Here's what you can do today—plus, something you may not want to give up, even if it feels like you do...
Use it or lose it—that’s essentially the suggestion a Cleveland Clinic neurologist is offering for how you can hang onto your cognition and keep your memory well in play.
Dylan Wint, MD, medical director for Cleveland Clinic Nevada, says his top-advised tips for long-term brain health include activities you might already know in your free time: brain and mental exercises. Dr. Wint says he recommends embracing “contrived” challenges like puzzles, games, and intellectual exercises; as well as skills that take developing, such as learning a new language, discovering a different route for your commute, or even just trying to use your non-dominant hand for common tasks.
All these contribute to your brain’s resilience, Dr. Wint says, explaining that’s “the ability of the brain to withstand challenges.” He adds, “Those challenges can be anything from a highly stressful day, or rough afternoon, to brain pathologies, like Alzheimer’s disease pathology, Parkinson’s disease pathology, and so forth.”
The real goal, he says, is to “avoid passivity.” He adds that you want “your brain to be thinking, to be exploring, to be coming up with ideas, to be looking for solutions to problems.”
But are you ready for what might be the biggest challenge of all? Hanging in there at your job. “There’s data suggesting that the longer someone stays at work instead of retiring, the better their brain does in the long run,” Dr. Wint explains.
However big your brainy undertaking, Dr. Wint urges making an active effort to keep the mind engaged. He notes that there’s not a timed goal, the way national experts suggest 150 minutes of physical activity per day—but no matter at what age or life stage you start exercising your brain, you’re likely to experience benefit.
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