“Above the Fold”
(An introduction to each week’s newsletter from the editor of WMNN)
Hi, Neighbors! In this week’s Western Maine Neighborhood News, the Andover, East Bethel, Locke’s Mills, and West Paris columns (the “Week A” group) are free to all subscribers, along with last week’s Gilead column, which was somehow lost in cyberspace on its way from Lin to me! Upgrade to a paid subscription ($5/month or $50/year) to read this week’s Bethel, Gilead, Newry, and Woodstock columns (and all the town columns every week).
IMPORTANT NOTE: IF YOU HAVE SUBSCRIBED TO RECEIVE WMNN, AND ARE NO LONGER RECEIVING THE WEEKLY EMAIL, THERE ARE A FEW THINGS TO TRY. FOR POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS, PLEASE VISIT:
https://support.substack.com/hc/en-us/articles/360037488332-I-subscribed-to-a-Substack-publication-but-am-not-receiving-any-emails-What-can-I-do
I was actually having the same problem myself with my personal email, and the issue turned out to be that I had subscribed to the Substack app and needed to change my newsletter delivery settings, as suggested:
“If you have the Substack app installed, head to the Notifications section in your Settings. If you have “Prefer push” selected, this means that you’ll only receive push notifications to your phone when there’s a new post. Select “Prefer email” or “Both email and push” to resume email delivery of new posts.”
I hope this helps! And remember that, even if you don’t receive the email, you can always read the newsletter on the website, wmnn.org
Andover News
Diana Nadeau
Hello to all my faithful readers.
Last Thursday saw seven painters at the Andover Public Library. Mr. Brent led us in painting a haunted house just in time for Halloween. All the participants enjoyed our evening and were glad to take part in this library fundraiser.
Please mark your calendars for the next event at the library. This will be a balsam wreath making workshop on Saturday, November 28th, from 1-3 pm.
The Halloween Parade was very well attended with all types of ghosts, goblins, and other assorted creatures. I have so many fond memories of Trick or Treating around the Andover village for years. The Trunk or Treat event and the Historical Society candy shop were all very busy handing out goodies.
There are quite a few events in the future to tell you all about. This Saturday November 7th is the annual Craft/Vendor Fair being held at Telstar High School from 9-2. This is a very popular event featuring crafts, along with food and bake sales.
The Hut in Andover will also be very busy with two opportunities for some delicious food. There will be a hunters breakfast this Saturday, November 7th, from 6-10 am and then a baked bean supper that evening starting at 5:30 pm. Please see the attached flyers for all the info. It sounds like a yummy day in Andover to me!
The Town of Andover, Maine, Highway Department, is accepting applications for a seasonal on-call snowplow driver to assist the Highway Department with snowplowing and winter maintenance for day, night, and weekend shifts. A successful candidate will have snow removal experience, a valid Class B CDL (preferred), a team player attitude, able to be on call during November 15th to April 15th, and is at least 18 years of age and we are willing to train. Employment Applications are available at the town office or at the Highway Department. To apply, please submit a resume and completed employment application at the town office, 17 Stillman Ave, Andover, Maine 04216. The position will remain open until a suitable candidate is found. The Town of Andover is an equal opportunity employer.
Another wonderful opportunity for the seniors of Andover is brought to you by the Andover Highway Department: The Bucket of Sand Giveaway for Senior Residents. Sand buckets will be dispensed on a first-come, first-served basis until we run out of buckets. We will deliver a 5-gallon bucket full of sand at no charge. It’s a way to give back to our awesome community. One bucket per household until supplies run out. We will start delivering sand buckets in November. To get on the list please call/text the Road Commissioner, Per Tripp, at 207-392-5063 or email at ARC@ANDOVERMAINE.GOV Thank you Per for providing this for our senior residents. And congratulations to Per and Brooke on their recent wedding...all the happiness to you both!
Get well and healing wishes go out to Liz Ladd on her recent hip replacement surgery...best to you Liz.
Please send me any news or events. diananadeau@ymail.com
Bethel News
Linda Howe
In Bethel there are several upcoming events.
On Friday, November 6th, there will be a potluck supper that starts at 5 p.m. at the West Parish Congregational Church with an illustrated talk that starts at 6 p.m. Cindi Wight will talk about old railroad lines that have been converted to bike
East Bethel News
Hayli Tuttle
Hello Neighbors! I hope you all had a safe and fun Halloween.
