Tips to keep your brain sharp

Learn New Things

Never stop learning new things - it keep your brain sharp, specially as you get older. The idea is that while doing a puzzle only stimulates certain aspects of memory and critical thinking, practicing an unfamiliar skill prompts the brain to create new cells and get bigger in areas that support lots of different cognitive functions. Not sure where to start? Some research suggests that learning a foreign language might be particularly beneficial, no matter how late in life. But keep in mind that novelty is the real key. In fact, one study in 2013 by the University of Texas at Dallas found that even quilting had a notable brain-boosting benefit for seniors, as long they had never practiced the craft before. There isn’t really any data on how quickly the newness of a task wears off, so the safest move is to become a lifelong scholar and jack of all trades.

Hit the Gym

Hitting the gym will keep you feeling spry as time ticks by. But many studies suggest that physical activity can keep your mind more active too. That isn’t just because it cuts down on your risk of conditions like diabetes and cancer. Exercise might actually help enlarge your hippocampus. There are a few reasons workouts might preserve your cognition. Perhaps it’s simply that getting your heart rate up increases blood flow everywhere, with your head being no exception; studies suggest that just a few sessions of moderate aerobic activity could help stave off declines in brain health. It’s also possible that the hormones you release during workouts contribute to the growth of brand-new brain cells. You might consider picking up a new hobby, but even a brisk walk or jog three or four times a week can help keep your mind at its best.

Eat Better

There’s no superfood that can turn you into a late-in-life memory champ, but eating a well-balanced diet is necessary for proper brain function. Plenty of nutrients help with this, like omega-3 fatty acids found in fish like salmon and vitamin E found in many oils, nuts, and spinach. Your body can’t make omega-3 fatty acids, but your brain uses loads of them. Vitamin E is an antioxidant that helps protect neurons and other cells from substances that might damage them. And now researchers are zeroing in on another intellectual aid: lutein. Known for keeping eyes healthy by filtering blue light, this pigment might also play a role in cognitive functioning. In recent studies, scientists supplemented some children and college students with lutein. Those who received it scored higher on visual processing and other brainy tasks than their peers. You’ll find it in spinach, kale, avocado, and eggs.

Sleep Longer

Sleep sounds like a major time suck—we spend a third of our lives in bed, after all—but our brains clean themselves out as we snooze. A series of channels in the brain filter out metabolic wastes that build up throughout the day in our cerebral spinal fluid. This process demands too much energy to share resources with our waking brains. Without rest, waste accumulation impairs cognitive abilities, behavior, and judgment. One toxic protein called beta-amyloid builds in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease, which has been associated with poor sleep. But snoozing isn’t just about long-term health. Consider a pair of pivotal 2003 studies: Researchers increasingly deprived willing participants of one to five hours of sleep over a week, testing them daily to measure cognitive function. Both studies found deprivation led to poor performance. Most participants did best with seven to eight hours of shut-eye.

Try Harder

Most of us use our smartphones for countless daily tasks. But taking digital shortcuts could be making our brains lazy. Try to remember the last time you read an actual map. If you can’t, you aren’t alone. But the less we force our noggins to navigate, the worse our way-finding skills become. A 2006 study by researchers at University College London (UCL) compared the brains of taxi drivers, famous for their ability to zip around the city’s confusing streets, with bus drivers, who follow set routes. The cab drivers had bulked-up hippocampi (the region of the brain in charge of navigation), which reflected their superior mental maps. A more recent UCL study compared brain activity in people who navigated a simulation program with an app to those trying to figure out a route for themselves. The latter group had far more activity in their hippocampi than the app users. So try ditching your phone once in a while.

Credits: Popular Science, March 2018. Freepik.com (for pictures).