Cognitive health is the ability of the brain to function properly and perform various mental tasks effectively.
It includes:
— Memory
— Attention
— Concentration
— Reasoning
— Judgment
— Language
— Processing speed
— Executive function, such as planning and organizing
Strong cognitive health allows you to carry out activities of daily living, interact socially, make informed decisions and work through challenges and changes. It also allows you to feel safe and secure, have meaningful connections with others and feel a sense of purpose in the world.
“It’s important to enhance your ability to reach your optimal cognitive health by allowing yourself to be mentally stimulated with new activities to build brain plasticity (the ability of the brain to form new neural pathways and strengthen existing ones),” says Dr. Helen Lavretsky, professor of adult and geriatric psychiatry at UCLA Health.
Here are some mental, physical and lifestyle activities and exercises that can help you optimize your cognitive health.
[READ: How to Keep Your Mind Sharp]
Physical Exercise
Regular physical exercise isn’t just good for keeping your body in shape — it helps keep your mind sharp too.
Aerobic exercises — such as brisk walking, running, cycling, yoga and dancing — elevate your heart rate and increase the flow of blood that delivers essential oxygen and nutrients to the brain. Approximately 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity a week provides the following benefits:
— Neurogenesis. Physical exercise stimulates the growth of new brain cells and neural connections, especially in the hippocampus, the region of the brain critical to learning and memory.
— Reduction of stress and inflammation. Physical exercise reduces inflammation caused by stress, which can damage neurons and reduce neuroplasticity.
— Lowering risk of cognitive decline. Physical exercise can lower the risk of cognitive decline and heart disease and reduce the risk for certain health conditions, such as diabetes, that can negatively impact brain health.
[READ: 11 Health Problems That Can Mimic Dementia]
Puzzles and Brain Games
Puzzles and brain games — such as jigsaw puzzles, crossword puzzles and number puzzles (Sudoku) — are mentally stimulating exercises that challenge both sides of the brain and help it build cognitive reserve, the measure of the brain’s capacity to solve problems and cope with challenges.
They must be difficult and played regularly to push the brain to continually work harder. The difficulty of a puzzle or game forces you to try new strategies and look at problems from different angles. When you’re increasingly challenged, existing connections between brain cells are strengthened and new ones are created.
Mentally stimulating activities that challenge the brain help build cognitive reserve, which helps the brain maintain resilience to damage and cell loss.
Brain games and puzzles enhance the following cognitive skills:
— Visual and spatial skills. Jigsaw puzzles, for example, necessitate using reasoning and analytical skills to recognize patterns and see how pieces fit together. They’re beneficial for short-term memory because you need to remember where pieces are, where they belong and how they fit into the larger image.
— Logical thinking, reasoning and pattern recognition. Numbers puzzles, such as Sudoku, force you to use deductive reasoning to fill in numbers and boost working memory, concentration and focus on detail.
— Brain connectivity. Brain games and puzzles stimulate new brain connections and strengthen the overall brain network.
— Dopamine release. Successfully finishing a game or puzzle gives you a sense of satisfaction and pleasure, releasing dopamine, a neurotransmitter in the brain that improves mood, memory and concentration.
— Stress reduction. The focus required to play a brain game or do a puzzle can create a mindful state that reduces stress and increases relaxation.
[READ: Dementia Tests: What to Know and How They Work]
Meditation and Mindfulness
Meditation and mindfulness are the practices of focusing your breath and senses on the present. They involve grounding yourself in the present moment and focusing your attention in a calm and controlled way on what you’re sensing and feeling. Focusing on your breath sharpens attention, reduces stress and improves focus.
Consistent meditation and mindfulness, even just a few minutes a day, increases the gray matter volume in your brain which is associated with memory and emotional regulation. It increases blood flow to the brain, improves memory and strengthens the network of blood vessels in the cerebral cortex.
Other cognitive health benefits of mindfulness and meditation include the following:
— Calmness. Practicing mediation and mindfulness regularly promotes a calm and centered mindset that may slow down the aging process of the brain.
— Flexibility. Regular meditation and mindfulness improve your working memory and increase cognitive flexibility.
— Blood flows to the brain. Practicing regular meditation and mindfulness increases blood flow to the brain, which improves overall cognitive function and resilience.
— Neurotransmitter modulation. Neurotransmitters — your body’s chemical messengers without which the body can’t function — are modulated when you meditate, enhancing attention, working memory and emotions.
