Get On Board The Brain Health Revolution

Science now says we can power new brain-cell connections, avoid Alzhimer's, and never lose sharpness.

- Kimberly Hiss & Alex Mlynek

Genius Brain Habits

A rich new area of science is analyzing which healthy habits best keep your mind and memory blithely unaffected even when a brain scan would reveal the inflammation, free radical damage, and weakened synapse connections that often cause “senior” moments in the 40s and beyond. Dr. Kenneth S. Kosik, co-director of the Neuroscience Research Institute at the University of California, Santa Barbara, has studied which habits most powerfully boost our cognitive function. Here he shares the most up-to-date research from innovative labs.

Play Games with Your Frontal Lobe

Whether you’re deliberating a chess move or bluffing at cards, you’re also giving the frontal lobe, the area of your brain that handles executive function, a workout. “The frontal lobe is particularly vulnerable to degeneration and the effects of aging,” says Kosik. According to a 2014 University of Wisconsin study, older adults who routinely worked on puzzles and played board games had higher brain volume in the area responsible for cognitive functions, including memory, than those who didn’t play games.

Stay Young with Saa, Taa, Naa, and Maa