I would like to apologize. I missed Kathy and Paul Hebert’s anniversary on the 25th of last month. A belated happy anniversary to them from the whole neighborhood.
Yesterday, Tuesday, November 3, was also Paul’s birthday. Happy birthday from the whole neighborhood!
Friday November 6, is George and Marcy Bethel’s anniversary. Happy anniversary to you both from the whole neighborhood!
As mentioned last week we began arrangements for my grandmother’s Celebration of Life. As a family we welcome you to celebrate her with us on November 21st at 1pm at the Bethel Methodist Church.
Unfortunately I have no trivia or questions this week.
Call me at (207) 595-5930 or email me at haylist.laurent22@gmail.com. I look forward to
connecting with you. Have an outstanding week!
Gilead News
Lin Chapman
First, here’s the October 29, 2026 Gilead column, which was lost in cyberspace last week!
October 29, 2026
One never knows what to expect from the weather in October. A few nights have dipped into the thirties and one night it was in the twenties. Yet last Sunday midafternoon, our thermometer read 70 degrees.
Condolences go out to the family of Danny Cole, who passed away recently.
Pete and Claudia Risbara recently returned from LaJolla, CA after visiting with family. They helped to move Claudia’s 99-year-old mother from California to Oregon. The picture is a view from their balcony in CA.
Only one more week to go and Election Day will be over. The political ads will go away. We won’t have to listen to who may or may not have done something. Just tell us what you will do.
Gilead Historical Society
Since the series of Aunt May’s letters has come to an end, I decided to start a series that is from the “Memories of Emeline Heath.” She wrote a lot about her life growing up on the farm in Gilead. She was my mother’s cousin, which in turn also made her my cousin.
She was born in Gilead on November 5, 1905. She lived on the farm with her parents, Archie and Mabel Heath, and her grandparents, Josiah and Ruth Emeline Heath. She graduated from Gould Academy and then attended Farmington Normal School. She taught school in several towns in Maine including Gilead. She moved to Boston, Mass. to begin working in an office for J. Langdon Sullivan. After several years there, she returned to live in Gilead.
The earliest settlers in Peabody’s Patent (Gilead) probably arrived at about the same time as those in Sudbury Canada (Bethel). As related by Nathaniel Segar in his narrative of the Indian Raid of 1781, there was at least one family here at that time. James Pettingill was killed by the raiders, but we do not know the exact location of his house or the number of survivors.
I remember some graves in a pasture on the North Road near the center of the town. They were marked by rough stones but no one knew the names or how long they had been there. Relocation of the road and the growth of woods have changed the place so that it may now be impossible to find.
By 1800, twelve or more families had established homes. This being “Peabody’s Patent,” some of them were Peabodys. Thomas Peabody’s Inn was built about 1800, I believe. It is still standing on Route 2 and near it, across the railroad track, is the Peabody Cemetery. Among others arriving about that time were two of my great, great grandfathers, Joseph Heath and Cutting Bennett, from the vicinity of Bridgewater and Sanbornton, N.H. Some of their children were born in Gilead and lived here for many years. Joseph’s son, Timothy, married Cutting’s daughter, Dillie, and their son, Josiah Heath, was my grandfather.
Old deeds show that Cutting Bennett bought from Jonathan Peabody in 1817, part of the farm where I grew up. For incorporation as a town, a settlement had to have a certain number of framed (not log) buildings, and the ones on this land were among those existing here when Gilead was incorporated in 1804. My father built a new house in 1902, but the original barn is still standing. Its timbers are hand-hewn and joined with mortise and tenon joints and wooden pins. It must be nearly two hundred years old. My father used to astonish people by telling them that it was “built in Massachusetts.” In was, indeed, “Gilead in the County of Oxford and Commonwealth of Massachusetts” until 1820.
After the death of Cutting Bennett in 1864, my grandparents, Josiah and Ruth Emeline (Stiles) Heath, who lived in the Grover Hill neighborhood of Bethel, negotiated with the other heirs and acquired the farm in Gilead. They moved there in the spring of 1866 with their five children, of whom my father Archie was the youngest.
I try to imagine what Gilead was like in those days, and I will tell as well as I can what was told to me and what I observed in my early life.
~Emeline Heath
Got any news? Email chapmal@hotmail.com
November 5, 2026
Nice to have some warm weather in November. It makes things a little more difficult for the hunters. The dry leaves make noise and the deer can hear them
Locke’s Mills News
Amy Wight Chapman
This has been an eventful week! Halloween is over, and so is Election Day, and so is Daylight Saving Time. As I write this on Wednesday evening, I’m experiencing either a lingering Halloween candy sugar high, or a post-election high, or maybe both, and, meanwhile, I’m completely confused about what time it is and why it’s getting dark so early.
