Help keep your brain sharp by learning new things and staying socially active. There are several reasons to do this, and although they are currently theoretical, studies are under way.
The cognitive-reserve hypothesis holds that the more you learn, the more neuronal connections you make in your brain. These serve as a sort of brain trust as you age and compensate for the loss of other cells, so you can afford to lose more neurons before you show clinical symptoms of Alzheimer’s.
“Studies have shown that progression to AD or other dementias is driven primarily by the progressive deterioration of organic brain health, expressed by the loss of what psychologists have termed ‘cognitive reserve,’” Merzenich explains in his 2023 Medscape commentary. “Cognitive reserve is resilience arising from active brain usage, akin to physical resilience attributable to a physically active life. Scientific studies have shown us that an individual’s cognitive resilience (reserve) is a greater predictor of risk for dementia than are amyloid plaques — indeed, greater than any combination of pathologic markers in dementia patients.”
Brain games like Sudoku and bridge, intellectual conversations, and learning a musical instrument or foreign language can all help build those vital neurons.