Two Ways to Protect the Brain
As our bodies age, our brain ages also. Helping our brain remain healthy during this aging process is an important part of protecting our brain. Protecting our brain starts by paying attention to our mental well-being and striving to improve areas of our mental health. Specifically, there are two ways you can protect your brain, maintaining adequate mental stimulation and improving your mental well-being.
Maintaining Mental Stimulation
It is very important that you are constantly stimulating your brain. Like a muscle, your brain needs exercise to keep it healthy and in top shape. When you stop stimulating your brain, you risk it wearing out over time and becoming less effective.
One reason mental stimulation is so important is because the brain makes connections through brain cells when doing activities. These connections among brain cells result in more brain cell growth which can help to replenish areas that may be lacking. The constant creation of new connections yields more brain cells, which actively work against the effects of aging on the brain.
Some different things you can do to stimulate new brain connections are learn a new language, skill, or hobby. Learning a few new words a day, engaging with a new skill, or completing any new activity that requires concentration, repetition, and physical movement, are all easy ways that you can help your brain make more connections.
You can also take simple, everyday activities and start doing them with your non-dominant hand. New studies have shown that your brain makes new connections when your non-dominant hand is asked to do the same tasks as your dominant hand. This is because using your non-dominant hand to do these things is considered “new” to your brain. It also increases function in the non-dominant hand. This is a great alternative to starting a new activity if you don’t have much time to do so.
Improve Your Mental Well-Being
Much like diet and exercise help our bodies to be in better physical shape, improving your mental health can help your brain remain in better shape as well. This encompasses everything from simply getting enough sleep every night to making sure you have positive social relationships.
An easy way to improve your mental health is to make sure you are currently getting enough sleep every night. Sleep disorders and excessive exhaustion can cause cognitive impairment, which will negatively affect your brain and may even cause you to be predisposed to disease in the future. If you have trouble sleeping, you may want to change your pillow, change your sleeping habits, or see a doctor to determine the cause of this problem.
Another important thing to do to improve your mental well-being is to establish strong social relationships. People who are more social generally tend to have lower rates of dementia and a longer lifespan. They are also generally more happy that those who are not social. Furthermore, people who feel that they have a social network of trusted friends and loved ones usually feel more supported. This is especially important during times of stress or difficulty. Being able to talk to a social support system significantly reduces stress and improves one’s mental state.
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