Make time each day for a stress-reducing walk in the countryside

that those with a good level of fitness in their forties had larger brains 20 years on than those who were unfit. And it can cut your risk of dementia – the Alzheimer’s Society claims regular exercise can reduce your overall risk of dementia by around 30 per cent and of Alzheimer’s disease specifically by 45 per cent.

STRESS CONTROL

A bit of stress can give you a kick-start, but when it’s too much or repeated over a long period of time, you don’t function as well. Tension triggers the release of chemicals that get the neural networks in the brain working more efficiently, but researchers at the University of California found that chronic stress can lead to long-lasting changes in the brain’s structure and function. In turn, this damages the hippocampus, the part of the brain central to learning and memory. Make time each day for a stress-reducing walk in the countryside or a park. As you walk, notice the colour of the leaves and the scents of the season.

BACK TO SCHOOL

You’re never too old to learn a foreign language, play an instrument or master a new skill – and doing so can boost your memory. Learning something completely different and challenging can change the structure of your brain, as it stimulates the construction of new neural pathways. Researchers at Penn State University studied a group of native English speakers for six weeks while half the group learnt Chinese. MRI scans taken before and after the study showed that the successful learners had a more connected brain network afterwards. Another British study followed trainee London cabbies as they acquired The Knowledge – the mammoth task of learning the complex maze

of London streets. When researchers compared brain scans taken before and after the training, they found that they had significant increases of pathways in the part that deals with memory.

BRAIN FOOD

The MIND diet is a mix of the Mediterranean way, which is rich in olive oil and vegetables, and the DASH diet, designed to lower blood pressure, and it may help to keep your brain young. Researchers from the Rush University Medical Centre in Chicago found older people who followed the MIND plan for four years were seven-and-a-half years younger cognitively than those who didn’t. Key to the MIND diet are leafy vegetables, such as spinach and kale; other veg, such as peppers, carrots and broccoli; nuts and berries; beans and lentils; wholegrains; seafood; poultry; olive oil and small amounts of wine. Foods to avoid as much as possible include red meat, butter, cheese, pastries and sweets.

TIME TO RECHARGE

Good sleep promotes good health – and brain health is no exception. Even a small amount of sleep deprivation can affect memory and brain performance, and there’s increasing evidence that sleep is, in fact, vital for memory. Research from the Leeds Memory Group has shown that the memory of newly learnt information is improved after sleep. Other research has found that sleep plays a crucial role in integrating new information into our long-term memory store. Brain researchers in the US and China have shown that new connections between neurons are made during sleep, and that deep sleep is especially important for maintaining memory formation, as this is the time when the brain replays the activity from earlier in the day.

Finally, keep in mind that we all forget things occasionally. But if you’re worried it’s more serious, find advice at alzheimers.org.uk.

A healthy diet could help to keep your brain young