How to Keep Your Brain Fit as You Get Older

If you are of a certain age, it’s probably happened to you: You walk into a room and forget what you came for. You misplace your car keys. Again. And although you try and try to remember the name of that acquaintance in front of you, your mind goes blank.

Oh no, you think. Is this a sign of Alzheimer’s? Am I losing my brainpower?

If you have such concerns, you’re not alone. A recent survey by the Alzheimer’s Association showed that 60 percent of people worldwide believe—incorrectly—that Alzheimer’s is an inevitable part of aging, a worry second only to getting cancer. The good news is that there is more information than ever available these days about staving off mental decline and staying sharp into your twilight years.

There’s so much research out there, in fact, that it would be hard to wade through it all. That’s what makes the new book Ageless Brain: Think Faster, Remember More, and Stay Sharper by Lowering Your Brain Age so useful. Written by the editors of Prevention magazine and Julia VanTine, it offers an easy-to-read, practical, and solid guide to keeping your brain young, while distilling the latest findings from research on nutrition, physical and mental exercise, stress reduction, and more.

The format is reader-friendly, with boxes, outlines, lists, and self-assessment quizzes. Early on, for instance, there’s a section on “Memory Issues: What’s Normal, What’s Not.” “Not all memory lapses spell trouble,” the authors report—something readers may find especially reassuring. There are ways to distinguish normal, age-related memory glitches from dementia or Alzheimer’s: If you find yourself unable to recall the details of an event or conversation from a year ago, that’s normal; but if you find yourself unable to remember the details from an event or conversation from last week, that’s reason to check with your doctor.

In another section, the editors tease out the three primary risk factors for brain decline:

• Advancing age. (By age 85, one-third of us will experience some cognitive decline.)
• A family history of Alzheimer’s.
• One of a handful of extremely rare inherited genes.

Even if you have such risk factors, the authors report, you will not necessarily develop the disease. Plus, there are many preventative steps you can take.

Tips for sharpening your brain

Challenge yourself. One especially useful idea is to get out of your comfort zone by tackling something new, even though you might feel a bit befuddled at first. That sense of befuddlement actually challenges the brain to stretch, say the authors. “The comfort zone is where the brain turns to mush.”

“Retire to something, not from something.” Here, the editors offer an interesting observation: “Sadly, though early retirement may seem like paradise, it’s hell on the brain. That’s because our work is often one of the most consistently stimulating things we do.” In fact, when researchers studied civil servants in Britain 14 years before and after their retirement, they found that retirement presaged a decline in their short-term ability to recall words.

Learn something new every day. That’ll build up your cognitive reserves. The editors refer to a fascinating study of London cab drivers, who are all required to pass a test that involves memorizing a city map of 25,000 streets and 20,000 landmarks. According to brain scans, the drivers who had passed that test had actually reshaped a key region of their brains, strengthening cognitive function.

Stay connected to others. Your brain gets a workout when you interact with other people. In one study, elderly people who had the least social connection at the beginning of the experiment experienced twice as much memory loss over six years compared to those who had the highest levels of social connection. “Widen your social circle,” say the authors. “In short, think of your brain as a puppy—both need human connection and something to chew on.”

Find your balance. Studies have shown that people who can’t stand on one leg for more than 20 seconds are more likely to have damage to small blood vessels in the brain, such as tiny bleeds or ministrokes. If you miss the mark, the book offers exercises that can help with balance, as well as the advice to try a tai chi class. Why? Because a study of tai chi practitioners in their late 60s found that their stability was particularly strong—in the 90th percentile of the American Fitness Standards.

There’s a lot of additional advice tucked into 297 pages. Included are illustrated suggestions for a strength-training workout, recipes for brain-healthy meals, and dozens and dozens of suggestions for brain-enhancing activities, from joining a singing class to studying a new language to immersing yourself in art. There’s a whole section on the physiology of stress, how it adversely affects the body and mind, and how to combat it. The authors offer strategies for getting enough sleep, as well as a rundown of prescription medications that have been linked to a higher risk of dementia.

The book is full of such intriguing and worthwhile information, and the research to back it up. I walked away with plenty of useful new tips about how to keep my brain sharp. Among the many suggestions is a simple one: Just get physical. One study of 38- to 60-year-old women found that exercise reduced the onset of Alzheimer’s by an average of 9.5 years. That’s a good enough argument for me.

Now, where did I put my sneakers?