The upshot is that by making specific lifestyle changes in your 40s and beyond ?" some of which go beyond the obvious ?" you can reap immediate benefits to your memory and concentration. What's more, with some persistence, you can boost your chances of maintaining a sharp and sprightly mind well into old age, while significantly reducing your risk of dementia. "It really isn't too late to make a difference," says Sebastian Dohm-Hansen at University College Cork in Ireland. It is only within the past few years that researchers have started to take a meaningful interest in the transition between young adulthood and later life. "Middle age has been sort of sidelined a bit by the scientific community," says Dohm-Hansen, who recently co-authored a paper that summarises the state-of-the-art research on the middle-aged brain.