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"Some people," Dr. Coleman said, "have pure Alzheimer's disease and some have pure cerebral vascular disease. But most have a mix of the two." The same risk factors that raise a person's chances of having a heart attack or stroke - high cholesterol and blood pressure, excess weight, smoking, lack of exercise - also raise the risk of developing dementia, she explained.

It's not that circulatory disease causes Alzheimer's, she emphasized. But if the brain lacks a healthy flow of blood through vessels relatively free of atherosclerotic plaques, it is less able to fight off the damage associated with dementia. ( ... )

How you spend your leisure time may also make an important difference. Activities that involve mental and social stimulation, like doing crossword puzzles; playing bridge, checkers or chess; learning a language or new skill; taking up knitting or crocheting; and remaining socially involved have all been associated in various studies with preservation of normal brain function.

When these activities are combined with regular physical activity, the benefit appears to be even greater. [...]

Mice and other rodents have been shown throughout their lives to be able to form new cells in the part of the brain involved in learning and memory if they live in an "enriched" environment.

Can you be any less well developed than a mouse?