Cognitive health is in an important part of staying health at any age. Cognitive health includes the brain’s ability to learn, think, and remember. The good news is that cognitive decline is not generally due to aging. Maintaining healthy habits can help prevent cognitive decline. Healthy habits include staying physically active, getting enough sleep, limiting alcohol, quitting smoking, eating a MIND diet, and maintaining social connections. Along with these healthy habits, there are some exercises you can do to help maintain cognitive function.
- Keep learning, try to find a new hobby or interest that requires you to learn a new skill or about a new concept. Continuous learning is a form of mental exercise.Use all your senses. Think about what you see, hear, smell, and feel. Doing so can help you with recall.
- Believe in yourself. Adults who believe they can’t remember something or aren’t sharp anymore tend to do worse on memory tasks. Believe that you can maintain cognitive health and work on doing so.
- Prioritize brain use. Use to-do lists, reminders, planners, and other tools to help you remember small details such as where your keys are, your grocery lists, and phone-numbers. Doing so helps save space for the bigger items to remember.
- Repetition. Repeat things you want to remember. Repetition helps with memory, so write down or say out loud what you learned a few times.
- Space it out. Instead of recalling and repeating what you learned right away try reviewing what you learned a few hours or a day or so later.
You can read more about cognitive health and healthy habits the sources included below.
Reference
Harvard Health Publishing. (2020, May 6). 6 simple steps to keep your mind sharp at any age.. https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/6-simple-steps-to-keep-your-mind-sharp-at-any-age
National Intstitute on Aging. (2020, October 1). Cognitive Health and Older Adults. https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/cognitive-health-and-older-adults