Classes
Taking classes in subjects and areas that are new to you challenges your brain, strengthens neural pathways, improves memory, enhances executive function and increases your brain’s processing speed.
Lifelong learning builds cognitive reserve, new neuro-connections and can keep the brain healthy, working, stretching and active for a lifetime.
You can find classes in subjects that seem interesting to you at local community centers, university and college extension programs, cultural centers, libraries and at online learning platforms.
Some types of classes that enhance cognitive health include the following:
— Language. Learning a new language is a complex mental workout that uses many parts of the brain and allows it to form new pathways and increase neural plasticity. Executive control is enhanced, as are information and problem-solving skills. Language learning helps improve memory and concentration.
— Instrument. Learning a new instrument requires you to use all the brain’s functions and to use multitasking skills. It enhances attention and focus, executive function and motor skills coordination, and it promotes neuroplasticity.
— Creative arts. Classes in painting, drawing, pottery and creative writing enhance problem-solving and critical thinking skills. They also increase cognitive flexibility, promote plasticity and encourage you to think in new, creative ways.
— Strategy and problem-solving. Taking lessons and classes in games such as chess or bridge require concentration, memory and the use of analytical skills. Critical thinking and problem-solving are necessary to be successful at these games.
— Physical. Classes that require physical activity — such as yoga, tai chi and weight training — not only increase the flow of blood to the brain, but they also balance your overall cognitive health and executive function.
Social Interaction
Meaningful social interaction is linked to better mental and cognitive health. Higher levels of social engagement are associated with lower risk of depression and dementia. The more varied and stimulating your social contact, the greater the cognitive benefits. Stimulating conversations and social interaction improve emotional intelligence and keep your brain engaged and sharp.
A strong social network is essential to cognitive health. It stimulates the mind, boosts emotional well-being and prevents cognitive decline.
“Social isolation is a major risk factor for cognitive decline,” says Dr. Kenneth Koncilja, an internal medicine physician and geriatrician at Cleveland Clinic.
Sleep
Seven to nine hours of high-quality sleep support memory consolidation, attention and metabolic regulation and clears abnormal proteins from the brain. Without sleep, nothing can be accomplished, and poor sleep is consistently associated with cognitive decline.
Research shows that good quality sleep is necessary for healthy cognitive function. It allows you to focus, learn, problem-solve and make memories.
Diet
A healthy diet provides your brain with essential nutrients and protects it from damage. The best foods to support cognitive health are the same foods that are best for your heart and blood vessels. They include leafy green vegetables, fatty fish, berries and nuts. In fact, the MIND diet, which stands for Mediterranean–DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay, takes the two proven diets and zeroes in on the foods that improve brain health to potentially lower your risk of mental decline.
Avoid ultraprocessed foods, which affect the brain’s nervous system, negatively impact learning and memories and may be addictive. Fried foods, foods high in saturated fats and refined sugar can cause inflammation, which is linked to cognitive decline.
Cardiovascular Health
Your heart health and brain health are deeply interconnected. Uncontrolled hypertension, diabetes and other vascular risk factors are well-established contributors to stroke and dementia risks.
“Addressing vascular risk factors — especially high blood pressure — through lifestyle modification and appropriate medical management is among our most evidence-based strategies to promote brain health,” says Dr. Sanjula Singh, a professor of global health, science and epidemiology at Mass General and Harvard Medical School.
Travel and Novelty
Engaging in new environments and experiences — like traveling — can stimulate cognitive and emotional systems involved in learning, memory and adaptability.
For example, planning a trip engages executive functions, like organization and problem-solving, while navigating a new city utilizes your brain’s spatial memory, attention and cognitive flexibility to build new mental maps.
Even trying a new cuisine can stimulate sensory processing and episodic memory by introducing unfamiliar tastes, textures and smells — all of which contribute to fostering the expansion of your brain’s plasticity.
Bottom Line
Maintaining cognitive health is the key to healthy aging and preserving independence and overall quality of life.
But to do this, you need to spend a lifetime using and stretching your brain.
Physical exercise, puzzles and brain games, classes, meditation and mindfulness and social interaction — along with modifiable lifestyle factors, such as sleep, diet and heart health — can push your brain to operate at its optimal level and may stave off cognitive decline.
“The worst thing you can do for your brain is to do nothing,” Lavretsky says. “When you do nothing, no new connections are being established. If you stop activity, the decline in your brain happens immediately, so acquire knowledge, stay active and find tools to use in your daily life to maximize your cognitive performance.”
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Activities for Cognitive Health originally appeared on usnews.com
