Mental exercise can reverse a brain change linked to aging, study finds
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Scientists are reporting the first compelling evidence in people that cognitive training can boost levels of a brain chemical that typically declines with age.
A 10-week study of people 65 or older found that doing rigorous mental exercises for 30 minutes a day increased levels of the chemical messenger acetylcholine by 2.3% in a brain area involved in attention and memory.
The increase "is not huge," says Étienne de Villers-Sidani, a neurologist at McGill University in Montreal.
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