Boost Your Brain Power

There is a lovely pithy saying ‘use it or lose it’ which usually refers to our bodies, exhorting us to keep moving otherwise our muscles and joints will seize up and stop working. But what of our brains? Could this equally apply to the grey matter between our ears, and if it does, then what are the best possible ways to exercise our brains so that they stay nimble and agile?

Like many of you, I do Wordle, Quordle, Waffle and NYT Connections every day, but is this enough to ensure that I slow down the inevitable cognitive decline that comes with age? 

We know that muscle power in adult humans begins to decline from our thirties. There are similar changes happening in our brains which slowly shrink in size the older we get. This shrinking leads to structural changes so that our synapses and neuronal networks no longer fire as efficiently as they once did. Inevitably this means that certain tasks in which we have to process or transform information to make a decision may get slower along with our working memory. It’s therefore quite normal to:

*Be slower to find words and recall names

*Have problems with multitasking

*Experience mild difficulties with paying full attention  

Those of you with experience of someone with an age-associated brain disease like dementia or Alzheimer’s know that these illnesses accelerate the rate of neuronal dysfunction and cognitive decline to the point where that person can no longer function as an independent human being. That’s the worst of the bad news, but, as long as there is no disease in the ageing brain, there is good news too. Ageing may also bring positive cognitive changes. Many studies have shown that older adults have larger vocabularies and greater knowledge of the depth of meaning of words than younger adults. With increasing age comes accumulated knowledge and experience. This means that it’s perfectly possible as an older person to:

*Learn new skills

*Form new memories

*Improve vocabulary and language skills.

All of which is excellent news for me, because this year I have set myself two new learning challenges which are really testing the ability of my 76 year old brain to do all three of those things. Early in the new year I got a card pushed through my door inviting me to a taster session at a nearby Bridge School. Learning to play Bridge had been on my radar for some time, but I had never taken the necessary first steps, so the invitation seemed like an omen - New Year, New Brain! So, on February 14th, I plucked up the courage to go along to the taster session and, after a couple of intriguing hours, I signed up on the spot for 4 sessions each of three hours of learning every Wednesday afternoon. I went on to complete that beginners course and now play every Wednesday with a delightful group of women who are at the same level as me. We all intend to do the ‘Next Steps’ course in September.

Why is Bridge Good for the Brain?

Probably because it's so damned difficult! Most card games can be understood and mastered within a few hours. However, I suspect that Bridge is something that keeps challenging you the further you progress with it. For a start it requires you to quickly organise and assess the strength of the hand of 13 cards that you have been dealt. You then have to bid for the contract which will give you and your opposite partner the best chance of success at best or to mitigate your losses at worst. This requires your full attention and concentration. Then, when play starts you need to work out and remember which cards your opponents have played in order to optimise the number of tricks you can win. I now play every Wednesday from 2-4pm and at the end of the session, I sometimes feel totally drained - it's a complete brain workout, as demanding as any physical session I do on my exercise bike or with my PT Lindsay.

Learning to Speak Italian.

Second brain challenge this year has been to (attempt to) learn to speak Italian. I decided to do this in Italy on a week-long language course with Flavours Holidays in Puglia from which I have just returned. I decided to do no preparation in order to arrive with my brain as a blank sheet of paper just to see how far I could get in that very short space of time. Fortunately I speak French pretty fluently, having studied it at various levels since the age of seven and having spent lots of time in France, totally immersed in the language. 

The advantages of this quickly became apparent as many words in Italian are very similar to the French. Also the concept of masculine and feminine nouns and their agreement in adjectives was familiar. Again, I found it very, very challenging because learning a foreign language is extremely complex, but I also enjoyed the brain workout and found it great fun (as I do Bridge). I intend to continue my studies, at the moment by listening to Coffee Break Italian on You Tube for 20 minutes every day.

How to Maintain and Even Increase Brain Power as You Age.

