Playing Games Boosts Your Brain Volume

Playing games may boost your brain volume， according to new research presented this week at the Alzheimer's Association International Conference in Copenhagen， Denmark.

Middle-aged people who were avid game-players (think crosswords， checkers， cards) tended to have bigger brains than people who did not play games， according to a recent study that looked at brain scans.

\"It's like looking at someone's muscle mass，\" said Dr. Laurel Coleman of the Maine Medical Center Geriatric Assessment Center. \"It's bad when it's smaller， good when it's bigger.\"

Researchers looked specifically at certain parts of participants' brains. The volume among game-players was greater in areas that tend to be damaged by Alzheimer's disease， suggesting the potential for delaying -- maybe even avoiding -- the disease. People who kept their brains pumped scored higher on tests of their thinking ability.

More than 35 million people worldwide live with dementia today， according to a new report. By 2050， that number is expected to more than triple to 115 million. Scientists are frantically trying to find new ways to detect and prevent Alzheimer's disease.

Coleman suggests mixing it up: Try potentially stimulating activities like learning a new language or switching from reading nonfiction to fiction -- anything that poses a cognitive challenge.

Here are a few other things we've learned from this week's Alzheimer's conference:

Exercise can also help the mind.

Exercise seems to slow the descent toward dementia as well.

Two sets of data from the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging suggest that exercise may positively influence how mild cognitive impairment (a precursor to dementia) and dementia develop.

In one group of patients with mild cognitive impairment， exercising seemed to protect against developing dementia. Data on a different group of healthy patients who exercised -- either lightly or vigorously -- showed they were less likely to be diagnosed with cognitive impairment.

\"We would never say that these things totally prevent Alzheimer's， that they will cure you，\" said Coleman， a geriatrician. \"But they're going to help your brain.\"

Smell test may detect Alzheimer's

In the future， a test of your sense of smell may help doctors predict your risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

In two separate studies， scientists found that people who were unable to identify certain odors were more likely to experience cognitive impairment. The researchers believe that brain cells crucial to a person's sense of smell are killed in the early stages of dementia.

Researchers say this information could help doctors create a smell test to detect Alzheimer's earlier. Early detection means early intervention and treatment to slow the progression of the disease. Doctors today can only diagnose Alzheimer's disease once it has caused significant brain damage.

\"In the face of the growing worldwide Alzheimer's disease epidemic， there is a pressing need for simple， less invasive diagnostic tests that will identify the risk of Alzheimer's much earlier in the disease process，\" Heather Snyder， director of medical and scientific operations for the Alzheimer's Association， said in a statement.

老年癡呆癥協會國際會議公布最新研究，玩游戲可能會增加腦容量。因玩游戲者的腦容量比受損傷的區域大，這意味著能延遲甚至避免患癡呆癥。腦部掃描得出的最新研究表明，熱衷游戲的中年人比那些不愛玩游戲者的腦袋大。緬因州醫療中心老年人評估中心的科爾曼博士說，腦，就像肌肉質量，大比小要好。研究人員預計到2050年全世界患癡呆癥的人數將達1.15億。研究認為，嘗試富有認知挑戰的活動有助于預防老年癡呆癥，嗅覺測試可能檢測患病風險，因對嗅覺至關重要的腦細胞會在發病早期遭受損傷。

[http://edition.cnn.com/2014/07/14/health/alzheimers-disease-conference/index.html?hpt=he_c2]