Balancing act

Standing on one leg gets harder as we age, but it’s an important marker of brain health.

- MARC WILSON

'Dear Marc," writes David. "Are you the Marc Wilson who wrote the recent column about mental health for the Listener?" My spidey-sense, attuned to criticism after decades of anonymous student evaluations, suggests I may have offended a reader. That and the email subject line: "Despicable". I respond to the leader of the Act Party [David Seymour] that, yes I am that Marc Wilson, inquiring if he's unhappy with my reference in my August 5 column to contested 2015 reports that he told distressed folks to harden up. "Yes, and you've just confirmed everything I've suspected. Again, the subject line says it all," he replies. No signature this time. You can't win 'em all.

Tim, on the other hand, writes to say he liked the column, offering a brilliant tip for brain health: standing on one foot while brushing your teeth. It sounds a small thing, particularly to 20- and 30-somethings, but pulling on a sock standing on one leg shouldn't be taken for granted. Line up average folk aged 10, 20, 30 and so on to 80 and ask them to stand on one leg for as long as they can and it's like watching dominoes.