I like the idea of making my brain work hard every day. That’s why I listen to podcasts, research and write this blog, read whatever book I am enjoying every night at bedtime and do those puzzles. It feels important to stay open and curious about anything and everything that interests me. I also feel that it enriches my life, just as Bridge and now Italian are doing. 

Here’s your ‘Brain Power’ Checklist:

Puzzling it Out: Keep going with those puzzles! Research shows that brainy activities stimulate new connections between nerve cells and may even generate new cells, developing neurological ‘plasticity’, building up a reserve as a hedge against future cell loss. Read widely, take courses, solve maths or word problems and include things that require manual dexterity like drawing or painting or other crafts. Try new things and keep challenging yourself.

Brain Food: The bad news is that smoking, excess alcohol consumption and processed foods are damaging to your brain. The good news is that you already know what constitutes a healthy diet for your ageing body! Turns out that our brains just love leafy green vegetables, oily fish, nuts and berries, wholegrains and legumes and everything else that constitutes the best nutrition to age well. A study of people following the The MIND diet (Mediterranean-Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) showed that an enhanced Mediterranean-style diet lowered the risk of Alzheimer’s Disease by as much as 53% in participants who adhered to it strictly and by about 35% in those who followed it moderately well.

Activity:  Likewise, all movement and specific physical activity contribute to optimal brain function as we get older. Exercise modulates genes that would otherwise trigger structural and functional changes in the brain. The important thing is to stay active as often and as much as possible and to spend as little time as you can manage sitting down. I’ve started to set timers for myself so that I am reminded to move for around 10 minutes every hour, especially when I am sitting at my computer for long stretches of time, or watching television in the evening.

Perchance to Dream: Shakespeare called sleep “the balm of hurt minds, great nature’s second course, chief nourisher in life’s feast.” And studies show a strong association between sleep and cognitive function. Both quality and quantity of sleep matter, so if you are struggling to focus or have memory issues, then look at your sleep schedule and see if you need to make any changes. Now that I sleep according to my natural circadian rhythm as an owl, I sleep much better when I retire late and get up late. I’m also careful to have a ‘winding down’ routine which is relaxing rather than stimulating (no digital devices before bedtime) and to sleep in a cool, dark room.

And Breathe: Short-term stresses are an inevitable part of normal life. I don’t enjoy travelling via an airport any more, but how else can I quickly and easily take a much-needed break? Also, I know that stress like that is much less harmful than chronic stress which, if unrelieved, will eventually do lots of both mental and physical damage. I’m a great believer in using various resources which I know will help me to alleviate chronic anxiety like meditation, deep breathing, visualisation or just going for a walk in the park. As soon as I get the symptoms of stress in the form of palpitations and tightness in my chest, I take action immediately, usually by consciously breathing deeply.

Fun with Friends: We all know that cognitive decline happens fastest in people who are socially isolated, so I suspect that one of the reasons that I love Bridge so much is that I have made several delightful new friends. Turns out that, as well as improving my memory and other brain functions, Bridge is also very sociable and great fun (well, the way we play it, anyway). The same was true for my Italian lessons. These all took place in a group of people, some of whom I met for the first time at the airport in Brindisi. Painting watercolours is another new passion and I am booked to do another of these holidays with a new group in September, again in Italy. 

Blood Pressure, Blood Sugar and Cholesterol. High is bad, low is good. Why? Because all play a significant role in how well our brains function as we get older. Diabetes is an important risk factor for dementia as is high levels of LDL (‘bad’ cholesterol). All three of these health markers can be radically improved by staying lean, exercising regularly, restricting alcohol and eating those foods which both our bodies and brains need for optimal health.

In March this year, I went to the funeral of a lovely man whom I had known for around fifty years. He died six years after his diagnosis of Alzheimers and, witnessing how this appalling disease slowly obliterated the person he once was, was a forcible reminder of how our selfhood resides in our brains.

Both muscle and brain power may diminish with age, but ‘use it or lose it’ can equally be applied to both. Allora, dove ho messo quel frasario italiano?!

Tricia x

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