These 6 tips could help you stay sharp
Just as physical exercise keeps your body in good condition, a regular mental workout can help keep your brain in shape as you get older.
In other words, what’s good for your body – less stress and adequate sleep, for example – is also good for the brain.
The organization Keep Memory Alive offers tips on what you can do to help stave off Alzheimer’s disease and other brain disorders. Keep Memory Alive supports treatment and research at the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, which is based in Las Vegas and is part of Cleveland Clinic’s Neurological Institute.
Here are some of the ways that you can exercise your brain to keep it healthy:
- Engage in challenging, interesting activities. Do the crossword puzzle, take a class or become a volunteer for a cause you support.
- Process new information in steps. With a new cell phone, for example, learn button functions on day one, message retrieval on day two, and so on.
- Sleep on it. The brain needs downtime to commit information and experiences to long-term memory.
- Reduce stress. Stress interferes with the ability to concentrate, stay focused and remember.
- Get physical. When you exercise and rev up your circulation, your brain cells are flooded with oxygen and nutrients that help them work more efficiently.
- Socialize. Research strongly suggests that people with a wide and varied social network stay sharper longer.
To make a gift supporting Keep Memory Alive, the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, the Neurological Institute or any area of Cleveland Clinic, visit our secure online giving site, or call Institutional Relations and Development at 216.444.1245 or toll-free at 800.223.2273, ext. 41245.
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