Author Archive for Ward

Longevity: think of yourself now, and yourself in the future

Imagine yourself now – are you dedicated? Now imagine yourself in 10 years – are you dedicated? Differences in your brain activity dependent on these two different questions might be fundamental to the future of longevity research and society in general. The future of the longevity field and society To take longevity research seriously it…

Can you teach an old dog new tricks – or at least juggling – and increase gray matter density in the brain ?

Image via Wikipedia You might, or might not, be an old dog – but we all want to be able keep on learning and ‘growing’. Yesterday, I wrote about a couple papers that demonstrated how learning to juggle increased gray matter density in a particular region of the brain (middle temporal area of the visual…

How playing the court jester can improve your brain

The court jester’s (harlequin) job was to entertain the court with his/her music and juggling abilities. The court members laughed at the jester (maybe not with him), but possibly the jester had the last laugh since his various entertaining endeavors possibly promoted in his brain greater plasticity and health. All this week I will discuss…

Exercise for healthy new neurons: even in middle age

Here is a follow-up to my Monday post on the quick rebound from an exercise layoff in the important brain health protein brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). A new paper published in the Journal of Applied Physiology examined running, BDNF, trkB, neurogenesis (new neurons), and neurite outgrowth (branching of the new neurons) in middle age rodents.…