6 Brain-Boosting Tips from a Neurologist to Try This Summer

A neurology professor has shared tips for boosting brain health and potentially lowering dementia risk , including managing cholesterol and blood pressure.

Jonathan Schott , a neurology professor at UCL and the chief medical officer at Alzheimer's Research UK, offers six simple strategies to enhance your brain this summer. Schott goes over a number of ways to keep your energy up, specifically cognitive, and it's not meant to be something laborious, but actually, something you may enjoy, at least, hopefully.

The professor covers a lot of territory, providing tips and directons on how to stay sharp and social, ranging from learning a new skill, to saying active, landing on taking an online heath check-in.

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Schott's biggest tip is to have fun, and do things in a way that it's enjoyable, as the suggestions are not meant to create stress in your life, if anything, it's the opposite.

Learn a new skill (that you enjoy)

"Keep your brain active by doing the things that you enjoy doing," Schott advises. "I've previously said, 'If you hate Sudoku, don't do Sudoku' as you're not going to stick with it."

He stresses the importance of engaging in activities that keep you interested and mentally stimulated.

"For some people, that's reading a book, for others it will be playing chess or learning a new skill like crochet," Schott notes.

The neurology expert explains that acquiring new skills or improving existing ones can maintain brain flexibility.

"What we think is, when you learn new skills, those areas [in the brain] get connected better together and the connections get stronger – that's why when you repeat a skill over and over and over again then that movement becomes more automatic," Schott elaborates. "And we think that it probably makes the brain a bit more resilient."

Do something active every day

"I think exercising is the single best thing that we can do," Schott remarked. "We talk at Alzheimer's Research UK about what's good for your heart is good for your brain, and that's because lots of the risk factors for your heart are also risk factors for brain diseases as well.

"Exercise can lower your blood pressure, can lower your cholesterol, can take your weight down and gives you a sense of wellbeing.

"Ideally, you want to be doing a little bit of exercise every day and want to be doing something that gets your heart rate substantially elevated for at least 20 minutes three or four times a week."

There is also growing evidence that suggests exercise can buffer some of the effects of the causes of dementia in the brain.

"The mechanisms aren't entirely clear, but it's likely that the chemicals that get released from the muscles get into the brain and may actually alter this," he adds.

Go on regular walks

"What's really interesting is that it does not need to be hugely vigorous exercise," Schott explains. "We're not talking about running marathons, we're talking about walking every day or walking up the stairs rather than taking a lift.

"Some of the research that we've done suggests that it's actually relatively small but sustained amount of activity throughout your life, that may be the most beneficial."

Stepping out with friends and family can do more than stretch your legs; it also delivers significant social perks.

Stay connected

Countless studies indicate that being alone too much increases your chances of developing dementia; hence, keeping in touch with loved ones is crucial for maintaining mental sharpness.

"Do things that you really enjoy doing yourself, but also with other people," Schott advises. "Staying connected helps you keep in touch with people, you get feedback on people and you can also compare how your brain performance is to other people's.

"When I have someone who says to me, I'm a bit worried about my memory, my immediate thought is to say what's your memory like compared to those people you hang out with?"

Get your blood pressure checked

Monitoring your blood pressure is key, asserts Schott. "We and others have found that it's your blood pressure in your 30s and your 40s which actually may have the most impact on your brain health."

Schott discusses the importance of watching over blood pressure because the roots of dementia typically lie in two areas: neurodegenerative diseases and cerebrovascular disease —the latter meaning harm to the brain's blood vessels.

"By reducing the blood pressure, we think we're probably putting less strain on the blood vessels in the brain, which makes them more robust and less likely to get clogged or less likely to burst," he explains.

Complete online health check-in

"I would suggest that everybody does our Think Brain Health Check-in," recommends Schott. "It's been used by over half a million people in the UK, and you can go in and you can put in your own personal circumstances, and it'll ask you questions about things like exercise, smoking, diet and alcohol, and will come up with some easy-to-follow advice."

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