Your muscles and bones inevitably get weaker as you age, but lifting weights can slow down the deterioration process and help you stay stronger longer. The same idea applies to your mental fortitude – practicing certain brain exercises can help keep your mind sharp, even as you grow older.
“You can train and improve your brain at any age.”
It’s never too late to better your brain
Many people think cognitive decline is inevitable, and unless you spent your youth doing regular brain exercises, you have little chance of maintaining strong mental clarity later in life. However, this widespread misconception is untrue. According to HelpGuide, you can train and improve your brain throughout your life due to the organ’s capacity to evolve and adjust at any stage, a phenomenon known as neuroplasticity.
Part of maintaining and bettering your mind is leading an overall healthy lifestyle, complete with a diet of brain foods, but practicing mental exercises is vital as well. The source explains that by stimulating your brain in the right way, you can actually create new neural pathways and enhance connections you already have. This can lead to a larger learning capacity, bolster general cognitive functions and improve your memory.
How can you improve your mental functions?
Boosting your brain power doesn’t necessarily mean spending hours with flashcards and quizzes. Check out the different ways you can strengthen your mind.
1. Stay social
Believe it or not, simply spending time with friends and loved ones can have a positive impact on your cognitive abilities. According to the Mayo Clinic, isolating yourself from others can lead to mental issues like stress and depression, which often contribute to cognitive decline. Even if you enjoy relaxing at home by yourself, make an effort to socialize as often as possible to keep your mind sharp and high-functioning.
If you live alone and find yourself on your own most of the time, consider signing up for a recreational class or joining a club that interests you. Look for groups that play cards or board games, read books, make music, paint pictures or whatever activity you feel would stimulate your mind the most. These interactions will boost both your social calendar and your mind!
Try memorizing the phone numbers and addresses of close friends and family members. Not only will this make it easier for you to make plans whenever you have spare time, but adding memorization to your socialization will only serve to strengthen your mind even more, notes Memory Improvement Tips.
Spending time with friends can actually help strengthen your memory.
2. Test yourself
Throughout the day, try testing your memory in small, informal ways. Everyday Health recommends making a grocery or to-do list first thing in the morning. Memorize it as best you can, set an alarm for a few hours later and then see how much of the list your mind retained. After doing this a few times, try making the lists even more difficult or complicated, or try memorizing more than one list each morning.
When you’re shopping, try to recall everything you add to your cart in each aisle, suggests Memory Improvement Tips. After about three aisles, see if you can remember all the items you’ve picked up. For an even bigger challenge, try to remember how much each item costs and see if you can keep a running tally of the total price. When you get to the register, see how close you were!
The source recommends quizzing yourself whenever you have time or a good opportunity. For example, if you have a few minutes, break out a map of the U.S. and see how many state capitals you can remember. Try doing it every day until you know the country like the back of your hand! When you meet people for the first time, attempt to remember three things about them in addition to their names. Later, test yourself to see if you can remember all three facts.
3. Sleep on it
When your mind is resting, your memory, creativity, critical-thinking and problem-solving skills are all being improved, explains HelpGuide. The key to using sleep to your advantage is getting enough of it. While many adults feel fine running on five or six hours per night, you should actually aim for a rest period of between seven and nine hours. Additionally, try to maintain a regular sleep schedule as often as possible. Going to bed and waking up at the same time every day can make a huge difference in your mental clarity.
As you prepare for sleep, HelpGuide recommends steering clear of televisions, cellphones, computers and tablets for at least one hour prior to bedtime. The bright lights these screens emit can actually wake you up, causing you to toss and turn before settling into a restful and productive slumber. You should also consider avoiding caffeine later in the day, and you may want to consider omitting it from your diet entirely depending on how sensitive you are.
4. Laugh a lot
Improving your cognitive abilities may be serious business, but as the old adage says, “laughter is the best medicine.” HelpGuide recommends getting the giggles as often as possible, since laughing actually stimulates and engages a variety of cerebral areas. The source notes that, despite how hard it might be, you should make an effort to laugh at yourself – try thinking about your most embarrassing moments and having a good chuckle. Additionally, spend time with funny friends who you know will have you in stitches with their jokes and stories.
Provide yourself with moments of humor throughout the day by keeping joke books and funny pictures around your home. Consider putting on a funny show or movie while you’re relaxing, or listen to stand-up comedy routines while driving, cleaning or going for a walk. If you hear people laughing when you’re out and about, try asking what was so funny, suggests HelpGuide. Typically, people are eager to share a hilarious story, and you’ll probably have a good chuckle.
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