That Neuroscience Guy - Neuroscience Bite- Improving your Brain Health

Episode Date: June 11, 2022

Previously, we discussed how aging negatively impacts your brain. But is there something we can to do help prevent, or at least ameliorate, those effects? Today's Neuroscience Bite discusses tips for improving your brain's long-term health. 

Hi, my name is Olof Kregolsen and I'm a neuroscientist at the University of Victoria. And in my spare time, I'm that neuroscience guy. Welcome to another Neuroscience Bite. So I just recorded an episode on the aging brain and things that happen as we age. So the bite I wanted to record to share with you is how can you protect your brain against aging? So what are the things you can do to maintain a healthy brain as you move later into life? Well, some of these are kind of beyond your control, but you might find them interesting. Basically, there's a lot of evidence that one of the single biggest predictors of brain health is living in favorable environmental circumstances. So people with

above average education tend to maintain better brain health. So go to university, stay in school. High complexity occupations. So jobs that demand that you keep thinking and keep the brain active. occupations. So jobs that demand that you keep thinking and keep the brain active. Above average income. So generally people with a higher socioeconomic status tend to maintain brain health later into life. And maintaining intact families. I find it very interesting that family structures that tend to get broken, now it doesn't have to mean a divorce, it just means that you have some kind of extended family. People that maintain their intact families tend to have better brain health.

Now, these are things that are a little bit more within your direct control. Be involved in activities that are typical of complex and intellectually stimulating environments. So if your work environment isn't that intellectually stimulating, create that for you. And some of the classics are pretty obvious. Extensive reading. People that read a lot have better brain health than people that don't.

And the evidence even shows that reading is better than watching television. Traveling. People that travel and maintain traveling into their later years tend to have better brain health. Attending cultural events. Getting out and engaging with a wide range of activities because these things challenge your brain. Continuing education activities. I'm a big fan of this one. One of the things I do at the University of Victoria is I teach in our continuing studies program. These classes are typically opened up for people in the later years of life who want to come back to university. And it's very rare in those classes that I find people whose brain health wouldn't be what I would

call sharp. And another thing you can do is participation in clubs and professional associations. Join a club, a bridge club, a dance club, anything. Get out there and keep your brain engaged. And again, this one might be one of the ones that's back to not being in your control, but I thought I'd include it because it might put a smile on your face. One of the other bigger predictors of brain health is be married to a spouse with high cognitive status. So if you can't create this high brain challenge for yourself, you can go out and marry somebody that's doing it for you. The research actually shows this to be true, although it does put a bit of a smile on my face.

And there's a couple of other things you can do, which again, we've talked about about brain health in previous episodes, but I thought I would flash through them quickly. Exercise regularly, extremely important. And if you can't be mobile with your lower body, be mobile with your upper body. Eating properly. There is no doubt that brain health is associated with diet and that as we age, this is even more important. Like I said previously, engage in learning activities. Another one that's really big, stop smoking. No offense to the smokers out there, but the research is pretty clear that brain health is related to not smoking. And the other one I want to emphasize, which is kind of implied, but I want to say it directly, stay in touch with friends, families, and communities.

The research is very clear that people that age that live in isolation generally tend to have cognitive decline at a much faster rate than people that are living and engaged with friends and families. So there's a few tips to help you as you age and keep your brain healthy. Just remember that all things being equal, assuming you are healthy, your brain's going to be fine. Your IQ won't drastically decline with age. Only certain types of memory show declines with age. Our ability to learn doesn't deviate too much as we get older. And like I've just spent a couple minutes sharing with you, there are plenty of things you can do to counter aging deficits. So again, thank you so much for listening. This has been another Neuroscience Byte.

Remember, support us on Patreon, t-shirts for sale on the Etsy store. All that money goes to graduate students in my lab to help them with their studies. And of course, feel free to follow me on Twitter at that neuroscience guy. You can DM me with show notes and thoughts about what we should be talking about. And of course, please subscribe and listen to the podcast. My name is Olive Kregolson, and I'm that neuroscience guy. Thank you so much for listening.