How to keep your brain healthy

Could sudoku, drugs and a Mediterranean diet help keep our brains fit? What can the latest
neuroscience research tell us?

A brain ready for dissection. Photograph: Graeme

Robertson/Guardian
Ann Robinson
Sunday 12 October 2014 19.00 BST Last modified on Monday 13 October 2014 12.50 BST

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Neuroscience research got a huge boost last week with news of Professor John OKeefes Nobel
prize for work on the brains internal GPS system. It is an exciting new part of the giant jigsaw
puzzle of our brain and how it functions. But how does cutting-edge neuroscience research
translate into practical advice about how to pass exams, remember names, tot up household bills
and find where the hell you left the car in a crowded car park?
OKeefes prize was awarded jointly with Norwegian husband and wife team Edvard and MayBritt Moser for their discovery of place and grid cells that allow rats to chart where they are.
When rats run through a new environment, these cells show increased activity. The same activity
happens much faster while the rats are asleep, as they replay the new route.
We already knew that the part of the brain known as the hippocampus was involved in spatial
awareness in birds and mammals, and this latest work on place cells sheds more light on how we

know where we are and where were going. In 2000, researchers at University College London
led by Dr Eleanor Maguire showed that London taxi drivers develop a pumped-up hippocampus
after years of doing the knowledge and navigating the backstreets of the city. MRI scans showed
that cabbies start off with bigger hippocampuses than average, and that the area gets bigger the
longer they do the job. As driver David Cohen said at the time to BBC News: I never noticed
part of my brain growing it makes you wonder what happened to the rest of it!
Yet great breakthroughs dont automatically translate into practical benefits. Research may give
us great insights, but we still cant cure Alzheimers, points out neuroscientist Baroness Susan
Greenfield. And just because we know more about what parts of the brain do normally, it
doesnt tell us why things go wrong. We still need to know why special cells die in dementia.
How come you can have a major stroke with lots of neuronal damage, but not lose your
memory? What is the link between Parkinsons disease and dementia? In other words, why are
some cells damaged but not others?
Lab-based research is key to piecing together the jigsaw of how our brains work and what goes
wrong when they dont. Even scans or postmortem examinations of brains of people who had
dementia are of limited value, points out Greenfied, because degeneration starts 10-20 years
before symptoms appear. So what does neuroscience tell us about keeping the brain fit?

Professor John OKeefe. Photograph: Facundo

Arrizabalaga/EPA

Use it or lose it
It seems obvious that the more you train, use and test your brain, the better it will perform. There
is some evidence that people with more education or skills have a lower incidence of dementia.
But the picture is complicated; perhaps highly educated people eat better food. And more skilled
people may be more likely to be in work, benefiting from exercise, social interaction and mental
stimulation. You may build up a cognitive reserve while young, which gives you a headstart
over less educated people once dementia sets in. Staying physically, mentally and socially active
means that even if your brain scan looks as ropey as that of a less active person, you will
function better. No one can confirm the benefits, but there is at least no downside to daily
sudoku, crosswords, reading, walks and talks.

Neuro-enhancing drugs

Nootropics are also called smart drugs or cognitive enhancers. One of the best known is
modafinil, a wakefulness-promoting drug that stimulates the central nervous system and is
only prescribable in the UK for excessive daytime sleepiness (narcolepsy). Whether it is much
more effective than a strong cup of coffee remains debatable, but its effect lasts longer. Modafinil
is widely used by academics and students because it makes people feel sharper and more alert.
Professor Barbara Sahakian of the University of Cambridge has found that sleep-deprived
surgeons perform better on modafinil, and thinks it may have a wider role in improving our
memory and mental function. We found that modafinil improves motivation and working
memory in healthy people and makes doing tasks more pleasurable, she said. But long-term
safety, especially for young brains, is still not established. But for a lot of students, the question
isnt whether the drugs are safe or constitute cheating, but how they can get hold of some.

Avoiding damage
Our environment is full of neurotoxins that can interfere with the genes, proteins and small
molecules that build and maintain our brains. The younger the brain, the more susceptible it is to
neurotoxins. A paper by the US National Scientific Council on the Developing Child says there
are three types of neurotoxins that can affect the developing brain: environmental chemicals such
as lead, mercury and organophosphates (pesticides); recreational drugs such as alcohol, nicotine
and cocaine; and prescription medications such as Roaccutane, used for severe acne. Mature
brains can be quite resilient, thanks in part to a barrier of cells that restricts entry of chemicals
from the bloodstream into the brain tissue. But drugs, alcohol and cigarettes will poison even the
most developed of brains if you take enough of them.

Keep the blood flowing

The brain needs a good blood flow to deliver vital nutrients and oxygen and take away waste
products. Smoking, high blood pressure, uncontrolled diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol all
sludge up the arteries and impede blood flow. If you care about your brain function, sorting out
these risk factors remains the most useful thing you can do.

Effects of diet
Omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants such as vitamins C and E, and vitamins B and D all have
neuroprotective effects, but trials have failed to show that high-dose supplements of these
individual nutrients will protect you from dementia. However, eating a tasty Mediterranean diet
that combines most of these nutrients cant hurt.