Elizabeth Goldberg, MD agreed to talk to me about very interesting aspect of aging and brain/sensory related changes in nervous system that may cause falls. As a rheumatologist I vividly see how drastic life of my patients changes after falls. Aging skeleton is one of factors that predisposes to falls, but it really is multitude cognitive and other components that we have power to change, or at least understand and adjust, to prevent the unfortunate events of falls.

One of the most potent weapons we have against aging of our brains and improving its function comes from exercise and the most compelling evidence about it comes from animal research, and few human-based studies.

I think of a brain as I think of a grain (even the shape of it is provokingly similar to the shape of the brain). In order for that grain to grow you have to cultivate it, prevent from too much sun, under or overwatering or insect infestation. You may need to add special nutrition to the mix for the grain to grow into your desired plant. And then finally you put some effort into growing the grain and you see how it branches out and shows as talented leaves, petals, nectars that attract pollinators like honey-bees. In the next few months I want to concentrate on ideas on how to age gracefully or rather - how to grow older gracefully and I start with command center, the brain.