The term brain fitness reflects a hypothesis that cognitive abilities can be maintained or improved by exercising the brain, in analogy to the way physical fitness is improved by exercising the body. Although there is strong evidence that aspects of brain structure remain plastic throughout life, and that high levels of mental activity are associated with reduced risks of age-related dementia, scientific support for the concept of "brain fitness" is limited. The term is virtually never used in the scientific literature, but is commonly used in the context of self-help books and commercial products. It first came into play in the 1980s, and appeared in the titles of self-help books in 1989 and 1990.
Read more about Brain Fitness: Overview, Neurogenesis, Mental Stimulation, Practical Effects
Famous quotes containing the words brain and/or fitness:
“When the situation is, what we would wish, nothing is so ill- timed as to hint at the circumstances which make it so: you thank Fortune ... you had reason—the heart knew it, and was satisfied; and who but an English philosopher would have sent notices of it to the brain to reverse the judgment?”
—Laurence Sterne (1713–1768)
“Parentage is a very important profession; but no test of fitness for it is ever imposed in the interest of children.”
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)