Keep your brain in shape as you age

It’s easy to forget that your brain, like the rest of your body, needs to be exercised to stay in shape.

It is precisely this forgetfulness that medical researchers are trying to curb, by encouraging a three-pronged system for strengthening memory and keeping a sharp mental edge.

“We’re seeing baby boomers and even people in their thirties worrying about brain fitness,” says Asenath LaRue, a senior scientist at University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. “It’s not a stretch to think we may begin hiring brain coaches in addition to physical fitness trainers.”

Observational studies have led LaRue and colleagues to agree on three main brain workouts that are especially helpful as we age:

•Be Physically Active: This does not necessarily mean the exercise has to be planned. But basic day-to-day activity seems to relate to brain fitness, says LaRue. Activities like gardening, dancing and even cleaning – basically anything keeping you up and moving – could help maintain brain health.

• Challenge Your Brain: Word search games and crossword puzzles are more than just games to fill-up the morning hours. As lifting weights strengthens muscles, thinking intently for a chunk of time each day can help strengthen brain activity. Lectures, concerts and museums are other fun and healthy activities people could explore.

• Stay Socially Active: Activity in broad social networks helps keep the brain chimed in with the rest of the world and actually helps maintain brain health, more so than for those who participate less socially.

“While we don’t know at what point in an individual’s life the three factors have maximum impact, the theory is that the better developed your coping resources, the more likely you are to withstand brain changes affecting memory and thinking,” says LaRue.

While these methods are helpful for maintaining a healthy brain, LaRue and colleagues do not think brain workouts could reverse Alzheimer’s or dementia. Nonetheless, they do help to hinder memory loss and confusion, and should be used by anyone looking to keep his or her mental edge sharpened.