38 genius habits your 80-year-old brain will thank you for doing today

Researchers are looking into the possibility that a type of talk therapy called cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) may help prevent Alzheimer’s. CBT can ease depression and improve sleep – two risk factors for dementia. With CBT, you learn how to redirect your brain away from negative or distracting thoughts; experts at Harvard Medical School suggest that the therapy can improve memory. “You’re less likely to be able to pull up information when the brain is focused on something else,” Joel Salinas, MD, a neurologist at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital, says in Harvard’s Health Letter. “If excess thoughts are like flies around food, then CBT helps swat the flies so you can eat in peace.”

In the same vein of “what’s good for your heart is good for your brain,” dogs can help heal your mind. Having a canine companion can reduce cardiovascular risk – probably because that dog is going to need walks. Pets can also reduce depression, stress and social isolation, all of which are risk factors for dementia. According to Aaron Ritter, MD, a neuropsychiatrist and Director of Clinical Trials at the Cleveland Clinic’s Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health: “I walk my dogs two times a day for a total of three to five kilometres – having eager and dependent exercise partners ensures that I cannot skip days. The exercise and meaningful companionship help keep me happy and healthy.”

FInd out more about the health benefits of keeping pets.

Here’s another way Fido can help your brain – by getting you outdoors. Studies have shown that being in nature can improve your mood, memory and cognitive function. One study even found that the more exposure to nature, the more grey matter (or neural cells) participants’ brains had. Anyone who’s ever felt the need to “clear their head” can attest to the power of the outdoors in recharging thinking.

Laughter really is the best medicine when it comes to your brain health. The act of laughing lowers stress hormones while boosting your mood. In a study of older adults, viewing a funny video boosted scores on memory tests while lowering levels of stress hormones. Study author Gurinder Bains, MD, PhD, of Loma Linda University, notes in a press release that humour could have therapeutic benefits for older people experiencing memory loss.

Get started with these 73 short jokes that anyone can remember.

The meditative motion, the gentle clicking of needles, the relaxing knitting circles – it’s no wonder this craft is a stress-relieving hobby. And research has actually shown that engaging in crafts such as knitting or quilting reduce the chance of developing mild cognitive impairment – by as much as 28 percent, according to a recent study from Mayo Clinic. Plus, the more you do it, the better. “Our team found that persons who performed these activities at least one to two times per week had less cognitive decline than those who engaged in the same activities only two to three times per month or less,” says study author Yonas Geda, MD, a psychiatrist and behavioural neurologist, on Mayo Clinic’s website.

Using a computer was even more effective than crafting in reducing the risk of dementia risk, according to the Mayo Clinic study. Although the authors couldn’t say exactly why, they theorise that computers “require specific technical and manual skills and that these could be the factors that might be associated with a decreased risk of cognitive decline.”

“Even for a person who is at genetic risk for cognitive decline, engaging in [these] activities was beneficial,” study author Janina Krell-Roesch, PhD, said on Mayo Clinic’s website.

Be wary of information overload on the Internet: Trying to comprehend it all is just like multitasking – the brain can’t figure out what’s important, and research shows your mind won’t retain as much. “Our brain doesn’t do very well with too much information – the more you download, the more it shuts the brain down,” Dr. Chapman told Health. So sticking to one long online story is better than skipping around between lots of little tidbits. “It’s better to read one or two good articles… rather than to read 20,” Dr. Chapman says.

Perhaps the best advice for brain health is that you can’t latch onto one thing and expect it to protect you from cognitive decline. Research from Finland suggests that a comprehensive program giving patients guidance on everything from diet and exercise to brain training and the management of metabolic risk factors could better prevent cognitive decline. Compared to people in the control group (who lived life as they normally would), the intervention group scored 83 percent higher on tests of critical thinking, and they could problem solve 150 percent faster.

A healthy lifestyle will protect your brain, so get regular checkups and treat any issues. For example, you may need to take meds for blood pressure or cholesterol, get help for sleep apnoea, or keep diabetes under control. Ongoing research may reveal how personalised prevention plans can help with your current medical issues and your future brain health. “We can’t have a one-size-fits-all approach – different people may take a different road to Alzheimer’s,” study author Richard Isaacson, MD, director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Clinic at Weill Cornell Medicine and New York-Presbyterian Hospital, told the journal Nature.

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Source: RD.com