Six Ways to Maintain Optimal Cognitive Function as You Age

Analysis by Dr. Joseph Mercola May 17, 2024

STORY AT-A-GLANCE
 Solving puzzles as well as learning a new skill can create new neural connections in your
brain, which can help keep your mind sharp

 Getting enough sleep can also support brain health. Research suggests your brain uses
this period of rest to remove waste, while also helping you retain newly retained
information better

 A healthy diet can help optimize mitochondrial health, which plays an important role in
cognitive function. Avoid seed oils and all forms of processed food, as these are high in
linoleic acid

 Remember to maintain current relationships and forging new ones. Connecting with
people you care about, as well as those who share the same interests as you, can greatly
benefit your cognitive health

You may believe that forgetting information here and there is normal as you age.
However, that doesn’t have to become a permanent fixture in your life. There are several
natural strategies that can help keep your brain in top shape.

In an article for CNET,1 journalist Taylor Leamey, who is also a Certified Sleep Science
Coach,2 highlights six insightful ways to help keep your mind sharp as you age. I’ve
listed them below, expanding on her ideas by adding my own recommendations.

Learn a New Skill

Have you ever wanted to play an instrument, like the guitar or the piano? It’s never too
late to learn! One of the simplest ways to keep your brain in top shape is picking a new
skill or hobby that you haven’t tried yet but interests you.

Taking up a musical instrument can, figuratively, have your brain firing on all cylinders. In
a 2018 study,3 researchers sought to understand how music can benefit cognitive
function in adults. They recruited seven patients diagnosed with mild traumatic brain
injury and gave them piano lessons for eight weeks. Throughout the study, the
participants’ brains were scanned using functional and structural magnetic resonance
imaging (MRI) technology.

Results indicate that the subjects were able to function better in social interactions and
had improved concentration. Moreover, six out of seven of them felt confident enough to
return to their jobs after their accident.4

If learning a musical instrument doesn’t appeal to you, even the simple act of listening to
music can have profound effects on your memory. In a study5 published in
Neuropsychologia, patients with Alzheimer's disease better recognized music when the
lyrics were sung to them, aside from having a visual presentation. The study authors
concluded that music may enhance memory recall for verbal information.

Another activity you can try is dancing. In a paper6 published in Clinical Interventions in
Aging, researchers observed the effects of dancing on the cognitive function of
participants affected by mild cognitive impairment, which is the transitional stage
between normal aging and dementia.

For three months, the participants were instructed in a moderate-intensity dance routine,
aside from their usual health care regimen. The dance routine was carefully selected for
its complex movements, allowing the participants to use their memorization skills.
Results showed an improvement in their episodic memory and processing speed
compared to the control group, which didn’t partake in the dance classes.7

As you can see, acquiring a new skill or hobby can keep your brain "on its toes." The
important thing to remember is that you should be interested in it, so that you can
remain inspired to keep practicing and getting better. "Just make sure it's challenging or
complex, and continue to practice for the best brain results," Leamey says.8

Get Regular Exercise

Exercise is an important component to overall health that most people should

implement in one way or another. Leamey says, "Generally, any exercise that's good for
the body will also help the mind. It doesn't have to be lifting weights; walking, swimming
and dancing also achieve the same results."9

Aside from helping boost fitness, research suggests that exercise may also help with
cognition by boosting blood flow to the brain.10 This process helps your brain produce
new nerve cells, which is a process called neurogenesis.11

In a related example, a study12 noted that the hippocampus shrinks during late
adulthood, which can increase your risk for impaired memory and dementia. The
researchers hypothesized that exercise may counteract these cognitive issues.

In their experiment, they tasked participants with completing a computerized spatial

memory task at baseline, as well as following an exercise program for a year. By the end
of the study, the participants’ hippocampus grew by 2%. While this may seem small, it’s
already enough to keep away reverse age-related loss for another one to two years.

