8 ways to age-proof your brain
While it is well documented that eating a balanced diet (think lots of fruits and veggies and not much sugar, saturated fat or alcohol), as well as getting enough exercise and sleeping about eight hours a night, is not only good for your body but also your brain, there’s something else you need to know too. There is accumulating evidence that a whole host of other activities can help keep your brain young even as you age. Again it’s all about balance, so try a handful of the following.
Take dance lessons
According to a 2003 landmark study in the New England Journal of Medicine, seniors who danced three to four times a week – especially ballroom dancing – had a 75 per cent lower risk of dementia compared with people who did not dance at. “Dancing is a complex activity,” says study lead author Joe Verghese, M.D., chief of geriatrics at Montefiore Medical Center in New York City. “It’s aerobic so it improves blood flow to the brain which has been shown to improve brain connections. It also provides mental challenges.”
Play games
A 2013 French study found a 15 per cent lower risk of dementia among people who played board games versus those who did not. And the effects seemed to last over the study’s 20-year follow-up. “The idea is that this helps build cognitive reserve,” says Verghese, whose study also found benefits to playing board games like Monopoly. “The more these activities buffer against the disease, you may be able to mask the effects of the disease for longer periods of time. It buys you extra time.”
Read more of less
While getting stuck into books in good for the brain in general, reading fewer books and articles so you can give them each more focused attention may be even better. “Our brain doesn't do very well with too much information. The more you download, the more it shuts the brain down,” says Sandra Bond Chapman, Ph.D., director of the Center for Brain Health at the University of Texas at Dallas. “It's better to read one or two good articles and think about them in a deeper sense rather than read 20.”
Change your font
Next time you have to print something (or if you have the option under other circumstances) consider changing the typeface before you print. Chances are, the docs came to you in an easy-to-read font like Arial or Times New Roman, but switching it to something a little less legible like Comic Sans or Bodoni may improve your comprehension and recall of the information, according to a small study out of Harvard University. Likewise, a study at an Ohio high school revealed that students who received handouts with less-legible type performed better on tests than the students who were given more readable materials. It’s a version of the no-pain-no-gain phenomenon: When you exert more effort, your brain rewards you by becoming stronger. But make sure you keep things new by changing fonts regularly.
Unitask
If you pride yourself on your ability to multitask, you might want to rethink you behaviours. “Multitasking hijacks your frontal lobe,” says Chapman, who is also the author of Make Your Brain Smarter. The frontal lobe regulates decision-making, problem-solving and other aspects of learning that are critical to maintaining brain health. Research has shown that doing one thing at a time – not everything at once –strengthens higher-order reasoning, or the ability to learn, understand and apply new information.
Write about your stress
It has been shown that if you write about stressful experiences for 20 minutes three day in a row you can see an improvement in memory. “We hypothesized that stress causes unwanted, intrusive thoughts,” says study co-author Adriel Boals, Ph.D., associate professor of psychology at the University of North Texas in Denton. “Writing gets rid of intrusive thoughts then working memory increases.” So if something’s bothering you, don’t bottle it up.
Play a video game
Playing puzzle games on an Xbox may have the same effects as brain-training games. And depending on what you play, they may be even more effective. In a Florida State University study, subjects either played games on Lumosity.com or played Portal 2, a popular action-puzzle game for computers, Playstation and Xbox. Those who played Portal 2 scored better on problem solving, spatial skill and persistence tests. Other research shows that playing Tetris may increase gray matter in the brain.
Wash the dishes
According to one study, washing the dishes, cooking and cleaning can add to your daily activity total and are linked with a reduced risk of dementia. In the study, people with the least amount of total physical activity were more than twice as likely to develop Alzheimer's compared with people reporting the most activity. Even playing cards and moving a wheelchair counted.