How To Keep Your Mind Sharp When Aging

What Happens to the Brain as We Age?

Bodies undergo many changes as they age, and the brain is no exception. Some of the changes that may occur in the brain include:

• Shrinking of some areas of the brain
• Decrease in the number of neurons
• Less effective communication between neurons
• Decreased blood flow
• Increased inflammation

These changes can make doing complex memory tasks or learning new things more difficult. The brain does have some ability to compensate for age-related changes, including:

• Redundancy: The brain has more neurons than it needs.
• The ability to form new connections: The brain can form new connections between the remaining neurons when some are damaged or die.
• Creating new nerve cells: Some areas of the brain can make new nerve cells. These areas include the cerebral cortex, the striatum, and the CA1 region in the hippocampus.

What Can You Do to Maintain a Healthy Brain?

The changes that occur in the brain as you age do not always result in a loss of brain function, while other factors influencing brain health are beyond your control. However, there there are steps that you can take to maintain a healthy brain.

Stay Physically Active

There are many benefits of regular exercise, and research suggests that physical activity can help protect against dementia. This may be the result of the exercise itself or possibly because exercise protects against cardiovascular disease and decreases the risk of developing obesity, diabetes, and hypertension, all of which can contribute to dementia. Physical activity has also been shown to improve mental health, including conditions such as depression and anxiety.

The current recommendation is that adults engage in 150 minutes of moderate-intensity activity and two days of activities that strengthen muscles each week. Activities that improve balance, such as standing on one foot, are also recommended for adults 65 and older.

You should talk with your healthcare provider to ensure you are healthy enough for physical activity.

Stop Smoking

Smoking increases the risk of dementia by up to 50%, but quitting can reduce that risk at any point. The benefit is greater the earlier you quit smoking, but it’s never too late.

Secondhand smoke can also raise the risk of multiple health conditions, so quitting smoking can help protect your loved ones as well.

Get Enough Sleep

While you sleep, your brain is working, cleaning up toxins and abnormal proteins. The buildup of abnormal brain proteins (amyloid plaques and tau tangles) is associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Sleep is also important for brain function, mental acuity, concentration, and learning. In addition to the cleanup and maintenance functions, sleep is also when you consolidate the memories you’ve formed.

Seven to nine hours of sleep per night is recommended for adults.

Control Your Chronic Health Conditions

Diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol can all increase your risk of poor brain health. Controlling these conditions can help maintain your brain.

Lifestyle modifications such as diet and exercise can be beneficial, but sometimes you need more help. Your healthcare provider can help you determine which options are best for treating your underlying health conditions.

Stay on Top of Your Routine Health Maintenance

Routine health visits can help detect health problems and also help identify memory problems. This allows your healthcare provider to make recommendations to minimize the impact of health problems on your life.

Eat a Healthy Diet

A person’s diet can directly affect their mental health and plays a role in brain development from birth. More information has become available that shows that diets such as the Mediterranean, Nordic, DASH, and MIND decrease the risk of dementia and lowered cognitive function.

A healthy diet also includes limiting your use of alcohol.

What Does It Mean to Have a Healthy Brain?

There is no universal definition of brain health, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines brain health as the ability to perform all the mental processes of cognition, including the ability to learn and judge, use language, and remember.

Similarly, the American Heart Association and American Stroke Association define optimal brain health as the average performance levels among all people of a certain age who have no known brain or other diseases that would affect performance.

The brain is the body’s command center. It is responsible for your ability to sense your environment, control your movement, maintain your cognitive, mental, and emotional processes, and maintain your normal behavior. A healthy brain can function across the full range of functions: mental health, emotional health, cognitive health, and physical health.

How Do You Know if Your Brain Is Healthy?

Changes in the brain are normal as you age, but not all of these changes will result in problems. If you are experiencing memory loss or other signs of brain slowing, it could be an early sign of a mental health condition.

One of the ways that you can tell whether your brain is healthy is to have regular visits with your healthcare provider. Your healthcare provider can advise you of the recommended health screenings that will help identify problems early. They can also review your medications and advise you whether any of them could affect your memory, brain function, or sleep.

Your healthcare provider may also recommend additional testing to screen for cognitive delays. The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA), mini-COG, and Mini Mental Status Exam (MMSE) are some of the more common tools providers use to screen for dementia and mild cognitive impairment.

These tests take you through a series of questions and tasks designed to test your memory, executive function, and communication. They can be performed if there is a concern regarding memory or cognition. They can also be used to follow the progression of cognitive decline. You can have these tests done by your primary care provider or almost any healthcare provider.

What Are Some Lifestyle Factors That Can Influence Brain Health?

Brain slowing is normal with age, but it doesn’t have to result in brain dysfunction. Lifestyle factors can influence brain changes with age, as can genetics and environment.

A 2020 review in the Lancet identified 12 lifetime risk factors for dementia that may be modifiable^, including:

• High blood pressure
• Decreased hearing
• Less education
• Smoking
• Obesity
• Depression
• Physical inactivity
• Diabetes
• Brain injuries due to trauma
• Excessive alcohol use
• Social isolation
• Air pollution

Not all of these factors can be controlled, but you can maintain or improve these conditions for better outcomes.

How to Keep Your Brain Healthy as You Age

The things that can help you maintain your brain health will also help you keep your brain healthy as you age.

Social isolation becomes increasingly common as people age, so staying socially connected and having a good support system can help protect you against cognitive decline. Multiple studies have shown a relationship between social interaction and structural brain changes.

Engaging your brain by learning new skills, doing puzzles, or playing brain games may help maintain your cognitive health. These types of healthy brain activities help keep you mentally sharp.

Falls also become more frequent as people age. Brain injuries increase your risk of developing dementia, so reducing your risk of falls can reduce your risk of brain injuries and protect your brain health.

A Whole Life Approach to Brain Health

Maintaining and protecting your brain health is a lifelong process. Being proactive in your approach to your health can protect you now and in the future.