In addition, the subjects received higher scores in the spatial memory task a year after
their baseline scores were taken. Specific findings in this area of the study include
increased response times and improved memory.13

So, what constitutes effective exercise? For most adults, moderate-intensity exercise is
the ideal option. In my interview with Dr. James O’Keefe, a cardiologist with the Mid-
America Heart Institute at St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City, he espouses two strong
cases for moderate-intensity exercise:

1. Too much vigorous exercise can backfire — If you’re sedentary and begin to
exercise, you get a dose-dependent decrease in mortality, depression, high blood
 pressure and other conditions. However, he noted that people who had the highest
volume of vigorous exercise, which totals four to seven hours per week, won’t get
any additional benefit.

2. You cannot overdo moderate exercise — This type of exercise is loosely defined as
exercising to the point where you’re slightly winded but can still have a
conversation. Activities that fall under this category include gardening, completing
housework, walking, a relaxing bike ride around your neighborhood, yoga and
swimming. In short, the exercise should not fall under the competitive category. It
should be fun and stress-reducing.

Solve Puzzles to Train Your Mind’s Muscles

As exercising can lead to better fitness, the same idea can be likened to solving puzzles
for your brain. According to training specialist David Wiener, in an interview for the
online magazine Express,14 he explains how puzzles can help keep your mind sharp:

"By challenging your brain with mental exercises, it is believed you could
maintain individual brain cells and stimulate communication between them to
help them work more effectively."

To "exercise" your mind, crossword puzzles may be a convenient option. In a study

published in the Journal of the International Neuropsychology Society, completing
crossword puzzles may help delay memory decline in persons who already developed
dementia, "possibly via its effect on improving cognitive reserve."15

Aside from puzzles, what other activities can you try? Dr. Zaldy Tan, director of the
Cedars-Sinai Memory and Healthy Aging Program, provides additional examples that
can stimulate your mind:16

Concentration skills such as online brain games

Visual-spatial working memory skills such as a jigsaw puzzle

Tactile skills that use procedural memory, such as knitting or model-building

 An activity combining tactile, visual, motor and auditory skills, such as dancing

Prioritize Getting Enough, High-Quality Sleep

Sleep is one of the most important pillars of health, especially when it comes to brain
health. Your brain makes up only 2% of your bodyweight yet uses around 20% of your
body’s total energy expenditure.17 It performs numerous energy-intensive processes,
such as synaptic transmission and firing neurons.

While you’re awake, metabolic waste is generated in the process of consuming energy.18
This is where sleep comes into play. As your body is in deep slumber, your brain takes
advantage of this time to flush waste and clear out debris that could otherwise lead to
degenerative disease.19

The system responsible for this process is the glymphatic system, which acts as a
"brain-wide metabolite clearance system."20 By pumping cerebrospinal fluid through your
brain's tissues, your glymphatic system flushes waste from your brain back into your
circulatory system and liver for elimination.

If you don’t get enough sleep, cognitive performance becomes affected. According to
Matthew Walker, Ph.D., director of the University of California Berkeley’s Center for
Human Sleep Science, sleep influences your learning and memory processes both
before and after acquiring new information. Therefore, depriving yourself of sleep will
impact your brain’s learning process.21,22

If you’re having trouble getting peaceful rest, these strategies may help. For a more
comprehensive list, see "Sleep — Why You Need It and 50 Ways to Improve It."

Avoid using electrical devices at night — These devices emit blue light, which tricks
your brain into thinking it’s still daytime.

Get bright sun exposure in early morning and around mid-day — Your pineal gland
produces melatonin roughly in approximation to the contrast of bright sun exposure in
the day and complete darkness at night. If you’re always indoors and swamped in
 darkness, your body won’t notice the difference, thus hampering melatonin
production.

Sleep in complete darkness — Light sources, even from a night light or alarm clock,
can disrupt your internal clock and your production of melatonin.

Eliminate electromagnetic fields (EMFs) in your room — EMFs may disrupt your
sleep. I recommend turning off your Wi-Fi at night, since you don’t need it while you’re
asleep. Turning off the electricity in your bedroom by pulling your circuit breaker can
also remove dirty electricity, which is a hidden source of EMFs.

Find your ideal sleeping temperature — According to sleep psychologist Michelle

Drerup, PsyD, the ideal temperature for good sleep is around 60 to 67 degrees
Fahrenheit (15 to 19 degrees Celsius).23 You can experiment within this range.

