I must admit up front that I am not a big movie person. For some reason my instinct tells me that sitting in a room for two hours without conversation is odd. I appreciate how many disagree and there have been plenty of great movies over the years. Movies tell a story and provide images that can potentially shape our thoughts and moods. Such is the power of environment on plasticity of the human brain.

It is hard to get through a day during our current times without hearing about the bad mood of the nation, the poor economic times, and how many families are struggling. I might suggest a particular movie to ease the distress if for even a few hours or days. I saw Secretariat last night because this horse made a significant impression when I was a child. The movie has a very positive tone with themes of perseverance, love, loyalty, hard work, and family. These are some of the important ingredients to success, and to me Secretariat was the greatest!

I have not been to too many movies in my life, but I have been to some where the audience is moved to react with a scream, applause, etc. Secretariat moved the audience to applaud which is great to hear from a nation trying to find some good news. I think this movie represents something more than the story, precisely what Secretariat meant to the nation in the 70s. A horse of this magnitude is once again providing us some joy when we need it.

A new study of global high net worth individuals found that many will continue to work past their 60s thereby offering a new definition of retirement. Some even see this time period as an opportunity to try new ventures and challenges.

The Barclays Wealth Survey of 2000 persons with a net worth of 1.5 million in assets found that nearly 60 percent of respondents will continue with some form of professional work, whatever their age. Although some respondents are keenly aware of the likelihood of their continued longevity, they are also interested in continued personal development.

Nearly sixty percent of high net worth persons and 54% of affluent Americans have no plans to retire ever and will work full time or start their own business. Those countries with the greatest percentage of respondents who will continue to work were as follows:

Saudi Arabia: 92%

UAE: 91%

South Africa: 89%

United States: 75%

Nations with more traditional views of retirement yielded a lower percentage who desired to continue working and these included:

United Kingdom: 60%

Japan: 46%

Spain: 44%

Switzerland: 34%

This new view of how to spend the “retirement” years is seen in the less wealthy populations as well and is encouraging as more people will remain involved regardless of their age. This will help people continue to think critically, problem solve and even create. These behaviors are healthier than passivity and isolation.

Interest in the human brain is at an all time high with both scientists and the general public reading, learning, and writing more about this great system. There is much discussion and even tension about what the brain can and cannot do, whether it has certain capacities or not, and what can be stated with some confidence and what cannot.

While it is true we need to conduct more, well designed, controlled studies, certain things are true of the brain today:

1. The human brain is the most complicated and brilliant system known.
2. The human brain has plasticity which means it can be shaped, is dynamic, and constantly reorganizing.
3. The human brain generates brain cells in the hippocampus and most likely the olfactory system.
4. Cognition changes as we get older, but there remains great variability particularly at the oldest of age.
5. Proactive lifestyle factors relate to improved brain health.
6. Brain reserve continues to gain support as a mechanism to delay onset of  dementia.

The latter point was reinforced yesterday in a major article in the USA Today (9-2-10) that described a study that will be published in Neurology. A research team at Rush Presbyterian conducted a 12 year study that evaluated the mental activities of 1,157 people 65 years of age and older who did not demonstrate dementia at the start of the study. Study participants were assessed at the beginning of the study and again for Alzheimer’s at the six-year period. After that, each participated was evaluated every three years to measure how often they participated in activities such as reading, listening to the radio, playing games and going to the museum. A five point scale was used with more points earned for more frequent participation in mentally stimulating activities.

Results indicated the rate of cognitive decline for persons without dementia was reduced by 52% for each point on the cognitive activity scale. For persons with Alzheimer’s the average rate of decline per year increased by 42% for each point on the same scale. The research team described their findings using the cognitive construct of “cognitive or brain reserve” which suggests that an active and stimulated brain creates new neural pathways which over time can help to delay onset of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s. This is not a cure.

Researchers were less clear why persons who are mentally active demonstrate a rapid decline once Alzheimer’s manifests. One idea might be that reserve helps to delay onset of Alzheimer’s, but once the disease manifests clinically it is already in an advanced stage with an accelerated rate of decline. The good news for this study is that there is benefit to the brain from remaining mentally stimulated across the lifespan. Brain reserve is something worth building.

Animal research has consistently shown that too much stimulation can retard development of the brain. Human research has shown a relationship between chronic stress and structural changes in the hippocampus and in memory function. Other research has shown the benefit of total sleep and deep sleep on brain function and information processing while lack of sleep relates to cognitive and emotional problems.

Interestingly, new experiences for rats can be stimulating to their brain producing new patterns of neural activity. However, the brain’s ability to encode this experience permanently tends to only occur when the rats take a break from their new exploration. Researchers suspect the same may be true for human learning.

Downtime seems to permit the human brain review new information and experiences that have been processed. Constant stimulation with no down time may prevent or limit the permanency of the learning.

A recent study at the University of Michigan found that people learned much better after a walk in nature compared to a walk in a dense urban environment. This suggests that processing significant amounts of information at one time may leave the brain fatigued. Multi-tasking may be an activity that taxes the brain more than we know or appreciate.

This understanding of the importance for “refreshing your brain” rather than “fatiguing it” sits within the context a huge increase in the use of entertainment and communication gadgets. Mobile games are typically played for 6.3 minutes and more game companies may be developing games that are shorter in duration. The concern is that people will not take breaks necessary for brain health promotion.

The same concern can be raised for time spent on the cell phone, the computer, the video game and other electronic gadgets. It is important to remember to give yourself some down time during the day and let your brain both rest and process the information and experiences it has experienced.