Exercise your brain
Cognitive stimulation— keeping your brain active and engaged—is important in dementia risk-reduction. Brainteasers have been touted as go-to solutions for warding off dementia. If that is your thing, fine, but any activity that offers a cognitive challenge, however modest, can be helpful. These can be as simple as changes in everyday activities.
Human beings are wired for routine; for many of us, routines give us certainty and security. But changing your routine can offer a useful cognitive challenge. If you are a regular walker, don’t walk the same way every time—change direction, add new paths and challenge your brain to remember a new route. If you shop at the same supermarket, you know the layout well. Why not switch things up occasionally and shop somewhere unfamiliar, where you have to concentrate to locate the products you need?
Games require concentration, strategic thinking and memory function and are a great way to challenge your brain. Brainteasers, video games, chess, number puzzles—do whatever appeals. But here’s the important bit: don’t stay at the level you know you can master. Make it harder for yourself: tackle the next level up—aim for diabolical! That will give your brain a real workout.
Learning a new musical instrument or a language are particularly beneficial activities for maintaining cognitive function. Not all of us can tackle something that ambitious, but why not consider a new interest or hobby, something that involves learning new information or acquiring a different skill?