7 Keys To A Happy, Healthy Brain

Why are some people sharp as a tack at 95 years old, while others begin struggling with mental clarity in their 50s?

A lot of it has to do with genetics, but certain lifestyle factors also play an important role in how our brain ages. So while you can't control your genes, you can take advantage of the latest science to keep your grey cells strong:

Get your olive oil

Foods high in sugar, unhealthy fats and processed foods -- i.e., the typical American diet -- can wreak havoc on your brain over time. Studies have shown that excess sugar consumption can impair learning and memory, and increase your vulnerability to neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's. Some scientists have even referred to Alzheimer's as "Type 3 Diabetes," suggesting that diet may have some role in an individual's risk for developing the disease.

A Mediterranean-based diet, on the other hand, can help protect the brain from signs of aging and ward off cognitive decline. A recent study showed that following this type of diet -- which is a good source of brain-healthy nutrients and includes a lot of fish, healthy fats, whole grains and vegetables -- could slash Alzheimer's risk by up to 50 percent.

Location, location, location!

Living in a smoggy city might be bad news for your brain. According to research published this earlier this year in the journal Stroke, exposure to air pollution is linked with premature aging of the brain.

The researchers found that people who lived closer to a major highway had greater markers of pollution in their lungs and blood, which increased their risk for a form of brain damage known as "silent strokes," or symptomless strokes. Increased pollution volume was also linked to decreased brain volume -- a major sign of aging.

Nix happy hour

Don Draper's daily cigarettes and two-martini lunches might seem glamorous on "Mad Men," but research suggests that they're a fast track to neurodegeneration.

It should come as no surprise that excessive drinking and cigarette smoking at any stage of life can have a negative effect on the brain, damaging brain tissue and leading to cognitive impairment. Alcoholism can cause or accelerate aging of the brain.

But just a couple of glasses of wine a night could pose a risk to brain health, even though there are some cardiovascular benefits. A 2012 Rutgers University study found that moderate to binge drinking -- drinking relatively lightly during the week and then more on the weekends -- can decrease adult brain cell production by 40 percent.

"In the short term there may not be any noticeable motor skills or overall functioning problems, but in the long term this type of behavior could have an adverse effect on learning and memory," one of the study's authors, Rutgers neuroscience graduate student Megan Anderson,said in a statement.

Take a chill pill

Living a stressful lifestyle may be the worst thing you can do for your health as you age. Chronic stress is known to shorten the length of telomeres, the sequences at the end of DNA strands that help determine how fast (or slow) the cells in our body age. By shortening telomeres, stress can accelerate the onset of age-related health problems.

What about the brain? Well, some research has suggested that high levels of stress hormones can increase an individual's risk for age-related brain damage.

"Over the course of a lifetime, the effects of chronic stress can accumulate and become a risk factor for cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease," Howard Fillit, a clinical professor of geriatric medicine at The Mount Sinai School of Medicine, wrote in Psychology Today. "Several studies have shown that stress, and particularly one's individual way of reacting to stress (the propensity to become 'dis-stressed' often found in neurotic people for example), increases the risk for Alzheimer's disease."

If you're feeling stressed out, try picking up a meditation practice. Research has shown that meditation is effective in lowering levels of the stress hormone cortisol and protecting the brain from aging.

Get 8 hours
There are a number of scary health effects associated with sleep deprivation, from a higher risk of stroke and diabetes to impaired cognitive functioning. Over the years, losing shut-eye can also accelerate brain aging. In a study conducted last year, researchers from Singapore found that the less that older adults slept, the faster their brains aged.

The study's lead author explained in a statement that among older adults, "sleeping less will increase the rate their brain ages and speed up the decline in their cognitive functions."

Stand up

It's a well-established fact that sitting for long periods is terrible for your health. A growing body of research has linked a sedentary lifestyle with health risks including heart disease, diabetes, cancer and early death, even among people who get the recommended daily amount of exercise.

And it turns out that sitting is also pretty bad for your brain. Research has linked physical inactivity with cognitive decline. Moreover, weight gain in older adults -- which may result from too much sitting -- has been linked with shrinkage in brain areas associated with memory.

So when in doubt, move around. Physical activity has been linked with a number of brain health benefits, including improved learning and memory.

Use it or lose!

If you want to keep your brain sharp, keep it engaged. It doesn't have to be a challenging intellectual task or a brain-training game, either -- simply engaging in everyday activities like reading, cooking or having a conversation (as opposed to vegging out in front of the TV or computer) can make a difference.

But mental exercises like crossword puzzles and sudoku can help, too. A 2013 study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal found that brain exercises are more effective than drugs in preventing cognitive decline.

The bottom line? Doing new and novel things promotes neurogenesis, the creation of new neurons in the brain. So get outside, learn, discover and try something new to keep your brain sharp through the decades.

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Apple, FBI Battle Over Privacy Rules

Apple Incorporated recently said it was increasingsecurity settings on its latest operating system for the company’s wireless devices. Apple said its newencryption rules are designed to protect users fromsearch and seizure of their iPhones.

But the changes are of concern to federal investigatorsin the United States. The Federal Bureau ofInvestigation and high-tech companies are nowdebating over how much personal information lawenforcement agencies can demand to see.

James Comey is the head of the Bureau, better knownas the FBI. He recently spoke about Apple’s new rulesduring a visit to the Brookings Institute in Washington. He and other FBI officials say the rules will hurt lawenforcement by putting important evidence off-limits tofederal investigators.

Apple released the latest operating system for iPhones and iPads last month. At the time, the company included a security change that it said would largelystop police agencies from opening the devices without the owner’spermission. The earlier operating system enabled Apple to unlock its productsif police or federal investigators provided a court order.

The maker of the Android operating system, Google, quickly followed Apple’sexample. The Android system is used on many wireless devices.

The change came only a few months after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled intwo cases. The court declared mobile phones to be what it called “a digitalrecord of nearly every aspect” of users’ lives. The rulings largely set thedevices off limits to police except in only the rarest cases.

Privacy and civil rights activists liked the new security rules.

But Mr. Comey criticized the changed security settings as “harmful” to lawenforcement. He said, “there will come a day where it will matter a great dealto innocent people that we in law enforcement can’t access certain types ofdata or information, even with legal authorization.”

But one encryption security expert says the argument between the two sidesis largely meaningless. Alain Ghiai is chief executive officer of DigitalSafe, asecure data service based in Switzerland. He says that the FBI can alreadyget the information it wants because of the USA Patriot Act. The U.S.Congress passed the law in 2001. It was extended in 2011.

Mr. Ghiai says the government can use the Patriot Act to force your Internetservice provider to supply e-mails or other electronic records. He says it iseasy for a government lawyer to get the information without a user’sknowledge or permission.

Mr. Ghiai notes that the new Apple and Google encryption policies make itdifficult for police to break open a suspect’s phone. But he says nearlyeverything on that phone will have, at some point, been sent through anInternet or mobile phone service. He says the Patriot Act gives federal lawenforcement nearly unlimited access to those data sets – all under the coverof secrecy.

FBI Director Comey knows that some people worry about the security andprivacy of their information.

In his words, “some believe that the FBI has these phenomenal capabilities toaccess any information at any time—that we can get what we want, when wewant it, by flipping some sort of switch.” “It may be true in the movies or onTV. It is simply not the case in real life,” he says.

But technology is changing far faster than the laws governing surveillance. The new encryption rules, he said, run the risk of letting criminals go free.

Mr. Ghiai agrees that the federal government should have some ability to seeencrypted information on mobile devices. But he warns that measures like thePatriot Act already give the federal government access to any information that has ever been stored or shared.