I don’t think I’m going to get Alzheimers

Published: October 2, 2007, 7:59 pm

Something, of course, is inevitably going to get me at the end, but it’s probably not going to be Alzheimers. A few years ago, the Nun Study established that people who wrote complicated sentences as parts of complicated essays were less likely to get Alzheimers. As those who read my blog know, my sentences are almost serpentine — although, as a friend said, I never get lost in my parentheticals (not when I speak, either). It now turns out that, in a study that has “me” written all over it, people who are driven are also less like to get Alzheimers: A surprising study of elderly people suggests that those who see themselves as self-disciplined, organized achievers have a lower risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease than people who are less conscientious. A purposeful personality may somehow protect the brain, perhaps by increasing neural connections that can act as a reserve against mental decline, said study co-author Robert Wilson of Chicago’s

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