by eMedExpert staff

Medical references reviewed: August, 2018

During the whole long history of research on the human brain, scientists believed that the brain was not making any new neural connections when the body stopped developing. Which means that since the age of the early-to-mid 20s human memory begins to get irreversibly worse. And doctors knew that neurons, just like any other part of the body, weaken as people age. Loss of brain function due to neural breakdown related to aging was assumed to be normal and unavoidable.

However, in the past few years, it has become clear that things are not that bleak and human brain can still make new neurons starting in your 20s and continuing well into old age. So you can literally rewire the brain with new parts as the older parts wear out. How?

There are lots of things you can do right now to preserve, protect and enhance your gray matter.

1Physical exercise

A healthy body really does mean a healthy mind. In the last decade it has become clear that regular exercise beneficially affects brain function. Exercise boosts brain power by stimulating formation of new brain cells (neurons), the process known as neurogenesis2. Also, exercise strengthens connections between brain cells. Exercise stimulates the area of the brain associated with memory and learning1.

Regular physical activity may even help prevent Alzheimer's disease. Several studies7 have confirmed that regular physical activity reduces the risk of cognitive decline and dementia in old age.

2Lifelong learning - your brain is a learning machine

For most of us, after we graduate from high school or college, our pursuit of new knowledge bottoms out over time. We may be professionals at what we do, but we aren't learning new things. Unfortunately so, because there is clear evidence8 that education and learning produce favourable changes in the brain. Researchers believe that intellectual activity plays a neuroprotective role against dementia. Some studies suggest that having a low level of formal education and poor linguistic skills is a risk factor for cognitive decline in later life.

But if you continue to learn and challenge yourself, your brain continues to grow, literally. Recent research9 has demonstrated that learning over time enhances memory and the survival of new brain cells. An active brain produces new connections between nerve cells that allow cells to communicate with each other. This helps the brain store and retrieve information more easily, no matter what your age.

How can you challenge yourself? Scientists agree that anything that is new and expands your knowledge will effectively increase your IQ and brain power:

Learning to play any musical instrument

Switching careers or starting a new one

Starting a new creative hobby, this could be anything like painting, biking, photography, gardening

Learning a foreign language. According to the study speaking more than one language may slow the aging process in the mind

Staying informed about what's going on in the world

Learning to cook new dish

If you let your brain be idle, it's not going to be in the best health.




3Mental stimulation

Researchers found that a woman's memory can be impaired for at least a year after giving a birth, although the effects are minor

Stimulate your brain. The more you think, the better your brains function - regardless of age. So make sure you're actively problem-solving and having to use your memory. Just as physical exercises keep your body strong, mental exercises keep your mind sharp and agile. Without something to keep us mentally charged, our brains, like unused muscles, can atrophy, leading to a decline in cognitive abilities.

Researchers at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York6 found that older adults who were frequently engaged in mental activity had lower risk of dementia by up 75 percent compared to those who didn’t stimulate their minds.

Researchers from the Princeton University10 discovered that simple cognitive stimulation such as Bingo can be of great value to the daily management of Alzheimer's patients.

Some good ways to stimulate your mind:

Travelling

Going to museums, art galleries

Reading books. Journals, newspapers and magazines are also good, but books are the best.

Playing 'thinking' games like cards, checkers, chess, crosswords, sudoku puzzles

Scrabble or doing crossword puzzles

Playing musical instruments

Dancing

Crafts such as drawing, painting, and ceramics

Ditch the calculator once in a while and forcing yourself to do the calculation

Volunteering

4Social interaction - People are good medicine

How often and for how long people talk on the phone with their family members, friends, colleagues, and neighbours, how often they meet and on what occasions, with who they can share their thoughts and feelings - all this can be united by a term "social interaction".

Men are one and a half times more likely than women to develop

problems with thinking, language, reasoning, and memory that are greater than those usually experienced with normal aging.

Socializing has a protective effect on the brain because it's a form of mental exercise. Not only does interacting with people stimulate the brain, but it can also keep you sharp, because dealing with people can be pretty challenging. Strong social relationships have been associated with lower blood pressure and longer life expectancies.

And loneliness and social isolation is believed to be an important risk factor for cognitive decline in older persons.

U.S. researchers found11 that talking to another person for 10 minutes a day improves memory and test scores. They found that socializing was just as effective as more traditional kinds of mental exercise in boosting memory and intellectual performance. They also found that the higher the level of social interaction, the better the cognitive functioning. Social interaction included getting together or having phone conversations with relatives, friends, colleagues, and neighbors.

