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If there is one thing to take away from our recent discussion with Dr. Jet Vonk, a multidisciplinary young scientist in the field of neurolinguistics, it is that we should take care of our brain, just like we do with our body. You can help your brain to maintain its cognitive function by doing simple everyday things, but is that enough to postpone the decline of your brain?

Jet Vonk is probably a perfect example of how to treat your brain in a good fashion. She went from Groningen to New York and finished her two Bachelors (Dutch and Linguistics), two Masters, and PhD before one could say “Alzheimer’s”. During one of her Bachelor’s minor courses, she and her classmates had to dissect a pig’s brain and that was it for her: “I wanted to know more about the brain and how it works”. She admits that during her Bachelor’s she had never imagined being where she is right now.

I wanted to know more about the brain and how it works.

Her research is aimed towards earlier detection of Alzheimer’s disease. Clinical diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease is currently only possible when cognitive decline has reached a certain threshold, but by then the underlying neuropathology is already advanced. The use of linguistic features of neuropsychological data, her current study, may make the measures more sensitive to detect cognitive symptoms earlier in the disease process. She uses secondary analysis of existing datasets but having worked with patients in person previously was an addition to her personal experience: “It reminds you of who and what you are working for”.

Working with patients in person reminds you of who and what you are working for.

Next, we raised the question whether it is possible to outrun Alzheimer’s disease by doing brain exercises. Surprisingly, the answer is a ‘no’. A key player in keeping the brain durable is so-called ‘cognitive-reserve,’ which is the mind’s resistance against brain damage in the dace of disease. Obtaining life experiences, proper education, exercising and socializing can help build up cognitive reserve. Unfortunately, this only helps coping with the cognitive symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease not to outrun the underlying neuropathology.

On top of that, many other factors play part in the decay of the brain. In Alzheimer’s neurons die and when that happens, they cannot be replaced. In the end we can never be sure when our healthy mind will abandon us. Nevertheless, by using Jet’s research into earlier diagnosis of dementia and by engaging our brain we can work together towards a brighter future that no one will forget.