How to keep your brain sharp through changes to routine

Exactly how the brain gets everything done is a mystery, but our understanding of this 3-pound wonder has exploded in the past two decades. We once thought we were born with all our brain cells, or neurons; now there’s evidence that we continue to make more as we age. We can also build new connections between existing neurons, a phenomenon called neuroplasticity that helps our brain hum along at high efficiency.

Experts are learning more about how our daily choices can benefit the brain, too. “Changes that lead to Alzheimer’s start decades before the first symptoms of forgetfulness,” says Dr. Marwan Sabbagh, director of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health, in Las Vegas. “You can take steps in early and middle adulthood to protect your brain, for right now and down the road.”

Connect with friends: Whether it happens at book club, a cooking lesson or weeding in the community garden, what can seem like small talk does a world of good. “Social engagement is one of the most important things you can do for brain health,” says Jessica Langbaum, associate director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Initiative at the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute, in Phoenix. And it doesn’t just give you a long-term advantage, she notes, though people who are social do have a lower risk of cognitive decline.

Lighten your load: “Multitasking is as bad for your brain as smoking is for your lungs,” says Sandra Bond Chapman, author of “Make Your Brain Smarter” and founder and chief director of the Center for BrainHealth at the University of Texas, Dallas. A surefire by-product is an elevated cortisol level, which, as mentioned above, can dim your recall and focus powers. When you multitask — texting during a meeting, say — you ask your brain to do two competing things. “It overloads the brain and makes you less efficient,” Bond Chapman says. “It’s like having your feet on the gas and the brake simultaneously.”

Eat for your mind: Researchers at Chicago’s Rush University Medical Center and Harvard University developed a way to eat that keeps the brain stoked with what it needs now and staves off future cognitive decline. Called the MIND diet, it’s a combo of the Mediterranean and DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) regimens; it stands for Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. “Nutrients in the MIND diet have been shown to reduce inflammation, prevent neuron death and reduce oxidative stress, which can harm neurons,” says Martha Clare Morris, a Rush University Medical Center researcher and nutritional epidemiologist.

Exercise till it sticks: All the busy experts in this story make fitness a top priority. “I started running after I noticed the top brain researchers do it — and I hate running,” says Sabbagh. But in truth, any exercise helps manage blood pressure and lower stroke risk. It also increases blood flow to the brain, ups its oxygen supply and reduces inflammation. In addition, “a chemical called brain-derived neurotrophic factor, or BDNF, increases,” Sabbagh says. “It regenerates neurons and helps them work better.” Research has shown that even short bursts have benefits, but further findings promote a slow-and-steady approach: In a 2018 review in Neurology Clinical Practice, people in their 70s who logged at least 52 hours total (about three times a week) over six months improved most in vital areas like problem-solving and mental speed.

Prioritize deep sleep: When we nod off, the brain’s nighttime janitors come out and mop up the day’s mess. “Cognitive activities require energy and create waste that builds up in the brain,” explains Jessica Payne, a sleep researcher at the University of Notre Dame. Among the refuse is betaamyloid, a protein that forms plaques and tangles in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s.

“During deep, slowwave sleep [which gets logged mostly in the first few hours], this gunk gets flushed out,” Payne says. Studies have linked chronic sleep problems to higher dementia risk. To get more of that good rest, establish a wind-down routine: Stretch, read or take a hot bath in the halfhour before bed. And if you have symptoms like daytime fatigue or freighttrain snoring, get checked for sleep apnea, which affects an estimated 22 million Americans.