One of the best things to do to keep your brain healthy is to simply keep using it, according to Dr. Gary Small, author of "The Memory Bible," a book on staving off memory loss. The director of the UCLA Center on Aging, Small is also on the forefront of efforts to discover Alzheimer's disease at its earliest stages and provide tools for boosting brain functioning before it is lost to aging or disease.

Researchers have shown that people with a college education are less likely to get Alzheimer's than people who only went to high school. People who were intellectually active in their 40s and 50s have one-third the risk for Alzheimer's disease than those who had not been mentally engaged.

"We have a lot of new information about memory and a lot of ideas now about what we can do to protect our brains and keep them healthy," Small said. "It gives people a sense of empowerment if you improve their memory abilities, and it decreases their anxiety," about becoming mentally incapacitated.

Small also suggests people simply become more active observers of their immediate environment, and get in the habit of memory exercises like creating mental "snapshots," or vivid images, of things they want to remember.

So keep your brain active: learn a new skill, take a college course, learn a language, solve problems; keep socially connected.