If you’re interested in independent living, a healthy mind is probably of utmost importance to you. We often think of aging being accompanied by a decrease in our physical faculties. But perhaps mental decline is not really inevitable with advancing age.

NPR’s Scott Hensley reported on the death of Gene Cohen, a geriatric psychiatrist who felt that aging did not mean the loss of a healthy mind.

In Memory Of Gene Cohen, Visionary On Aging – Shots – Health News Blog : NPR

Cohen’s research showed us that old age can be a time of creativity. One study showed that older people involved in community-based arts programs were healthier and more independent after a year, than people of the same level of health who didn’t take part. This made sense, he said, because science shows that brain cells do not die off as we age, but continue to grow.

Hensley reports that Cohen started making board games in mid-life, and made one game designed to be played with someone with Alzheimer’s or other memory disorders.

If you’re worried that old age must rob you of your mind, check out the article, read Cohen’s book, and increase your mental activity and creativity!

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