Exercise - not just the body
A recent finding (1) that the accumulation of the HDAC2 protein is an early precursor to the onset of Alzheimer's has offered renewed hope for gene therapy and hardware modifications for slowing down the progression of this terrible disease. This certainly helps and vaccines targeting this general mechanism are already in clinical trials.
It is also interesting to investigate software aspects of the disease that may complement hard therapies. It has been shown that brain diversity due to the use of the organ in many different and unrelated activities provide redundant connections that may ameliorate the effects of the disease. Professionals adept at a singular profession – such as engineering, medicine and law – have shown a higher proclivity to the disease supporting the hypothesis that specialization has a negative effect on brain flexibility. On the other hand, the same cohort who expresses interests in orthogonal areas such as art and music, seem to do better. If these findings are robust, then, they have implications for both education and societal designs. Whether humans want it or not, they are living longer and traditional designs have them "retire," and generally shut down their brains or at the very least become less mentally active. It is possible that the idea of retirement – a remnant of industrial revolution, has an impact on the frequency of the disease seen in modern populations.
Early in human history – age was positively correlated with mental activity – with the elders engaging in story telling and management. In the modern society, this has been reversed, with the older generation expending less of their brain power. This is problematic and the design that led us here is inefficient. It not only leads to disease but also destroys valuable information. It is time to think differently. The brain, that consumes over a quarter of the available energy is designed to be active continuously. Better designs are needed to fully deploy every available brain cell around the world.
(1) Blockade of learning and memory genes may occur early in Alzheimer's disease. Source: NIH/National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
