Concerns about dementia often occupy a prominent place in surveys of Canadians’ health problems, but one neurologist says there are ways to keep our cherished memories strong.
Dr. Sandra Black, a cognitive neurologist at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center, says that with normal aging, short-term memory gets bored and the brain’s processing speed slows down every decade after age 50.
To help counteract these falls, Black is looking for ways to increase memory that are supported by scientific evidence.
1. Get moving
Exercise, from walking to running, is a reinforcement of memory that is supported by more and more research. Canada Guidelines recommends at least 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity per week for adults.
“When you do aerobic exercise, when you are in this race, your muscles are actually releasing a signal. It’s called irisin, “Black said.” You’re actually stimulating the part of the brain that stores information and learns things. “
The recent discovery of the irisin protein is based on other research link muscle and brain functionsaid Black to Dr. Brian Goldman, host of CBC podcast The dose.
Dra. Sandra Black encourages walking and more stimulating physical activity for the heart, as it is beneficial for mental skills such as memory and language. (Submitted by Sandra Black)
When he sees patients, Black said he talks about why lifestyle choices, such as exercise, are important. Because a healthy brain needs a lot of oxygen, which protects our blood vessels, heart and circulation, it also feeds the brain.
Black and other experts encourage walking, or more heart-stimulating physical activity, for its benefits for cognitive abilities such as memory and language.
2. Eat the good stuff
Black suggests eating a Mediterranean diet rich in green leafy vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage and cabbage, as well as berries, whole grains, nuts and fatty fish such as salmon, mackerel and tuna rich in omega-3 fatty acids. .
The advice is based on studies from people from different populations who seemed to have a lower prevalence of Alzheimer’s and vascular disease, compared to populations that follow other eating patterns.
The Dose20: 41 What can I do to increase my memory?
What else works? In a published clinical trialResearchers have shown that medium-chain triglycerides found mainly in coconut oil can help slow the worsening of Alzheimer’s disease compared to taking a sugar pill, the standard for gold that regulators use to approve drugs.
Your best bet is to consume healthy nutrients through a varied diet of mostly whole foods, not supplements that promise these benefits in pill form.
Black said patients who can take supplements are not told to stop if they can afford it, but their team does not support them either. This is because the scientific evidence in favor of many supplements fails to take the placebo effects note, or the trials were not long enough to measure an effect, he said.
TARGET | More praise for the Mediterranean diet:
More praise for the Mediterranean diet
3. Enjoy word games with others
Penny Pexman, a professor of psychology at the University of Calgary who studies cognitive neuroscience, suggests activities that combine exercise, socialization, and cognition.
Pexman’s lab focuses on how we process language, including a study entitled This is your brain in Scrabble.
Scrabble players who enjoy the game and its social benefits are motivated to score higher, Pexman said.
Aside from the social benefits of getting together to play, Pexman’s research suggests that competitive Scrabble players also recognize words faster than those who don’t usually place tokens, especially for vertically presented words.
“My best recommendation, based on what I know, is to get involved in things like dancing or pickleball,” Pexman said. “You have things that involve some spatial skills, they’re putting your working memory into practice and they’re also bringing you social benefits … too.”
Pickleball is a training for both spatial skills and working memory that also offers social benefits. (Brian Blanco / The Associated Press Images for Humana)
Why not everything is down
Pexman also studies age-related changes and notes that many, but not all, cognitive abilities begin to decline by age 30.
“There are things, though, that you can keep growing,” Pexman said. “Your vocabulary grows throughout your life.”
Black also points to the wisdom and knowledge we gain with age.
“You have a little more trouble finding words, but you know a lot more about the world,” Black said.
A 25-year-old may be faster, but a wise elder in many societies has a richer understanding of culture from his life experience, he added.