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Hi Jackson,

On behalf of fellow ancients, thanks for this.

It is difficult if not impossible to prove these things with  the rigorous  science of the physicist , (well Newtonian type physics anyway,  quantum mechanics, which to me looks like biology(probably or maybe probably not?) excepted!) See Geoffrey’s probably (or  not) correct “rant” (his words, not mine) against the standard of some medical “science” masquerading as real  science despite dubious statistics (or not) etc, (the point I was trying to make against over reliance on such to base treatment guidelines).

However, purely anecdotal experience over 40 years of medicine says yes, the more you exercise the brain, (or any other organ for that matter!) the better it works into old age. “If you don’t use it , you’ll lose it”.  !Unfortunately. Even the liveliest brains succumb to things like cancer, Alzheimer’s, strokes etc, but that is often genetic and chance. In the absence of negative side effects (e.g. in my case “cel nav widow syndrome of long suffering wife!) I say , go for it!

Francis (still buzzing with excitement about science ,literature, art, ,music, medicine, cel nav etc despite old age).