Alzheimer's Disease begins slowly, spreading clumps of tangled fibers and amyloid plaques throughout the message centers of the brain. The plaques and fibers interrupt and damage the neurons in the brain. As the affected neurons stop communicating with each other, reasoning and memory diminish, and the brain literally atrophies.

The reason that memory is often the first Alzheimer's symptom we notice is that amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles first develop in the entorhinal cortex - the area responsible for retrieving old memories, making new ones, and memory processing. The tangles and plaques then begin to move up into the hippocampus, where more complex memories of objects and events are formed.

I look back at the development of my mother's Alzheimer's Disease, and I can see this exact progression. She had a period of difficulty putting memories together, although her memories were still very present. Within a year, she was unable to figure out a scrapbook with pictures of houses we had lived in. I sat with her, explaining which street this one was on, and how old I was when we lived there. Further evidence of how progressed the disease was came when she asked me again within three or four minutes, "which house is this? I can't remember." She also could not remember that we had just been over this - short term memory was seriously disrupted, as well as long term memory.

The understanding that our brain cells actually do increase through life is quite recent. Until about 20 years ago, science told us that brain cells only died off - they did not grow or reproduce. Now we know more. Individual brain cells can be stimulated to grow much more complex and far-reaching dendrites, and through that process, we can protect our memories and all our brain cells from the ravages of Alzheimer's disease. Certain ingredients in our lifestyle can prompt a great deal of brain growth. If we can protect ourselves with millions of well-developed neurons, we may not notice the decline and the interruptions which come with the process of Alzheimer's disease. Since the actions which stimulate healthy brain growth are also things which can give us great joy and connection in daily life, perhaps we can really motivate ourselves to make these changes, a little at a time.

Studies have shown that brain growth is tremendously stimulated by certain kinds of learning, challenges, and life choices. Remaining very social, and learning in social contexts, are two of the most powerful activities for brain growth. It is interesting to observe that many of our elders are isolated, often stagnating in front of the television, living a life that is an open invitation to brain degeneration. Noticing what leads to degeneration is very informative as we look for dynamic and accessible solutions for our aging population to continue healthy growth. Younger people who want to start now to develop powerful brains can engage older people in brain-stimulating activities. Here we have a social formula which promotes health, and healthy culture, from several different angles. Win-win-win!