Your brain does not retire with you
The brain does not keep working on retirement, but certain factors can compromise its vitality. Last Sunday, I observed my 81-year-old grandmother teaching failures to my nephew. Each movement was reflected, each strategy transmitted as an inheritance. His thought was as precise as his opening. However, a few houses below, my 77-year-old neighbor struggles to remember the first name of his grandchildren.
Why such a difference? The lifestyle that they have adopted over the years.
Although genetics influences cognitive aging, our daily choices often weigh heavier than our DNA. The brain we will have at 80 years old depends largely on the habits we have today. Some may speed up the decline, others promote resilience.
Here are 7 habits that can affect your mental liveliness, accompanied by concrete solutions.
1. Live in social isolation
“Loneliness kills. It is as harmful as smoking or alcoholism, ”says Robert Waldinger, director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development.
Studies are clear: maintaining solid social ties significantly reduces cognitive decline with age. The brain works like a muscle, and social interactions are a form of intensive training.
When you exchange with someone, your mind treats words, analyzes facial expressions, mobilizes memory and formulates responses. A real complete cognitive exercise.
The study also reveals that people who are satisfied with their relationships at 50 were in better health at the age of 80 than those whose cholesterol level was simply low.
What to do : Regularly organize meetings, integrate clubs or associations, or engage in volunteer activities. The main thing is to maintain rich and regular exchanges.
2. Avoid mental challenges
Flee intellectual efforts – complex puzzles, demanding readings, stimulating debates – deprives your brain of the exercise it needs.
As we age, this mental inactivity can speed up the decline. However, the adult brain remains surprisingly malleable. It can continue to produce new cells, especially if it is actively stimulated.
“The growth of new brain cells can occur even late in adulthood,” explains
Dr. Ipsit Vahia from McLean Hospital, affiliated with Harvard. “The learning and acquisition of new information and experiences, in particular through structured courses, can stimulate this process. »»
A study has shown that the elderly learning complex skills such as photography or sewing have seen their memory improve, unlike those limiting passive activities.
It is not a question of distracting yourself, but of taking up challenges which really request cognitive functions and create new neural connections.
What to do : Get started in a stimulating hobby. Learn a language, play an instrument or take lessons in a field that takes you out of your comfort zone.
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3. Live under uncontrolled chronic stress
Stress releases cortisol, a hormone that acts as a corrosive acid on the brain. If punctual peaks can be beneficial, prolonged stress damages the areas linked to memory and executive functions.
The Harvard Study revealed that those who developed effective strategies to deal with the difficulties of life retained their cognitive faculties longer.
Stress is not avoidable, but its management makes all the difference.
What to do : Set up a palette of techniques to better manage stress. This may include meditation, physical exercise, regular writing or therapeutic support. The important thing is to have several tools to activate if necessary.
4. Neglect quality sleep
Sleep is much more than a simple rest. This is the moment when your brain is cleaning up, literally.
During deep sleep, the glymphatic system enters into action to eliminate toxic proteins such as beta-amyloid, often associated with cognitive decline and diseases such as Alzheimer. Sacrifying your nights amounts to letting this waste accumulate.
Studies show that sleeping habits disrupted in the forties can have repercussions on cognition of decades later. Chronic sleep debt acts as compound interests … with destructive effect.
What to do : Establish a regular sleep habit. Hold your dark, quiet and fresh room. Avoid screens and stimulants at least an hour before bedtime. Try to sleep between 7 and 9 hours a night to allow your brain to regenerate effectively.
5. Jump the regular exercise
The exercise is not content to circulate the blood: it actively participates in the regeneration of the brain.
Physical activity stimulates neurogenesis, in particular in the hippocampus, the key area of memory. It is like adding RAM to your brain, strengthening its ability to store and process information.
In addition, the exercise increases the production of BDNF (neurotrophic factor derived from the brain), nicknamed the “neuronal fertilizer”. It promotes the growth, survival and connectivity of neurons.
What to do: favor regularity at intensity. A quick walk of 30 minutes, five times a week, is enough to stimulate brain health.
Activities such as dance, swimming or even gardening can also make a big difference. The important thing is to move, often and with pleasure.
6. Smoking and excessive alcohol consumption
Among the most harmful factors for the brain, tobacco and alcohol occupy a central place.
Smoking damages blood vessels, including those that irrigate the brain, thus limiting oxygenation and promoting neuronal degeneration. Alcohol, even in moderate doses, can in the long term shrink certain areas of the brain, in particular those involved in decision -making and control of pulses.
The research carried out in Harvard clearly show that those who avoided these substances lived longer and kept a more lively spirit.
What to do : stop smoking as soon as possible. If you consume alcohol, limit yourself to one glass a day for women, two for men.
Do not hesitate to seek support: the stop procedures are often more effective when accompanied.
7. Mental passivity and inflexible routine
The brain flourishes in novelty, exploration and change. When we follow the same things day after day, no surprise or stimulation, the spirit ends up working in automatic mode.
This form of mental passivity gradually weakens neural connections and can speed up the cognitive decline.
Contrary to popular belief, our personality is not frozen in adulthood. Harvard’s study has shown that the brain retains great flexibility throughout life, provided that you regularly confront it with new experiences.
What to do : Get out of your automatisms. Change your route for your trips, test a new dish, read a book out of your comfort zone, or engage in an activity that stimulates another part of your brain. Even small repeated changes in time have a powerful cumulative effect.
The effect composed of healthy habits
What Harvard’s study reveals is that the quality of human relations at the ripe age has a stronger impact on longevity and cognitive health than hereditary factors. In other words, our habits have a much larger power than our family tree.
Think of your brain and a garden. It is not enough to plant a seed to hope to see a flower hatch the next day. You have to maintain, feed, light up and protect this garden day after day. Over time, the fruits of this daily effort become visible: mental clarity, preserved memory, sharp judgment.
Thanks to neuroplasticity, your brain can continue to evolve, learn, adapt, whatever your age. It is never too late to adopt new beneficial habits.
The future of your brain begins today
By rereading these lines, I see the hands of my grandmother: farms, precise, moving her chess pieces with a quiet mastery. His mind, always curious, still on alert, bore the marks of a life rich in interactions, learning, in chosen and high challenges.
Its mental liveliness did not only come from good genetics. She was the fruit of decades to actively maintain her brain: through play, human ties, reading, teaching … and above all, by this daily desire to remain connected to the world.
Today you have the opportunity to improve this same field. What habits are you going to plant now to harvest a life full of clarity and vitality tomorrow?
