Your brain: Use it or lose it

Oliver Sacks, a neurologist and best-selling author, has spent the last 40 years probing the mysteries of the brain and chronicling them in case stories. Sacks is perhaps best known for his book "Awakenings," which was made into the 1990 film of the same name. His 10th book, "Musicophilia," published in 2007, details the importance music plays in keeping the brain nimble.

Sacks, now 75, continues to write (his next book is on vision and the brain), lecture (most recently on creativity and the brain), and teach (Columbia University, where he is a professor of neurology and psychiatry, has appointed him its first Columbia Artist).

When I interviewed him in his New York office for this column, Sacks exuded a youthful energy, vitality, and enthusiasm that belied his age and various maladies.

Sacks now needs hearing aids and has lost vision in one eye because of melanoma, making it difficult for him to read more than a page at a time. He also suffers from arthritis and uses oversized pens to make writing easier. But he maintains his gusto for life and is making plans for international travel.

During his career, Sacks has given a great deal of thought to "good aging" and shared some of his views and practices with Consumer Reports:

Develop a new skill or an old one

Until he was 14, Sacks played the piano, his father's 1894 Bechstein, which he still owns. Last year Sacks began taking lessons again. "I love it and I love practicing, finding things coming back to my 75-year-old fingers, even though they're a little bent now," he said. " I think being intellectually active is not only fun but a good way to keep your brain healthy."

Eat less meat, more fish

When he was 5 years old, Sacks would say his two favorite things in the world were smoked salmon and Bach. Seventy years later, they're still among his favorites, although he's now more of a herring person, he said. "Incidentally, a few years ago, two of the oldest women in the world, both 114, were asked to what they attributed their healthy old age," Sacks said. "One of them, in Holland, said ‘eating herring,' and the other, in Chicago, said, ‘minding my own business.'"

Stay productive

Sacks describes good aging as being spiritually healthy, happy, and productive. As an example, he cites David Randolph, who conducts major choral works at Carnegie Hall in New York every year. "David, a wonderful man of 95, leaps onto the podium and conducts with great energy," Sacks said.

Choose your parents carefully

Of course, genetics play a big role in longevity. Sacks recalled a patient he had seen in a nursing home. He was 94 but looked 30 years younger. Remarkably, he had six living siblings ages 90 to 105.

Stay physically active

Sacks swims for an hour every morning. He was an avid cyclist before a few recent accidents. And he plans to visit the Galapagos Islands and Madagascar.

Cherish your wisdom

"I think that so many people think of aging in negative terms, equate it to Alzheimer's, or else they think of aging people as a nuisance or burden," Sacks reflected. "One way or another, I want to remind people that the latter parts of life can be fun."