If you're going to prioritize one thing for your brain health, make it this: regular aerobic exercise. Multiple large-scale studies show that aerobic exercise doesn't just keep your heart healthy-it directly impacts your brain structure. One year of aerobic exercise in older adults led to significantly larger hippocampal volumes and better spatial memory. Other trials documented that exercise actually slows age-related gray matter volume loss.
When I asked neurologists about their top behaviors for brain health, they all stressed the importance of physical activity. Exercise is top, No. 1, when we're thinking about the biggest bang for your buck, said Dr. Gregg Day, a neurologist at the Mayo Clinic. Numerous studies have shown that people who exercise regularly tend to perform better on attention, memory and executive functioning tests. There can be a small cognitive boost immediately after a workout, and the effects are sustained if people exercise consistently.
In other words, what you use to fuel yourself matters for brain health. So what foods are best for your brain? In a nine-year study of nearly 1,000 older adults, researchers at Rush University in Chicago found that people who ate more of nine particular types of food berries, leafy greens, other vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, fish, poultry and olive oil and who ate less red meat, butter and margarine, cheese, sweet treats and fried food had slower cognitive decline.
"While there are a few studies showing that aspects of mild cognitive impairment might be improved with these types of hand exercises, I would put forward that there is nothing magical about these movements," said neurologist Dr. Chris Winter. Hand exercises are a way to practice motor skills, which can be beneficial for maintaining cognitive abilities as we age. But it might be a stretch to suggest that specific movements are going to remove your risk of developing dementia or Alzheimer's disease.
Imagine there is a tech device that will substantially decrease your chances of developing dementia or Alzheimer's disease? Would you be interested in using that device? Such a tech device exists-an anti-dementia device. If you want it to be effective, you should start using it early to prevent the risks of dementia. Use it before you show any signs of cognitive decline or dementia-sooner is better. But there's even evidence that it can slow the rate of decline for people already displaying mild cognitive impairment.
