It’s possible to maintain a sharp memory even in old age, provided you give your brain the tools it needs to stay healthy.
It was once believed that brain function peaked during early adulthood and then slowly declined, leading to lapses in memory and brain fog during your golden years. Now it’s known that our modern lifestyle plays a significant role in contributing to cognitive decline, which is why exposure to toxins, chemicals, poor diet, lack of sleep, stress, and much more can hinder the functioning of your brain.
The flip side is also true in that a healthy lifestyle can support your brain health and even encourage your brain to grow new neurons, a process known as neurogenesis.
Your brain’s hippocampus—the memory center—is especially able to grow new cells. It’s now known that your hippocampus regenerates throughout your entire lifetime, even into your 90s, provided you give it the tools to do so.
These “tools” are primarily lifestyle-based, which is wonderful news. You don’t need an expensive prescription medication or any medical procedure at all to boost your brain and your memory. You simply must try out the following tricks to improve your memory.
The foods you eat—and don’t eat—play a crucial role in your memory. Fresh vegetables are essential, as are healthy fats and avoiding sugar.
Research has shown daily sugar consumption impairs spatial memory and inhibits neurogenesis in the hippocampus. [1] However, a high-fat, moderate-protein, low-net-carb ketogenic diet is crucial for protecting your brain health and preventing degeneration that can lead to Alzheimer’s.
One of the most striking studies showing the effects of high-fat/low-carb versus high-carb diets on brain health revealed that high-carb diets increase your risk of dementia by a whopping 89 percent, while high-fat diets lower the risk significantly. [2]
In my book, “Superfuel: Ketogenic Keys to Unlock the Secrets to Good Fats, Bad Fats, and Great Health,” co-written with James DiNicolantonio, Pharm.D., we explain how the omega-3 fat DHA is an essential structural component of your brain and is found in high levels in your neurons.
When your omega-3 intake is inadequate, your nerve cells become stiff and more prone to inflammation as the missing omega-3 fats are substituted with omega-6 instead. Once your nerve cells become rigid and inflamed, proper neurotransmission from cell to cell and within cells becomes compromised.
Low DHA levels have been linked to memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease, and some studies suggest degenerative brain diseases may potentially be reversible with sufficient DHA. [3][4]
Coconut oil is another healthy fat for brain function. It contains medium-chain fats, also referred to as MCTs, which are converted into ketones, an excellent mitochondrial fuel.
Researchers found that ketones may work as an alternative energy source for malfunctioning brain cells, [5] which has been found to reduce symptoms in patients with Alzheimer’s disease.
Exercise encourages your brain to work at optimum capacity by stimulating nerve cells to multiply, strengthening their interconnections, and protecting them from damage.
During exercise nerve cells release proteins known as neurotrophic factors. One in particular called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), triggers numerous other chemicals that promote neural health and directly benefit cognitive functions, including learning.
A 2010 study on primates published in Neuroscience revealed that regular exercise not only improved blood flow to the brain but also helped the monkeys learn new tasks twice as quickly as nonexercising monkeys. This is a benefit the researchers believe would hold true for people as well. [6]
Exercise improves both brain structure and function, with research showing it significantly increases hippocampal volume in older adults with probable mild cognitive impairment. [7]
To get the most out of your workouts, I recommend a comprehensive program that includes high-intensity exercise, strength training, stretching, and core work, along with plenty of daily non-exercise movement.
Used for decades to describe the parallel processing abilities of computers, multitasking is now shorthand for the human attempt to simultaneously do as many things as possible, as quickly as possible. Ultimately, multitasking may slow you down, make you prone to errors, and make you forgetful.
The opposite of multitasking is mindfulness, which helps you achieve undistracted focus. Students who took a mindfulness class improved reading comprehension test scores and working memory capacity, as well as experienced fewer distracting thoughts. [8]
If you find yourself trying to complete five tasks at once, stop yourself and focus your attention back to the task at hand. If distracting thoughts enter your head, remind yourself that these are only “projections,” not reality, and allow them to pass by without stressing you out.
You can then end your day with a 10- or 15-minute meditation session to help stop your mind from wandering and relax into a restful sleep.
Research from Harvard indicates that people are 33 percent more likely to infer connections among distantly related ideas after sleeping, [9] but few realize that their performance has actually improved.
Sleep is also known to enhance your memory and help you “practice” and improve your performance of challenging skills.
The process of brain growth, or neuroplasticity, is believed to underlie your brain’s capacity to control behavior, including learning and memory.
Plasticity occurs when neurons are stimulated by events, or information, from the environment. However, sleep and sleep loss modify the expression of several genes and gene products that may be important for synaptic plasticity.
Furthermore, certain forms of long-term potentiation, a neural process associated with the laying down of learning and memory, can be elicited in sleep, suggesting synaptic connections are strengthened while you slumber.
