wilson said. “If we can develop strategies that delay the onset of the disease by six months or a year or two, we can substantially reduce the human suffering and the cost of caring for them.”

“Left to their own devices, most older people in this country don’t exercise all that much at all,” Wilson said. “Any exercise is good, but actually doing a regular program of aerobic exercise is better.”

“The reality is, as we age, cognitive processes slow down,” Kennedy said. “It may take you longer, and you may have to practice longer to master something new, but hopefully you have health and the time to actually do that.”

“Most people’s brains are under assault in old age, and the lifestyle stuff doesn’t appear to stop that pathology,” Wilson said. “But lifestyle does appear to help your brain tolerate that pathology. It helps you get more out of what you have left and to adapt to the changes in your brain, and it appears to make a big difference.”

“It could well be possible to design interventions that, when combined with appropriate lifestyle changes, could possibly at least slow the rate of cognitive decline,” they wrote.