Exercising Your Brain Can Prevent Cognitive Decline
There are many different types of mental illness in the world, and they affect people differently. This is why it is often so hard to pinpoint what their situation is and then to find the right course of treatment for it. The goal with such treatment in the elderly is to help the individual have as good of a quality of life as possible in their later years. While there is no known cure for cognitive decline, brain exercise is the next best thing to slow it down.
There has been some research to indicate that brain exercises can help to reduce the effects of some mental illnesses. Many people suffer from Alzheimer’s where they can’t remember things very well. This typical affects older individuals and the onset of it is generally slow. However, it can make the quality of life very poor for such an individual. They can become a threat to themselves as well so they need constant care.
Brain Exercise
By engaging in brain exercises at a young age though it may be possible to prevent such a mental illness from taking control of your brain functions. As a person gets older it is natural for their cognitive abilities to decline. However, there is also research that shows it doesn’t have to be this way at all. Instead it is possible for a person to continue improving on a cognitive level as they get older. In my book “Keep Your Brain Healthy” I discuss some of the ways you can do this through diet, exercise and hacks.
Most people don’t realize that they should work to train their brain. Allowing it to just format any way that it will without some direction from you isn’t a good idea. Yet that is a concept that too many people have never given any thought to. How can you expect your brain to form the way you want it to if you don’t have any defined goals about what that is?
Many people have coined brain exercising to reduce the risk of mental illness as mental fitness. It is never too late for someone to change how their thinking process is. That is the good news because people too often assume that what a person has always done is what they are destined to continue doing. Change can be difficult but it can also be accomplished with dedication and a good game plan.
The younger that you are when you start engaging in brain exercises to reduce the risk of mental illness the better off you will be. Those individuals with a family history of mental illness definitely want to do all they can in order to prevent it. There is still plenty of research in this area though that has to be done. While we are far from having all of the answers, we are also on the right path.
The more that you work your brain the better it is going to be. The effort you put into it is going to help you live a happier and healthier life. The time you invest in the process today is going to pay off for you in the days ahead. Decades from now you can continue to be a confident and productive member of society as well. There is a great deal of personal power that comes from brain exercising so don’t underestimate it.
Another benefit is that you will be able to get your mental health and your physical health in balance with each other. This is important because they are both a part of how you will look and how you will feel. When one of them isn’t getting the attention it needs then you as a person will suffer. Exercising your brain is every bit as important as exercising your body.
The fact that brain exercises do offer so many benefits is a good reason for you to take part in them. There is still plenty of research that has to be done in order to fully determine how they can help people with mental illness. Taking part in such activities though can help you do all you can to reduce the risk of suffering from such problems when you get older. Since it is possible that such benefits exist you want to give yourself the opportunity to really benefit from them.
Keep Your Brain Sharp and Young
As we reach the age of 50 most of us would probably have some degree of impaired memory, experts say. During aging, one’s ability to recall information may start to decline. The good news is that there are ways to avoid or reduce this memory loss from happening. In fact, a person can certainly be smarter as they get older. Does this seem too good to be true? Here is how to apply it to your life.
What Happens to Your Brain as You Age
A study was conducted to test the memory of people from different age groups. Participants of the study were asked to memorize 75 words as they read the list out loud for five times. The results showed that the 18-year old participant scored 54, the 45-year-old participant scored 47 while the 65-year-old person only had 37.
Dr. David Weeks, a neuro-psychologist at the Royal Edinburgh Hospital says that this decline in memory is not caused by death of brain cells. Human beings lose as many as 10,000 brain cells each day by the time they reach 40 years old. However, studies reveal that majority of memory problems that the older population has is largely caused by lack of motivation, poor concentration, stress and anxiety.
Another reason why aging individuals experience memory decline is the fact that blood circulation will tend to reduce or slow down as they get older and this causes a reduced supply of oxygen into the brain cells. This is why experts recommend that people must exercise their bodies and their brains on a regular basis.
A thirty-minute exercise done for at least three times a week can do wonders to keep your mind sharp. This is because an individual’s brain works a lot like a human muscle. It needs to be used on a regular basis for it to function at an optimum level, truly, “use it or lose it”.
Changing Our Misconceptions about the Aging Brain
Many of us think that our brain’s performance will only be at its peak while we are still young and that its ability naturally declines as we age. But, if we truly want to experience an improvement in our cognitive health we must debunk such a limiting belief. Aging is not a disease. The brain’s performance does not have to decline as human beings get older.
Every person should be conscious about maintaining brain health. Lifestyle choices must also be geared towards improving its performance at any age. We must remember that age is not a sole predictor of impaired cognitive abilities in mature individuals.
Brain Performance Strengthens as We Age
It is true that we lose some of our cognitive skills as we age such as the quantity of learning capacity and speed in learning new things. However, experts say that a healthy aging brain still has the capability to improve as it continues to draw on its vast knowledge acquired through the whole of life. Add to that all the wisdom gained from experiences that play a crucial role in critical reasoning and decision-making skills.
Research shows that the majority of individuals aged 85 years old and above show great potential for making sound decisions, learning new things and of manifesting a well-preserved intellect.
As we grow older we must keep in mind that the brain is capable of adapting to whatever we use it for and how we use it. Therefore, we should also exert a conscious effort towards knowing which habits help improve the performance of the brain and which habits are detrimental. Adherence to healthy lifestyle choices and avoidance of toxic habits will definitely help age-proof the brain while also contributing to increased life expectancy.
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