Older and Wiser: You Age, but Your Brain Doesn’t Have to!

When you get older, your mind can let you down in some areas, such as where you put your glasses (hint: check your head), but in other areas you’re more able to tackle certain problems. The wisdom of age allows you to see the bigger picture, and handle complicated situations, and scientists have now discovered why.

Your brain grows in two ways: it makes new cells (grey matter) and it makes new connections between cells (white matter). The former slows down dramatically after childhood, so by the time you’re 50 your brain cells die faster than they are made, but you can go on making cell connections indefinitely, and this is what counts in the mental competence stakes. You make connections through experience and repeating events. However, white matter needs to be kept ‘live’ by carrying messages so you need to keep your brain busy.

You may have seen interactive games that are specifically designed for brain training. However, while using these games repeatedly improves your skills at playing the game, it is more doubtful that brain training games prepares your mind in any real-life terms. According to a 2010 study, published in the journal Nature, six weeks of game training did nothing to improve the cognitive wellbeing of some 11,000 participants, either in terms of memory or general reasoning.

So what can you do to boost your brain wellness? You can maintain circuits concerned with a particular activity by repeating that activity, but doing something new will help you create new connections. If you’re good with numbers, challenge yourself to a crossword. If you have strong political opinions, nudge your neurons into making new connections by reading a newspaper with the complete opposite perspective. It may be frustrating, but that irritation is proof that you’re being subjected to new patterns of thought.

However, mental competence is not just about intelligent thought, but also sensations, communication and emotions. Challenge these things, just like you challenge your thinking, and you’ll help to keep them alive and kicking. Keep trying new kinds of music, exotic foods, strange new places and art exhibitions that you know nothing about. Variety is the spice of life, after all.

Finally, and most importantly of all, getting together with others is the best way to maintain your cognitive fitness. Happiness and mental health is near-impossible without a lively and enjoyable social life, as studies have shown, and even just two minutes of social interaction can boost your performance. So connect to different ideas, new experiences, and old friends, and it will have an anti-ageing effect on your brain.