As we age, keeping our brain in shape is just as important as maintaining a healthy body. And exercise geared to your mind can keep you in mental shape in the same way physical exercise can keep your body in shape. Here are some recommendations from the Harvard Medical School on how to keep your mind in shape:
Keep busy
If you don’t have some challenging mental activities every day, your mind could be on the way to slowing down. According to the Harvard Medical School experts, research has shown that people who held more challenging jobs while in their working years are less likely to suffer memory loss (dementia) than those who had routine, repetitive jobs. Our advice: Keep – or get – yourself in shape by learning a craft, taking up a new hobby, learning a language or doing challenging crossword puzzles.
Other experts cite the phrase “Use it or lose it” when it comes to the brain. The most important element of your mental activities: Make sure they’re challenging.
A study done by researchers from the University of California, San Francisco showed that physical and lifestyle factors are related to mental prowess. The study found that people who exercised moderately to vigorously once a week were 31 percent likelier to maintain their cognitive function. And those who didn’t smoke were 50 percent likelier to stay sharp.
Stay connected
As we get older, the mind needs to be engaged not only through intellectually stimulating activities, but by interaction with other people. And in fact, according to the Harvard Medical School experts, the two can go hand in hand: Engage in mentally stimulating activities like volunteering, and you’ll be interacting with others. Additionally, the Harvard experts say, other people can give you emotional support during rough times – and that can reduce the negative effects of stress on your brain.
“There’s a big plus in staying connected with others,” Dr. Gary Small, M.D., a professor of psychiatry at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine,” has told an interviewer. In his just published book The Alzheimer’s Prevention Program: Keep Your Brian Healthy for the Rest of Your Life, Small said he makes the point that “Social butterflies do better as they age, there’s no question about it.”
If you don’t already have a social circle, or if you’d like to expand it, look for kindred spirits in groups that you’ll be interested in. Try church groups, book clubs, hikers or birders. Whatever you decide, make it something you love to do; that way, you’ll stick to it.
For more on boosting your memory and diagnosing memory problems, take a look at Improving Memory: Understanding age-related memory loss, a Special Health Report from Harvard Medical School.
