At the age of 40, your brain is starting to make small mistakes, defects from time to time. You do not do it, but maybe forget what is on your grocery list, or you enter a room and forget what you have come to search.
As a rule, we limit the problems of memory and brain power to health problems such as Alzheimer’s disease, much rarer, but most of the time, this is not the case.
Most of the time, our treatment speeds and our memory are starting to decline with age, explains Matt Huentelleman, professor at the Translational genomic research institute in Phoenix.
Huentelman directed Mindcrowd, a free online cognitive test that has been passed through more than 700,000 adults, focusing on the differences between the brain power of each individual, NPR reported.
About a thousand people in a recent study had the results of brain tests suggesting that their cognitive function was exceptional, behaving like a person of 30 years younger. While genetics has played a role, researchers like Matt Huentelman study lifestyle factors that can help preserve brain health.
He says that these exceptional individuals can teach us to maintain memory and mental agility with age.
The initial results indicate habits such as good sleep, regular exercise and not smoke as key contributors. During a conference on brain aging in Miami, organized by the McKnight Brain Research Foundation, the experts stressed the importance of quality sleep.
Dr. Christian Agodelo explained that high quality sleep supports brain function. Waking up at the same time daily and remaining socially and physically active can help improve sleep by increasing “sleep pressure”, which facilitates the fall in a deep and restful rest.
Brain aging is also shaped by vascular health. Dr. Charles Decarli stressed how factors such as high blood pressure and diabetes can age the brain even in the absence of strokes or heart attacks. His research shows that the management of these conditions can lead to healthier and younger brains, strengthening the link between body and brain health.
“Brain size, brain shape, brain tissue integrity seems older in people who have these risk factors than in people who do not have them,” he said.
Decarli, alongside researchers, studies the possibility of protecting the brain by targeting the conditions that affect the circulatory system.
“The question is, if you have these diseases and they are well controlled, will you have a younger brain? And the answer seems to be yes,” he said.
