Keep your brain active

Can’t remember where you put your keys? How about the name of the person you met last night at a dinner party? Researchers say memory starts fading around age 30, but there are ways to give your brain a boost.

Boosting your brainpower can be as simple as catching some ZZZs. While you rest, your brain’s two memory systems talk to each other.

“Sleep is very, very important to consolidate information that we learned the day before,” Eric H. Chudler, Ph.D., a research associate professor at the University of Washington in Seattle, told Ivanhoe.

Also, bust a move! Researchers who followed 500 people for more than two decades found ballroom dancing was the most protective physical activity, reducing dementia risk by 76 percent.

Finally, be friendly! A study out of the University of Michigan found talking to another person for ten minutes led to significant improvement on memory tests.

The researchers we spoke to said nutrition is also important for a good memory, but there’s no scientific proof that supplements like ginkgo biloba, or other popular vitamins blends, work. They also say crossword puzzles and games like Sudoku can’t hurt because anything that challenges your brain and keeps it active is useful

Ivanhoe Newswire