This morning a friend reminded me of how I started my day two years ago, the morning after Election Day 2024, something I had somehow managed to put completely out of my mind. She sent along a photo of part of the column I had written for the Bethel Citizen after that experience, and of course I had to look it up on my computer and read the rest of it. In case you missed it back then, here’s my description of that particular misadventure:
On Wednesday morning, in what seemed like a fitting start to the day after the election, I went out to get the paper (and to take a photo of the sun rising, because honestly, I was kind of surprised that it did) and locked myself out of the house. Tony, who had stayed up hours later than I had to watch election returns, was still asleep, without either his hearing aids or his phone, so I knew there wasn’t any point in trying to rouse him, although I did toss a few pebbles from the driveway at the upstairs bedroom window before I gave up.
After checking all of the larger, lower windows and finding them all securely locked, I discovered one rather small window on the back of the house that was unlocked. Fortunately, Tony has been in the middle of a project involving another window, and happened to have left a stepladder right outside the door.
It wasn’t exactly pretty, but I was able to remove the screen, climb up the stepladder, and, in spite of bad knees that don’t bend the way they’re supposed to, kind of slither headfirst through the window and onto the top of the dresser that was conveniently located right beneath it. Television crime dramas always make this sort of thing look a lot easier than it is in practice. Suffice it to say that I do not have a bright future as a catburglar.
I won’t hijack my own column and turn it into a political forum, because there are certainly plenty of those available already, but I will say that the fact that I no longer have bad knees is far from the only thing that makes me feel completely different on this post-election Wednesday, two years later.
In spite of the unseasonably warm weather today, turning the calendar page to November always means pitching headlong into the holiday season, ready or not.
On that note, the First Universalist Church of West Paris is holding its annual Thanksgiving Dessert Pie Fundraiser. Place your order for an apple, pumpkin, or blueberry pie ($18 per pie) by November 19 by contacting Marta Clements at 207-674-2143, or email mclements96894@roadrunner.com. Pie pickup will be on Wednesday, November 25, from 9 – 11 a.m. at the church.
Here are some other upcoming November events:
Thursday, November 5, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in the Telstar Library: Mary Morton Cowan will give a presentation on the history of logging in New England. She is the author of Timberrr! A History of Logging in New England, written for middle-grade readers. Spanning four centuries, the book explores the true story of how logging shaped the economy, culture, and forests of New England—from colonial mast cutting to the rise of sawmills and modern sustainable forestry. This program is presented by the Western Mountains Senior College, and is free and open to the public.
Friday, November 6, at 5 p.m. at the West Parish Congregational Church, 32 Church Street, Bethel: Potluck supper and presentation on “Rails to Trails.” What becomes of old railroad lines? They become trails. Cindi Wight recently biked some of Northern Maine’s converted rail beds and brings the photos and the stories to share, along with other rail trails she has biked on. Potluck supper at 5 p.m. (bring a dish to share), illustrated talk at 6 p.m.
Friday, November 13, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. at the West Bethel Makerspace, 10 Ferry Road, Bethel: Community Mending Group meeting. The group will be celebrating a year since its formation! From the organizers: “Because this is our first anniversary, the Feature Focus will be US! We’ll take a look back at ideas that were captured at those first meetings in 2025, celebrate our progress, and talk about where we go from here. First timer? We’d love to have you with us! This group is what we make it. That’s the ‘community’ in our name. So, as always, rally up a friend, and pick something from your repair pile (if you have one). Plus, donation dollars help our group continue to thrive.”
Wednesday, November 18, 4:30 – 6:30 p.m. at the Locke Mills Union Church: Harvest Supper. This will be the church’s last supper of the year. Donations of prepared food, paper plates, and napkins will be gladly accepted.