In a study of more than 2,800 people ages 65 or older, Harvard researchers12 found that those with at least five social ties - church groups, social groups, regular visits, or phone calls with family and friends - were less likely to suffer cognitive decline than those with no social ties.

5Sleep & Nap

Sleep plays critical and sometimes crucial role in brain development and growth.

Science explains the healing power of sleep by the fact that sleep may contribute to neurogenesis, which is the process of formation of new nerve cells in the brain. Research in animals13 provides an insight about how the sleep deprivation is harmful for the brain - it reduces the number of new brain cells. Without sufficient sleep, neurons may not have enough time to repair all the damage, and so could malfunction during the day.

Sleep is necessary for the brain to process and consolidate knowledge and for memories to form. Neuroscientists say that during sleep the hippocampus (part of the brain where memory is stored) becomes highly active and moves knowledge from short-term memory to long-term memory14.

The memories laid down by the sleeping brain are of two kinds. Declarative memory or the memory for information - facts, dates, and names. Procedural memory is what allows us to do things like play a musical instrument, ride a bicycle, or add up a bill. Scientists think these two types of memory are influenced by different parts of the sleep cycle. Slow wave sleep benefits mainly the consolidation of declarative memories. In contrast, rapid eye movement (REM) sleep seems to benefit procedural memory15.

According to animal studies, when you perform a task, the brain cells fire in a certain sequence. If you then fall asleep, the same cells automatically fire in an identical sequence without being distracted or disrupted by incoming visual stimuli.

There is a consistent pattern: Learn something new during the day, consolidate what you have learned during a good night's sleep, then remember or perform the task better in the morning. However, sleep before learning is also critical in preparing the brain for next-day memory formation.

Even a nap in the middle of the day may benefit some learning, according to a recent study5. Sleep appears to help "set" the declarative memories and make them easier to recall.

6Stress management

The brain uses 20% of our body's oxygen and 20% of its blood.

Scientists believe people exposed to chronic stress tend to have elevated levels of hormone cortisol. Cortisol is produced by the adrenal glands in response to acute and chronic stress. High cortisol levels are dangerous to the brain.

Some of the most impressive (in a negative way) effects of the stress on brain are hippocampal atrophy, shrinkage of the hippocampus or prefrontal cortex (the area of the brain unique to humans), and even neural death in some brain regions20. The hippocampus, a vital brain region for episodic, spatial, and contextual memory, has many cortisol receptors, which makes it especially susceptible to stress.

Chronic stress can impair cell communication in the brain region responsible for learning and memory. Increased stress hormone levels lead to memory impairment in the elderly and learning difficulties in young adults19.

Short-term stress is also very destructive. Researchers from the University of California18 have found short-term stress lasting as little as few hours can harm brain-cell communication in areas essential for learning and memory. They revealed that acute stress activated selective molecules called corticotropin releasing hormones, which disrupted the process by which the brain collects and stores memories.

Stress is always present in our lives and cannot be avoided. So you should focus not on stress elimination, but rather on stress management. There are several ways to help you manage stress in your daily life:

See problems as opportunities

Get away from the noise

Exercise

Learn relaxation techniques such as yoga and meditation

Cut down on unnecessary responsibilities and avoid over-scheduling

Make time for leisure activities

Get a massage

7Laugh & Humor

Laughter is the best medicine! You probably heard this phrase many times.

Recently scientists began to seriously investigate the healing power of humor and positive emotions.

By having fun and laughing, your stress levels decrease significantly. Humor stimulates the parts of our brain that use the "feel good" chemical messenger dopamine. Also, researchers found that humor improves memory26.

8Healthy breakfast

It might be the last thing on your morning to-do list, if it is on your list at all. However, many studies have shown that having breakfast improves the ability of concentration, reaction time, learning ability, mood and memory, whereas skipping breakfast reduces people's performance at school and at work27.

Scientists at Cardiff University in Wales found that persons who ate a high-fiber cereal in the morning showed a 10 percent reduction in fatigue, lower incidence of depression, and better cognitive skills. Fiber helps slow down the absorption of food in the stomach, so you have more energy for a longer period of time.

9Omega-3 fatty acids

High intake of omega-6 rich oils (such as sunflower or grape seed oil) decreases the risk of dementia and Alzheimer disease4.

Omega-3 fatty acids are essential for brain health - they provide the physical building blocks needed for brain development and for maintenance of its structural and functional integrity. In fact, one of the omega-3 fatty acids, commonly known as DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), makes up a large portion of the gray matter in the brain and is vital for brain cells function. Diet rich in DHA improves learning, while lack of DHA worsens learning ability. Adding more DHA to your brain directly influences cell-to-cell communication, affects nerve conduction and neurotransmitter release, and other processes that allow brain cells to send messages to each other21.

