How to stay mentally sharp after 55

Credit: BLANE MARABLE

Credit: BLANE MARABLE

A variety of other factors can also affect brain health with age. The risk of dementia — including Alzheimer’s disease — rises as people get older. Ongoing research suggests that the COVID-19 may contribute to “brain fog,” even for people who did not contract the virus. In addition, depression and possibly ADHD can play a role in cognitive changes.

It may sound like a steep hill to climb, but a lot of keeping the mental gears turning boils down to advice you’ve already heard, whether you’re in your 30s, 50s or 70s. Here are some things to keep in mind:

Prioritize exercise

Many who work directly or indirectly with brain health elevate exercise as a top priority.

“Things that are considered healthy for the heart rate are healthy for the brain,” says Avril Loy Maynard, a public health specialist and director of the women’s heart health program at Piedmont Medical Center. “Cardiovascular exercise is very good for the brain.”

And don’t forget the value of muscle-building exercises as well, says Dr. Karima Benameur, an associate professor of neurology at Emory.

The Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control says short bursts of physical activity can boost memory and thinking skills, while regular physical activity can reduce the risk of cognitive decline and dementia. Physical activity has also been shown to have a beneficial effect on depression.

“You don’t have to run a marathon,” says Miles. “(Instead) you can walk the dog on a regular basis.” Or ride a bike. Go dancing. Do vigorous yardwork. Or just take a walk on your own.

Some exercise, of course, does more than simply elevate the heart rate and improve blood flow to the brain. Maynard says moving the body in ways that directly benefit the brain are ideal.

“In Zumba I’m thinking, ‘Am I going to turn right, am I going to turn left?’” she says. “There is a benefit to those things that have the intricacies as well because that’s the cognitive component.”

Good sleep

Experts note that vigorous exercise also wears the body out and prepares it for a good night’s sleep, a crucial component in cognitive health.

“That’s numero uno. Sleep deprivation will rot your brain faster than anything I know,” says Miles, noting that circulating cerebrospinal fluid cleans out brain waste that’s accumulated during the day.

Benameur adds that for a long time the recognized standard was eight hours of shut-eye. That notion has been dispelled.

“Some people get eight hours and they feel great,” she says, “But some people feel great if they get six.”

Another route to restful sleep is timing your blood pressure medication, says Miles. She says some research has shown that blood pressure medication, if not a diuretic, may well have a pronounced impact on sleep if taken right before bed.

Part of what gets you to sleep is a drop in body temperature and blood pressure, she says. Taking your meds or maybe half them right before bed signals to your body that it’s time to sleep.

Nutrition’s role

Diet and nutrition being major considerations in keeping the wheels turning, experts point to the Mediterranean or MIND diets with their emphases on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and plant-based oils, with fish as the main protein source.

Credit: Photo contributed

Credit: Photo contributed

Dr. Charles Bernick, senior director of cognitive disorders at the Cleveland Clinic’s Center for Brain Health says epidemiological studies show that diet, as well as exercise and sleep, “are associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s, presumably delaying the onset of it.”

“The biggest risk of Alzheimer’s are genetics and aging, both of which you can’t do anything about,” he says. “But you can modify the risk by controlling these other factors.”

Benameur says that any problem with cognition can be traced back to a source and that the majority of those causes are reversible. For example, memory issues can be traced to a lack of paying attention.

“In a simple way, the way we process information is you have to be able to focus and get information in,” she says. So if your attention is compromised, the data never gets encoded in the brain, creating memory issues.

Mindfulness

Attention figures closely into another piece of the mental sharpness puzzle, that of mediation and mindfulness practices.

Maynard’s take is there’s not enough data to determine whether those can help dementia patients, “but if it’s something like brain fog, a scattering of thought, not being able to get things finished, there’s data that says mindfulness can help with that.”

Meditation is training your mind to be present and attentive, Benameur says. Instead of fighting one’s thoughts, she says, it’s about being able to observe those thoughts and “just sit with them.”

If you slow them down and you’re able to be present, your attention improves, she maintains.

Counseling can help, says Dr. Rachel Feit of Evolve Behavioral Health, who works with patients with an ongoing diagnosis, a brain tumor or aphasia for example. She says she “meets patients where they’re at.”

Her goal is to “build a relationship of trust so that if there are areas we can improve on, it makes them more adaptive and functional.”

Keep socializing

Researchers say social and intellectual engagement are also key in maintaining mental sharpness.

“Friends and family and how we engage with the community are extremely important,” says Maynard. “Think of the brain as a muscle, you want to stress and challenge it.”

Credit: TNS

Credit: TNS

That can look like anything from going to a bingo night to checking out recreation programs at a local senior center, playing word games, taking lifelong learning courses and getting involved with a faith community.

“The more engaged you are probably has some impact on brain plasticity,” says Bernick. “That’s the ability of the brain to form new connections.”

A Harvard Health report suggests learning a new skill, particularly a more complex endeavor like quilting or digital photography yielded wide-ranging improvements in memory. Miles seems to have taken that to heart, taking a course and becoming a lifeguard this past summer.

Maynard says one of the best examples of proving mental faculties is her own father-in-law, who is 83 and lives in a 55-plus community. He has a regular weekly regimen of golf, tennis and bowling.

“And his girlfriend, yes, his girlfriend and he go dancing and have learned complicated and intricate choreography,” she says. “That keeps him young, keeps him sharp (and) healthy.”