Saturday, November 21, 2:00 p.m. at the Museums of the Bethel Historical Society: Independence 250 Finale Party and book discussion of The Founding Foodies: American Meals that Wouldn’t Exist Today If Not for Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin by Dave DeWitt. From MBHS Executive Director Will Chapman: “Thank you to everyone who has joined us in celebration during our year-long commemoration of the 250th anniversary of American Independence. We hope that you all will join us on Saturday, November 21, at 2:00 p.m., as we gather in the Howe Exhibit Hall (in the red barn) at the Mason House (14 Broad Street) to discuss this fascinating book and sample a few of the flavors of the day. This book contains numerous recipes, and we invite you to make and bring something to share, if you like. This is also our finale party for the Independence 250 series, and we would love to see as many folks as possible! You do not have to read the book or bring anything to attend!” Copies of Founding Foodies are now available at the MBHS Museum Shop (currently open by appointment - call 207-824-2908 or email info@bethelhistorical.org) and the Bethel Library. We hope to see you there!
Friday, November 27 (storm date Saturday, November 28), from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.: Holiday Wonderland and Crafting Open House at the old Town Hall on Main Street, Locke’s Mills. See the flyer below for details. The Holiday Wonderland room will be open anytime the Town Hall is open, which is generally on Farmers’ Market Fridays from 4 to 6 p.m.
The Swap Shop at the Greenwood-Woodstock Transfer Station is now closed for the season, but organizers say they still have a few bikes left that they couldn’t bring themselves to get rid of just yet. Grab one (or more) while you still can. Please do not leave items. If you have holiday items to donate for the Holiday Wonderland, contact the Greenwood Town Office or message Lynn Cobb.
Lena’s hiking adventures this week have included Maggie’s Nature Park, Overset Pond, Peabody Mountain, the McCoy-Gray Birch Trail, and a ramble on the old Duane’s Retreat trails at Mt. Abram. The dry beech and oak leaves on many of the trails have made them a bit treacherous this fall!
Unfortunately, an upcoming surgery (no big deal, no worries!) is about to take me off the trails for a few weeks, so Will and Tony will be stepping in to get our girl the exercise she really, really needs. I hope they remember to take some photos! And I wonder if I’ll be trying not to slip on dry leaves, or if that challenge will be replaced by snow and ice when I get back out there. You never know when winter is going to set in, so get out and enjoy fall while it lasts!
This online newsletter is intended to keep our communities informed, so if you have news, events, or photos you’d like to have included here, I hope you’ll share them with me! You can reach me by email at amy.w.chapman@gmail.com or by phone or text at 207-890-4812.
Newry News
Amy Henley
For the last 6 years I’ve gone and watched the Halloween parade with the kids from Crescent Park School walking from the school up Main Street and back to school. It is hard to believe next year I won’t have to attend as my child will be in
West Paris
Stephanie Emery
Greetings from West Paris!
Have you heard about the West Paris Bobcat Committee? I’ve been a member for over a year, and was curious about the group’s beginnings and the origins of its name. So I did a little digging!
The group grew out of the struggles related to the devastating decision to close the Agnes Gray School. Formed in 2024 by concerned citizens, the informal group had no official name. The group had hoped to rally the town to convince the school board to keep the school open, and also support the displaced teachers and students.
But as that decision to close became inevitable, the focus of the group shifted. When West Paris lost its school, the group felt the town lost the heart of our community. However they still saw the potential, possibility, historic, and community value within the walls and the grounds.
So why the bobcat? The earliest mention I found of the “West Paris Bobcats” was in a 1948 newspaper article, and it first appeared on the West Paris High School “Nautilus” yearbook cover in 1948. The original bobcat was drawn by Lawrence Emery (yup, my distant cousin). Local artist Mick Liimatta and others have also designed bobcats for West Paris. It seems to have gone dormant when the West Paris High School joined the SAD 17 School District in 1966 and we all became “Vikings.” As an elementary school student at Agnes Gray in the 1970s and 1980s, I do not remember being a “Bobcat” but the mascot was revived in the late 1980s as articles featuring the “West Paris Bobcats” reappeared beginning in 1988.
Carina Adams, a member and current Bobcat Committee treasurer, writes: “The saying, ‘Once a Bobcat, Always a Bobcat,’ had been repeated many times during those first months. It was a way to show we were all still connected, even after the school closed and our students, staff, and volunteers were separated. It connected our little band of warriors, too. We were a group that had very little in common, other than our love for the community school. Some of us had lived in West Paris our entire lives; some had only just moved here. Some had graduated from that building, and didn’t know anyone under 30. Others had only gone to elementary school. And still others were parents of current students who felt like they were part of a family because of the culture at Agnes Gray. At one of our very first ‘gatherings’ someone said we needed a name. I believe it was Sandra Poland who suggested, ‘What about the Bobcat Committee?’ It seemed perfect, in more ways than one.”
