Give your brain a proper workout

LEARNING NEW SKILLS, EXERCISE AND STAYING SOCIABLE CAN HELP KEEP YOUR MIND SHARP.

- BY CAMILLA FOSTER

SUMMER isn't just a time for beach days and barbecues - it’s also the perfect opportunity to recharge your brain. Here are some simple steps we can take to support brain health and lower the risk of dementia as we age.

1. Learn a new skill (that you enjoy)

“Keep your brain active by doing the things that you enjoy doing,” recommends Professor Jonathan Schott, professor of neurology at UCL and chief medical officer at Alzheimer’s Research UK. “I've previously said, ‘If you hate Sudoku, don’t do Sudoku’ as you're not going to stick with it.”

“What we think is, when you learn new skills, those areas [in the brain] get connected better together and the connections get stronger - that’s why when you repeat a skill over and over and over again then that movement becomes more automatic,” says Prof Schott. “And we think that it probably makes the brain more resilient.”

2. Do something active everyday