New York Times: Brain Health "One of the Hottest Topics in the Next Five Years"

Today's New York Times summarizes the growing interest in brain health with "it can't hurt:"

“Right now,” said Dr. Marilyn Albert, director of cognitive neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University, “we can’t say to somebody, ‘We know that if you walk a mile every day for the next six months, your memory’s going to be better.’ We don’t know that if you do certain kinds of puzzles it’s going to have a benefit.”

In addition, few scientists believe brain health activities prevent dementia, only that they might delay it.

The strongest evidence suggests that cardiovascular exercise also probably helps the brain, by improving blood circulation, experts say.

According to the NYT, the interest in brain health manifests itself in everything from the popularity of Nintendo's Brain Age (for the handheld DS platform) to "brain gyms."

For more, see our brain health category.