The Bobcat Committee’s mission is to “help preserve the historical integrity of Agnes Gray for its future use to benefit the greater good for the West Paris community.” The Bobcat Committee is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, which means donations are now tax deductible and they can apply for grants to offset costs for future projects.
Should the town of West Paris choose to sell the property and buildings, any money raised by the Bobcat Committee will then be given to other non-profits in West Paris, according to their bylaws. The Bobcat Committee, however, does more than raise money. Members have volunteered to mow, garden, and monitor the property. Volunteers have also planned cleanup days both inside and outside.
“WE are the Bobcats.” says Carina Adams “The people who make up this town, whether they’ve been here for six decades or six months. Bobcats are resilient. They adapt. They thrive in ever changing environments, always finding a way to overcome the challenges thrown their way. They’re small, yet mighty. They’re patient and persistent hunters. And while they’re also incredibly independent, they’re also fiercely protective of the places they call home. A bobcat is everything we hoped to be as a group.”
As West Paris decides what to do next with the Agnes Gray buildings and property, I personally hope many of those bobcat characteristics ring true. We are a small community, but we are also mighty, fierce, and resilient. A fight to keep this building and give it new life is a fight for our community.
The Bobcat Committee welcomes your ideas, skills, donations and support. The committee meets the 3rd Tuesday of each month at the West Paris Library at 6PM. All West Paris Bobcats are welcome.
Coming soon: Show your support for the West Paris Community by purchasing a “Bobcats” sticker!
Calendar of Upcoming Events:
Tuesday, November 10th: West Paris Planning Board Meeting at 6PM at the West Paris Town Office. The public is always welcome to attend.
Tuesday, November 10th: West Paris Library Advisory Board Meeting 6:30-7:30PM. This is a monthly meeting and is open to the public.
Wednesday, November 11th: West Paris Library 5-6PM “Community Writes” facilitated by Stephanie Frykholm. The purpose is a monthly gathering to sustain your spirit in these unsettling times. Come join us each month to write with others in a safe, respectful space, using prompts designed to help you explore such questions as: How am I experiencing my life? What are grief and fear teaching me? What am I being called to? How do I live a meaningful life in today’s world? Drop-ins are welcome. Join as you are able. Registration is not required although RSVPs are appreciated. Bring a writing pen and journal. Cost: FREE This will continue on the 2nd Wednesday of each month.
Tuesday, November 17th: 6PM West Paris Bobcat Committee will be meeting on at the West Paris Public Library. Public is always welcome to attend.
Thursday, November 19th: Thanksgiving Dessert Pie Fundraiser. Place your order for an apple, pumpkin or blueberry pie ($18 per pie) by November 19th by contacting Marta Clements at 207-674-2143, or email mclements96894@roadrunner.com. Pie pickup will be on Wednesday, November 25th from 9:00-11:00 AM at The First Universalist Church of West Paris.
Sunday, December 13th: 100th Anniversary of the West Paris Library from 2:00-4:00 PM. Speaker: Rodney Abbott with displays and more. Join us to celebrate our 100-year-old Library! Everyone is welcome!
Ongoing West Paris Meetings/Events:
West Paris Selectman Meetings at 5PM Always the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month at the West Paris Town Office. All are welcomed to attend.
Recovery Ripples Meeting Every Tuesday at Ripple Retreat from 5pm to 6pm. This is a meeting for those in longterm recovery to discuss the good in our lives now, thanks to sobriety, rather than focusing on the bad. It’s an hour of Gratitude, sharing what we are grateful for as a direct result of our sobriety. We don’t share war stories or look in the past, we focus on today and the future. The meeting is held in person at Ripple Retreat, 186R Main Street, West Paris, ME 04289 and online at https://ripple-retreat.com/recovery-resources/.
The Ring McKeen American Legion Post 150 Every 4th Tuesday of the month the Legion and Auxiliary have a meeting and supper. The supper is at 6:00 PM and the meeting starts at 7:00PM. Any Veterans are welcome to join their Comrades.
The First Universalist Church of West Paris Worship Services Sundays, 9 AM. Refreshments served following the service. All are welcome!
November 8, Darrell Dyke will lead the service.
November 15, we will be closed to join with the So. Paris UU church at 9:30 a.m. for their worship service.
November 22, “The Power of One - Who believed in you?” led by Ed and Leslie Rosenberg.
November 29, “Loneliness,” led by The Rev. Scott Campbell.
