When Mick Jagger first sang “what a drag it is getting old,” he was 23 years old. Now at 71, he is still a veritable Jumpin' Jack Flash on stage. Jagger seems to have found the secret to staying physically fit in his advancing years, but getting old can be a drag on the psyche. Many older adults fear memory loss and worry they are headed down the road to dementia, such as Alzheimer's disease. Every time they forget their keys, leave a door unlocked or fail to remember a name, they are reminded of this nagging concern. In most cases, however, such annoying incidents are part of normal age-related memory loss, not a sign of impending dementia.
Although lots of older adults think such a decline is inevitable, there is good news for many of them. Researchers have developed an array of activities for exercising our minds and bodies that can help shore up memory in the normal aging brain.
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