Mind games
As people age, cerebral hard drives fill up, making life a little more difficult: keys misplaced, grocery items left behind, names of acquaintances fading into the mental haze. UCLA’s memory expert shows how brain workouts can help keep memory and maybe even prevent Alzheimer’s. <more>
Expand your mind: the Senior Scholars Program gives anyone age 50 and over the opportunity to attend undergraduate classes at UCLA, and the Osher Institute offers seniors special programs and pricing at UCLA Extension.
A “cure” for aging?
In the future, brain aging may be controlled like high cholesterol or high blood pressure. Patients would receive a brain scan and perhaps a genetic test to predict their risk, and then medications could be prescribed to prevent degeneration. UCLA studies using brain-scan technology show that this vision of the future won’t be confined to science fiction for long. <more>
Food as brain medicine
“Food is like a pharmaceutical compound that affects the brain,” a UCLA scientist notes. The right food can improve memory or counteract the effects of aging. <more>
Within 20 years, will no one grow old?
UCLA researchers have pinpointed the age at which humans start to lose the battle to repair myelin (the fatty sheath of “insulation” that coats nerve axons and allows for fast signaling bursts in the brain), resulting in a long, slow, downhill slide in motor and cognitive functions. The good news? “Since in healthy individuals brain myelin breakdown begins to occur in middle age, there is a decades-long period during which therapeutic interventions could alter the course of brain aging and possibly delay age-driven degenerative brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s,” says Dr. George Bartzokis. <more>
UCLA scientists are probing an age-old question that becomes more tantalizing with the explosion of new knowledge about the most basic biological processes: How close are we to being able to slow the aging process in humans?
“It’s an exciting time right now because so many advances in medical technology are being made to expand our knowledge about molecular genetics and the human genome,” says Gary Small, director of the UCLA Center on Aging.
From developing methods to combat aging through cell and DNA therapy, to identifying things to do right now to lead a long, healthy life, the sheer volume of advances begs the question: Will the elusive “Fountain of Youth” end up being discovered right here in Westwood?
What John Wooden teaches us about aging
John Wooden, at age 98, in many ways has the memory of a 60-year-old, according to psychology professor Alan Castel, who interviewed Coach at length last summer. <more>
Wrinkle buster
Why do eyelids sag with age? A UCLA study solves the mystery, with findings that may change the way plastic surgeons treat the nearly 240,000 Americans who undergo eyelid surgery each year. <more>
Drink up!
Turns out that if you’re a senior citizen in good health, light to moderate consumption of alcohol may help prevent the development of physical disability. <more>
Plus: Can a daily caffeine fix ward off strokes? See what UCLA research shows about drinking coffee or tea.
Chill out, live longer
UCLA researchers identified a biological mechanism that links stress to aging – study results that could lead to a “chill pill” to boost an enzyme that cells need to stay young. <more>
Relax naturally: Check out the UCLA Mindful Awareness Research Center’s “Mindful Meditation” podcasts at UCLA on iTunes U.