If your West Paris organization has an event or meeting you would like to have listed in this newsletter, please email Stephanie at semery73@yahoo.com
Woodstock
Linda Stowell
And just like that, it’s November!! I have a feeling that this month is going to fly by.
Last week we had a lovely evening at the library, with a number of viewers stopping by to see the new art exhibit. We chose paintings that are primarily of
AFCI
Melinda Remington
Hello, Folks!
This week we welcome back guest columnist Betsey Foster with the second of a two-part series on the aging brain. If you missed her first article, “Overwhelmed with the Aging Brain,” which explained why, as we age, we feel more easily overwhelmed by things we used to take in stride more easily when we were younger, you can click here to read it. This week, Betsey looks at strategies for coping with these sometimes unsettling but normal changes.
Enjoy your week,
Melinda Remington
AFCI Community Connector
melindaremington@yahoo.com
Managing the Aging Brain
by Betsey Foster
Recently I wrote about the many brain changes that happen as a normal part of aging. They included physical changes to our brains (shrinkage of various regions), biochemical changes, and changes in neurotransmission. While there is no magic pill to prevent these normal changes, there are things we can do to manage these changes.
Maybe one of the most important, for me anyway, is remembering that I am not 25 or even 65 anymore, and I should not expect myself to function the way I did at those ages. Not any easy thing to do.
From a practical standpoint, here are some simple things we can do to help us accommodate these changes.
Monotask - Right, cut out that multitasking of younger years. Do one thing. One.
As always, there are scientific reasons for monotasking as we age.
· A study at the University of California shows that older adults experience a specific “switching glitch” in brain networks, making it much harder to shift back and forth between different goals.
· Simultaneous tasks compete for limited resources in the frontal cortex and parieto-cerebellar system.
· Older adults must recruit more prefrontal cortex activity just to handle dual tasks, leading to faster brain fatigue, slower motor-cognitive performance, and higher error rates.
Brown University has these suggestions for becoming a monotasker:
· Avoid switching between tasks. Work on one task for a set time for about 20 minutes, and then switch to another task.
· Schedule a time of day to check your cell phone and email rather than checking it throughout the day.
· Limit distractions. Turn off email alerts or phone alerts while engaging in a task. Find a quiet place to work with limited interruptions.
· Declutter your space. Visual clutter is distracting to your brain.
· Practice mindfulness, which means paying attention to what you are doing in the moment. This may help you catch yourself multitasking.
Try to manage stress. Chronic stress has negative effects on many aspects of mental and physical health, including the immune and cardiovascular systems. It robs us of restorative rest, it leaves us feeling exhausted and unhappy, and it reduces our ability to focus and make decisions. Stress increases inflammation and cortisone levels in the body, which can cause damage to the hippocampus and increase the risk of neurodegenerative dementia.
If it’s possible to change the life situations or environment that causes chronic stress, that would be helpful for long-term brain health. If that isn’t possible, techniques to manage stress, such as mindfulness, meditation, regular exercise, and even deep breathing can make a positive difference.
Meditate - There are many ways to meditate, and probably all are equally successful. Meditation is focusing on one calming thing to the exclusion of all else. Meditation calms your mind and lowers the stress hormone cortisol. I’ll take that any day. There are many good free meditation programs online. Note that key word “free”. You don’t need to pay.
Credible research has shown that meditation needs to be done over a number of years to have a long term effect on brain aging. It may not work wonders starting in old age, but it can certainly make our days go easier and help us focus.
Exercise - I know, this seems to be the panacea for everything. However, there are specific benefits to brain and neuro health.
· Contracting muscles release signaling molecules (exerkines) into the bloodstream that travel to the brain to repair damaged neurons and forge new connections.
· Exercise can increase proteins like GPLD1, which reduce inflammation and strengthen the blood-brain barrier against toxic accumulation. (The blood-brain barrier is a highly selective, protective wall of tightly packed cells that lines the blood vessels in the brain. It acts like a strict security filter to keep the bad things out and let the good things in.)
· Research from the National Institute on Aging and the National Council on Aging indicates that consistent movement can lower a person’s biological “brain age” by months or years relative to their chronological age.
All good reasons to exercise whether it be walking, going to the gym, or something else you enjoy. Move those muscles and help your brain.
The usual - Eat a healthy diet. Get an annual exam. Avoid smoking and limit alcohol. These apply to every kind of health including brain health.
Sources:
https://www.nature.com/articles
https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/lifelong-exercise-promotes-brain-health-older-adults
https://www.brownhealth.org
https://my.clevelandclinic.org