Mayo Clinic Minute: Do Active Minds Delay Alzheimer's?

Brain games, puzzles, reading and crafts. Do activities that keep your mind active help ward off symptoms of Alzheimer's disease? A study in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology suggests they might. Mayo Clinic dementia researcher Dr. Prashanthi Vemuri says they studied people who are carriers of a certain gene linked to Alzheimer's and found those with the gene who were highly educated and stayed mentally active in mid-life had lower levels of amyloid deposits in their brains than those who didn't stat active. Those deposits are a hallmark of Alzheimer's disease. The researchers say staying mentally active doesn't stop the disease, but it may delay symptoms.

In this Mayo Clinic Minute, reporter Vivien Williams has more.