French researchers4 found that people who regularly consume omega-3 rich oils, such as canola, flaxseed, and walnut oil, are 60% less likely to develop dementia. Regular consumption of fruits and vegetables lowers dementia risk by 30%. People who eat fish at least once a week are 40 percent less likely to develop dementia.

Coldwater fish, such as salmon, tuna, mackerel, and herring are rich sources of omega-3 fatty acids (just be careful to eat fish in moderation due to potential contamination with mercury). Dutch studies22 revealed that high fish consumption may reduce the risk of dementia and cognitive decline.

10Blueberries

Blueberries are a real tasty and low-glycemic superfood. Eating blueberries every day was found by the USDA at Tufts University23 to slow and even reverse age-related brain decline, as well as improve short-term memory loss and help reverse age-related loss of balance.

Blueberries are rich in flavonoids, including anthocyanins and flavanols. Although the precise mechanisms by which these plant-derived molecules affect the brain are unclear, they have been shown to cross the blood brain barrier after dietary intake. It is believed that they exert their effects on learning and memory by enhancing existing neuronal connections, improving cellular communications and stimulating neuronal regeneration.

11Vegetables

Eating vegetables may slow the mental decline and normal brain aging 16. Cruciferous and green leafy vegetables including cauliflower, spinach, kale, broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprout and collards promise to be the most beneficial17. These vegetables contain healthy amounts of vitamin E, an antioxidant that prevents formation of free radicals damaging body cells.

Increased blood level of homocysteine is a strong risk factor for the development of Alzheimer disease and dementia31. Three B vitamins, folic acid, B6, and B12, can help lower your homocysteine levels. Fortified cereal, other grains, and leafy green vegetables are good sources of B vitamins.

12Want to drink? Choose red wine!

People who drink to forget unpleasant memories may actually be doing the opposite by reinforcing the neural circuits that control negative emotional memory3.

While heavy drinking clearly causes serious problems for many people, drinking in moderation may be actually good for the brain.

Intake of up to three daily servings of wine, unlike other alcohol beverages like liquor or beer, is associated with a lower risk of dementia. This may be due to the ability of red wine polyphenols to protect brain cells against alcohol-induced damage25. There is well-documented evidence that resveratrol, a polyphenol found in red wine and red grape skin and seeds, has significant antioxidant activity and produces neuroprotective effects24.

13Care for your heart and vessels

Many risk factors for cardiovascular disease may also contribute to cognitive decline and dementia.

High blood pressure in midlife increases the risk of cognitive decline in old age28.

Diabetes29 and high levels of LDL ("bad") cholesterol30 appear to significantly increase the risk of dementia.

14Musical training

A growing body of scientific research finds musical training provides students learning advantages in the classroom. Recently scientists revealed that very poor auditory and memory skills are rare among children with even a short period of musical training35.

According to 2014 Kraus's study32, learning to play a musical instrument or to sing can help disadvantaged children strengthen their reading and language skills. Musical training appears to enhance the way children's nervous systems process sounds in a busy environment, e.g. classroom.

Also, lifelong musical training shows benefits in at least 2 important functions known to decline with age -- memory and the ability to hear speech in noise34.

15Singing for foreign language learning

A new experimental study33 provides evidence that a listen-and-repeat singing method can facilitate foreign language learning. Singing in a foreign language can significantly improve learning how to speak it.

16Neurobics

Created by Lawrence C. Katz, Ph.D., a professor of neurobiology at Duke University Medical Center, neurobics is a unique system of brain exercises. Using your five physical senses and your emotional sense in unexpected ways that encourage you to shake up your everyday routines. Studies have shown that even small changes in daily patterns induce brain stimulation.

Neurobics can be done anywhere, anytime, in unusual, fun and easy ways. These exercises can activate underused nerve pathways and connections, helping you achieve a fit and flexible mind:

Drive to work a different route

Get dressed with your eyes closed

Brush your teeth with the other hand

Unlock the door with your eyes closed

Use your opposite hand to dial the phone or operate the TV remote

Listen to music and smell flowers at the same time

Shop at new grocery store

Research has suggested that using your left hand if you're right handed or the other way around more often, can help stimulate parts of the brain that you don't normally use.

17Repeated testing is superior to repeated studying

There is strong evidence that memory is enhanced by repeated retrieval of information36. This means that simply learning something new is not the same as learning and using your new knowledge. So try to practice what you have learned to stimulate your brain even further.




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