Cognitive fitness is just as important as physical fitness at every stage of life. Fortunately, exercising your brain can be fun and invigorating. Try a variety of brain-stimulating activities to find the ones that you like best.
Read every day.
Unsurprisingly, reading is at the top of most experts’ lists for improving brain health . If you normally watch TV while eating dinner, shut it off and open a book instead. Push past your comfort zone and read material you wouldn’t normally try. If you usually read science fiction, try a nonfiction history book instead.
Take new routes.
There’s more to keeping your brain sharp than just learning new information from books or documentaries. Cognitive decline is usually due to the loss of communication between brain cells. You can do daily activities differently to force your brain to build new neural connections, which enable brain cells to “talk” to each other. One way to do this is to take different routes when you drive or walk to familiar destinations. Additionally, turn off your GPS and try using an old-fashioned paper map instead.
Engage your senses.
Engaging multiple senses stimulates your brain . For instance, you could read a book aloud to yourself to engage your auditory and visual senses. Gardening engages your senses of touch, smell, and sight as you work the earth, as well as your hearing as the birds chirp and the wind rustles the trees.
Switch hands.
Doing tasks a little bit differently every day can keep your brain nimble. If you are right-handed, try using your left hand to eat, or vice versa. Or, try using chopsticks instead of a fork.
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