Mental Workouts May Aid Health

Studying and discussing ideas may have something to do with people’s physical as well as mental health. Recently, scientists have suggested that exercising the intellect helps keep older people healthy.

Some of the most dramatic evidence has come from a study of elderly nuns done by the University of Kentucky.

The School Sisters of Notre Dame, a Catholic order numbering more than 670 women, agreed to donate their brains for post-mortem examination and allowed researchers to review their lifetime health records.

The subjects of the study come from two groups of nuns in seven U.S. cities, teachers and domestic workers. Dr. David Snowden has been evaluating the participants every year for nearly a decade. He believes higher levels of mental activity appear to be related to longevity with good mental and physical functioning.

One of the oldest subjects, a 102-year-old nun, was alert and functioning well until the day she died, with no symptoms of serious illness. But an autopsy revealed that her brain was riddled with Alzheimer’s disease. She was one of the most intellectually active members of the order.

“Scientific findings show that exercise, weightlifting and other physical activities help people maintain the functions they need to maintain their independence,” Snowden says. “Wouldn’t it be nice if brain cells turned out to behave like muscle cells--that if you keep mentally active, your brain will function optimally for a longer time.”