As you might suspect, this holds true for infants too, and research shows naps can give a boost to babies’ brainpower. Specifically, infants who slept in between learning and testing sessions had a better ability to recognize patterns in new information, which signals an important change in memory that plays an essential role in cognitive development. [10]
There’s reason to believe this holds true for adults, too, as even among adults, a mid-day nap was found to dramatically boost and restore brainpower. [11]
You can find 33 tips to help you get the shut-eye you need here.
If you don’t sufficiently challenge your brain with new, surprising information, it eventually begins to deteriorate. What research into brain plasticity shows, however, is that by providing your brain with appropriate stimuli you can counteract this degeneration.
One way to challenge your brain is via brain games, which you can play online via websites like Lumosity.com. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D., and professor emeritus at the University of California, whom I previously interviewed, has pioneered research in brain plasticity for decades.
He developed a computer-based brain-training program that can help you sharpen a range of skills, from reading and comprehension to improved memorization and more.
The program is called Brain HQ, and the website has many different exercises designed to improve brain function. It also allows you to track and monitor your progress over time. While there are many similar sites online, Brain HQ is one of the oldest and most widely used.
If you decide to try brain games, try to invest at least 20 minutes a day, but no more than five to seven minutes is to be spent on a specific task. When you spend longer amounts of time on a task, the benefits weaken.
According to Merzenich, the primary benefits occur in the first five or six minutes of the task. The only downside to brain games is that they may become just another “task” you need to fit into an already busy day.
If you don’t enjoy brain games, you can also try learning a new skill or hobby (see below).
Engaging in “purposeful and meaningful activities” stimulates your neurological system, counters the effects of stress-related diseases, reduces the risk of dementia, and enhances health and well-being. [12]
A key factor necessary for improving your brain function or reversing functional decline is the seriousness of the purpose with which you engage in a task. In other words, the task must be important to you, or somehow meaningful or interesting. It must hold your attention.
For instance, one study revealed that craft activities such as quilting and knitting were associated with decreased odds of having mild cognitive impairment. [13]
Another study found that taking part in “cognitively demanding” activities like learning to quilt or digital photography enhanced memory function in older adults. [14]
The key is to find an activity that is mentally stimulating for you. Ideally, this should be something that requires your undivided attention and gives you great satisfaction, an activity you look forward to doing, such as playing a musical instrument, gardening, building model ships, crafting, or many others.
Mnemonic devices are memory tools to help you remember words, information, or concepts. They help you to organize information into an easier-to-remember format. Try:
If you’re serious about improving your memory and your cognitive function, you’ll also want to know about these three important variables for brain health.
Choline is an essential nutrient your body makes in small amounts. However, you must consume it through your diet to get enough.
In adults, choline helps keep your cell membranes functioning properly, plays a role in nerve communications, prevents the buildup of homocysteine in your blood (elevated levels are linked to heart disease), and reduces chronic inflammation.
In pregnant women, choline plays an equally, if not more, important role, helping to prevent certain birth defects, such as spina bifida, and playing a role in brain development.
Prior research has concluded that choline intake during pregnancy “super-charged” the brain activity of animals in utero, indicating that it may boost cognitive function, improve learning and memory, and even diminish age-related memory decline and the brain’s vulnerability to toxins during childhood, as well as conferring protection later in life. [20]
If you’re pregnant, making sure your diet includes plenty of choline-rich foods is important, as research shows higher choline intake led to changes in epigenetic markers in the fetus. [21]
Specifically, it affected markers that regulate the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which controls hormone production and activity. The changes in fetal genetic expression will likely continue into adulthood, where they play a role in disease prevention.
According to a study published in the journal Nutrients, only 8 percent of U.S. adults are getting enough choline (including only 8.5 percent of pregnant women). [22]
Krill oil is a simple solution, which can boost choline levels after a single dose. [23] Aside from krill oil, eggs—particularly the yolks—are another excellent choline source.
Originally published Jan 4, 2023, on Mercola.com
[1] Learning & Memory 2016; 23: 386-390
[2] J Alzheimers Dis. 2012; 32(2):329-339
[3] Alzheimer’s and Dementia 2010 Nov;6(6):456-64
[4] Nutritional Neuroscience 2008 Apr;11(2):75-83
[5] BMC Neurosci. 2008; 9(Suppl 2): S16
[6] Neuroscience. 2010 Jun 2;167(4):1239-48
[7] Br J Sports Med. 2015 Feb; 49(4): 248–254
[8] Psychological Science March 28, 2013
[9] New York Times September 27, 2008
[10] Psychological Science August 2006; 17(8): 670
[12] Occup Ther Int. 2007;14(2):71-85
[13] J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2011 Spring;23(2):149-54
[14] Psychol Sci. 2014 Jan;25(1):103-12
[15] J Aging Res. 2020; 2020: 6097820
[16] Science November 16, 2018; 362(6416): 770-775
[17] Neurobiology of Disease April 2007; 26(1): 212-220
[18] IUMB Life 2017; 69.5 DOI: 10.1002/iub.1627, Conclusion
[19] Annual Review of Nutrition 2005;25:237-60
[20] J Neurophysiol. 2004 Apr;91(4):1545-55