Great Regulars: The short answer--and the one on which

all are agreed--is: use it or lose it. The plasticity of the brain means that it is able, in the face of injury or decay, to find ways of adapting itself to preserve strong patterns of activity. So, if you play chess all the time, you probably will be almost as good at 80 as you were at 40. You would probably also be almost as good at Dr Kawashima's Brain Training games. But so what? Read books, good books--nothing works better.

from Bryan Appleyard: The Sunday Times: Can everyone be an Einstein?

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