Healthy ageing - stay mentally active

Growing older does not mean that your mental abilities will inevitably decline. There is a great deal you can do to keep your mind sharp and alert. Researchers believe that many of the supposed age-related changes that affect the mind, such as memory loss, are actually related to lifestyle.

Just as muscles get flabby from sitting around and doing nothing, so does the brain. A marked decline in mental ability may be due to factors such as prescription medications or disease. Older people are more likely than younger people to take a range of medications for chronic conditions.

In some cases, a drug or a combination of drugs can affect mental ability. Certain diseases that are more common in later life, such as Alzheimer’s disease, can also be the underlying cause of declining mental ability. It is worth checking with your doctor to make sure that any cognitive changes, such as memory loss, are not linked to medications or illness.

Age-related changes to the brain#

Some of the normal age-related changes to the brain include:

• Fat and other deposits build up within brain cells (neurones) and hinder their functioning.
• Neurones that die from ‘old age’ are not replaced, so the brain gradually gets smaller.
• Messages between neurones are sent at a slower speed.

A brain that becomes smaller and lighter with age can still function as effectively as a younger brain. For example, an older brain can create new connections between neurones when given the opportunity. There is evidence that mental abilities are ‘shared’ across various parts of the brain, so that as some neurones die, their roles can be taken up by others.

Some conditions that affect the brain’s ability to function, such as stroke, are linked with diet, obesity and a sedentary lifestyle. Keeping an active body is crucial if you want an active mind.

Physical fitness is important#

Staying physically active helps to protect reasoning ability and reaction times. Avoid the complications of obesity (such as diabetes and heart disease) by maintaining a healthy weight for your height.

Avoid smoking and drinking to excess#

Eat a healthy diet#

Good nutrition helps to keep your brain in optimum condition. Suggestions include:

• Make sure your diet contains enough B group vitamins.
• Glucose is the brain’s main energy source, so eat a balanced diet and avoid extreme low-carbohydrate diets.
• Narrowed arteries (atherosclerosis) can reduce blood flow to the brain, so eat a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol.

Improve your mental fitness#

The brain is like a muscle: if you don’t give it regular workouts, its function will decline. Research suggests that memory can be improved simply by doing regular mental exercises. Suggestions include:

• Keep up your social life and engage in plenty of stimulating conversation.
• Read newspapers and books.
• Play ’thinking’ games such as Scrabble, cards or other quiz-style games.
• Take a course on a subject that interests you.
• Cultivate a new hobby or learn a language.
• Do crossword puzzles and word games.
• Play games that challenge the intellect and memory, such as chess.
• Watch question-and-answer game shows and play along with the contestants.
• Take up hobbies such as woodwork, which can improve the brain’s spatial awareness.

Keep stress under control with meditation and regular relaxation, since an excess of stress hormones such as cortisol can be harmful to neurones.

Boost your memory#

Good recall is a learned skill, and there are ways to improve a failing memory no matter what your age. Suggestions include:

• Make sure you are paying attention to whatever it is you want to remember. If you are busy thinking about something else, you might not notice where you are putting your house keys.
• Use memory triggers, such as association or visualisation techniques. For example, link a name you want to remember with a mental picture.
• Practise using your memory. For example, try to remember short lists such as a grocery list.

One useful technique is to use memory triggers to help you ‘jump’ from one item to the next. One type of trigger is a walking route that you know well. Mentally attach each item on your list to a landmark along the route. For example, imagine putting the bread at the letterbox, the apples at the neighbour’s house and the meat at the bus stop. To remember the list, you simply ‘walk’ the route in your mind.

Conditions that can impair brain function#

Getting older does not necessarily mean that the mind stops working as well as it once did. However, some conditions and events that are more common in later life can affect brain function, including:

• Atherosclerosis
• Dehydration
• Dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease
• Depression
• Diabetes mellitus
• Heart disease
• Poor nutrition and vitamin deficiency
• Parkinson’s disease
• Stroke

Many of these conditions can be managed effectively. Helpful approaches include lifestyle and diet changes, and monitoring tests for high blood pressure, cholesterol and diabetes. Prescribed medicines should be reviewed regularly so that unwanted side effects are avoided and drugs are discontinued if they are no longer needed.

Key points#

• Many supposed age-related changes to the mind, such as memory loss, are actually linked to lifestyle.
• A healthy weight helps you avoid the complications of obesity, such as diabetes and heart disease.
• Physical fitness, good nutrition, mental activity and stress control all help keep the brain working well.
• Pay attention, use memory triggers and practise recall to support your memory.
• Many conditions that affect brain function can be managed with lifestyle changes and regular monitoring.

Where to get help#