Keeping Your Brain Fit

Just within the past few months, several groups of researchers have added support for the growing consensus that plenty can be done to slow the age-related declines in memory, mental speed, and decision making that affect most people. In November, a team from the Mayo Clinic and the University of Southern California announced that one computer-based mental training program appeared to improve older people's cognitive performance by as much as 10 years. That same month, a Harvard researcher found that long-term use of beta carotene supplements delayed cognitive decline by up to a year and a half.