LAYTON -- Senior citizens can have fuller lives, even as they age. That was the message given during a recent AARP conference at the Davis Conference Center. Dr. Robert Hill of the Brain Institute at the University of Utah shared how the brain functions as people age and as disease takes its toll on day-to-day activities. This was one of several similar meetings AARP has held across the state as a way to help people understand they can live fuller and more productive lives as they age. "The serious question is what quality of life are we going to have as we age?" Hill said. "Do we want to become couch potatoes or do we want to make the most of what we have?"

More than 300 people from the Baby Boomer age and beyond attended the day-long session, narrated by former TV anchorman Phil Riesen.

"Most people feel if they have their health and are financially well off they have everything," Hill said. "This is a self-centered concept.

"Our studies find that as people grow older, if they are involved doing something for others they have a better attitude and tend to have a better quality of life, even if they are not well off financially," Hill said. "Get involved as a volunteer, continue working at something. Today's 60 is yesterday's 40," he continued.

One question seniors asked was how to maximize your ability to think and feel as you age. "As you age your body goes through changes, both physical and physiological," Hill said.

"Certain behavior can accelerate those changes: smoking, alcohol and drug use can have a detrimental effect on the brain function," he said. "Certain combinations of alcohol and drug interactions can be fatal."

He noted that some vitamins can actually reverse loss of memory associated with the aging process. B-12 and folic acid are two vitamins that have been shown to produce a positive effect on brain function, he said.

"Staying socially active is one way to help yourself to stave off the effects of aging," Hill said. "Different cultures also age differently. In Bang-ladesh where the water contains too much arsenic it accelerates the aging process."

The phrase "use it or lose it" is a very true concept when it comes to the use of the brain, he said. "Those who exercise the brain will be better off in the long run."

Other sessions dealt with ways to protect yourself or minimize the potential impact of identity theft.

The AARP counts more than 220,000 members in Utah, with almost 40 years added to the average age for Americans since the turn of the 19th Century, those attending were told.