If you are 50 years old today, you’ll probably live into your mid-80s. If you live into your mid-80s, there’s a more than even probability that your brain will decline in function before you die. At age 85, there’s almost an even-money chance that you’ll be identified as senile; that will dramatically impair your ability to live alone, your ability to make your own decisions and to live a full and interesting life until the day you die.

What doctors now know about brain function is that humans begin to experience decline in most cognitive functions in their 30s and 40s. As people grow older, the rate of decline increases, and the cumulative effects become more noticeable. They have increasing difficulty remembering, paying close attention, responding rapidly and performing complex tasks. Their coordination, movement and many other cognitive functions that once came easily become more difficult. These are symptoms of elemental physical changes in an aging brain.

The problem is more than just lapses in memory. There are three root causes of problems in the aging brain: an increasing signal-to-noise problem in processing information collected by our senses; a decline in the production of key brain chemicals; and a slowing in processing speed. These problems make it increasingly difficult to accurately receive, store, retrieve and manipulate information received from any of the five senses.

It is not inevitable, however, that we will be in a state of dementia at the time of our death. Physical exercise is necessary to maintain physical strength, and the brain also needs to be exercised in order to retain mental acuity throughout a lifespan.

Dr. Michael Merzenich and his colleagues worked together to create a system for strengthening the brain and making it perform with more agility, speed and comprehension. The Brain Fitness Program is based on neuro-plasticity — the ability of the brain to change, adapt and even rewire itself. The brain remains highly malleable or “plastic” throughout life, and by presenting the brain with the proper stimuli, scientists can drive beneficial physical and functional change. In the past two years, this global team of scientists has developed computer-based stimulus sets (or “exercises”) that drive beneficial changes in the brain. This methodology is being expanded to address auditory and visual processing and memory, dealing with complexity and the neurological basis for difficulties in hand movement, posture, balance and mobility.

The Brain Fitness Program is just that — a program to get your brain in better shape. It’s designed to drive beneficial chemical, physical and functional change in the brain. Multiple studies have shown a scientifically valid average improvement of more than 10 years in auditory, memory and cognitive function.