Adopt a neutral sleeping position — Posture can greatly affect sleep quality. For deep,
restful sleep, I recommend adopting a neutral position. It’s a posture wherein you’re
lying flat on your back with a pillow under your neck, and your arms down by your
sides.

Note that this may increase your risk of sleep apnea, but you can use a paper tape
over your mouth, thus forcing you to breathe through your nose and stop snoring.

Eat a Healthy Diet

Your metabolic health is crucial for cognition. If it’s not in optimal shape, then brain
health may suffer as well. As noted in a study published in Neurology,24 a pro-
inflammatory diet can increase your risk of dementia. Notable pro-inflammatory
markers include increased intake of omega-6 fatty acids, as well as trans fat.25

These findings lend credence to the dangers of linoleic acid (LA), an omega-6,
polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA), which I believe is one of the most destructive
ingredients in the modern Western diet. Most ultraprocessed and junk foods sold today
contain high amounts of this unhealthy fat, and this includes fast food and foods served
in restaurants.

If that’s the case, then what is the ideal diet for optimizing your metabolism for better
brain health? Some of the options Leamey recommends are leafy greens, salmon, green
tea, Greek yogurt, and cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli. While these are ideal
suggestions, I advise getting them from clean, sustainable sources to protect your
health.

For example, choose Alaskan wild-caught salmon instead of farmed salmon. For green
tea, choose loose leaf tea, as teabags can leak toxins when heated. Regarding yogurt, it
should be made from raw, grass fed milk, preferably homemade. As for leafy greens,
spinach are high in oxalates, so if you’re sensitive to oxalates, stick to low oxalate
varieties.

In addition to the mentioned foods, here are additional, crucial strategies that can help
guide your dietary options:

Keep PUFA intake below 5 grams. If you can get it below 2 grams, that would be even
better. Generally, avoid all types of seed oils, such as soy, sunflower, safflower, canola,
corn, palm and cottonseed oil, and any food made with or cooked in these oils.

Avoid high-fructose corn syrup when adding carbs to your diet.

Avoid all processed foods, restaurant foods, condiments and animal foods raised on
grains, such as chicken and pork, as all of these are high in LA.

Stick with the sugars from ripe fruit, raw organic honey and/or pure organic cane
sugar.

Carbohydrate intake can come in the form of some vegetables, and well-cooked low-
oxalate starches.

Ideal protein intake is around 15% of your daily calories; restrict fats to 30%.
The reason why I recommend limiting fat is because your mitochondria can only burn
one fuel at a time, either fat or glucose. This energy-switching mechanism, called the
Randle cycle, can be likened to a railroad that changes the tracks of a train. The image
below can help you visualize this vital concept.

When more than 30% of your calories come from fats, your body will prioritize this
energy source rather than glucose. The shift can hinder your body’s ability to burn
carbohydrates, which can contribute to higher blood sugar levels and insulin resistance.

Your body does this through a process called gluconeogenesis, wherein cortisol is
secreted and synthesized into glucose. Cortisol also happens to be the primary aging
hormone, so keeping it low can help ward off premature aging.

Moreover, while I believe ripe fruits and starches like white rice are ideal carbs, it’s
important to note that they’re rich in fiber, which will feed endotoxin-producing gut
bacteria UNLESS your gut health is optimal.
If you experience problems eating complex carbs that result in bowel issues, then
consider temporarily restricting your carb intake to very simple carbohydrates such as
fruit juice, which is easier to digest. Once your gut health improves, you’ll be able to
incorporate more fiber-rich fruits, vegetables and starches.

I also recommend avoiding sources of monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs) high in

oleic acid, such as olive oil. These products may be just as damaging as LA when
consumed in high quantities (when not balanced by adequate saturated fat).
Interestingly, the Neurology study I cited earlier supports this notion — the researchers
observed that MUFAs are also a pro-inflammatory dietary marker.26

Foster New and Current Connections

As the saying goes, "No man is an island, no man lives alone."27 Humans are meant to be
social, and neglecting this aspect can have dire consequences to your health. Leamey
says:

"Prioritizing social contact is an essential part of aging well. Whether spending

time with your family or putting yourself out there at your local community
center, staying connected is an integral part of aging gracefully."

According to a study published in PLOS Medicine, the quality of social relationships can
directly affect mortality rate. In fact, the researchers equated the influence of social
relationships to the same magnitude as smoking and alcohol consumption.28

Similarly, two meta-analyses29,30 that investigated loneliness and social isolation — which
are related but not identical — may be an even greater threat to public health compared
to obesity, and even raise your risk for premature death by 50%.

For best results, I recommend creating a social routine with the exercise examples I
mentioned earlier, which can provide a synergistic effect. Going back to my interview
with O’Keefe, he mentions how exercising while socializing can benefit your health:
 "Exercising and making social connections at the same time, that is an absolute
goldmine of a longevity activity," he says. "That means that even walking with
your dog or your friend or [playing] pickleball is huge ... The whole thing is to
move your body in a fun, playful manner and make it social."

How does one make new friends, especially as an adult? Here are some suggestions
that can help expand your social circle:

Join a club — Proactively approaching an established group can allow you to meet
people right away who have the same interests as you. Meetup.com is an online
source that can show you clubs and get-togethers in your local area.

Create rituals of connection — Having weekly talk sessions or making time to eat a
meal with family members can maintain help deepen your connections with loved
ones.

Reach out — Seeking out and contacting friends who need support can strengthen
connections, and this feedback loop can be a powerful way to help each other during
times of need.

Exercise with others — As mentioned by O’Keefe earlier, you can join a gym and meet
new people. This can allow you to create new social relationships while improving
your fitness at the same time.

Support local businesses — Patronizing local businesses for your daily needs can
help you develop a sense of community and encourage the formation of new
relationships.

Volunteer — Joining a charitable organization can allow you to meet like-minded

people who share the same altruistic interests as you.

Move and/or change jobs — While this option may be drastic, it may be the solution
for other people. To make the change worthwhile, make sure that the environment or
 culture fits best with your personality. Don’t forget to consider the distance that may
widen between your longtime friends and family if you move to a new place.

Sources and References

1, 8, 9 CNET, May 11, 2024

2 CNET, Taylor Leamey
3 Brain Injury, 2018, Volume 32, Issue 5, Abstract
4 Brain Injury, 2018, Volume 32, Issue 5, Semi-Structured Interviews — Patient Group
5
Neuropsychologia. 2012 Dec; 50(14): 3295–3303., Discussion
6, 7 Clin Interv Aging. 2018; 13: 1691–1700, Abstract
10 Scientific American, July 1, 2013
11 Harvard Health Publishing, August 1, 2021
12 Biological Sciences, January 31, 2011, 108 (7), 3017-3022, Discussion
13 Biological Sciences, January 31, 2011, 108 (7), 3017-3022, Hippocampal Volume Is Related to
Improvements in Spatial Memory
14 Express, March 3, 2024
15 J Int Neuropsychol Soc. 2011 Nov; 17(6): 10.1017/S1355617711001111., Abstract
16 Forbes Health, 6 Brain Exercises for Seniors to Try
17 J Magn Reson. 2018 Jul; 292: 155–170, Introduction
18 Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, February 28, 2024
19 Nature, February 28, 2024
20 Scientific Reports, February 2, 2018
21 YouTube, Dr. Matthew Walker on Sleep for Enhancing Learning, Creativity, Immunity and Glymphatic System
22 Harv Rev Psychiatry. 2008;16(5):287-98, Abstract
23 Cleveland Clinic, November 15, 2021
24 Neurology. 2021 Dec 14; 97(24): e2381–e2391, Abstract
25, 26 Neurology. 2021 Dec 14; 97(24): e2381–e2391, eTable 1
27 Boston University, The Howard Thurman Center, Meditation: No Man Is an Island
28 PLoS Med 7(7): e1000316, What Do These Findings Mean?
29 Business Insider, August 7, 2017
30 American Psychological Association, August 5, 2017