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Workouts
Like your muscles, your brain needs regular workouts to stay healthy and fit as you age. It is therefore important to challenge yourself, keep mentally active, read and learn new skills.
Just as weight workouts add lean muscle to your body and help you retain more muscle in your later years, researchers now believe that following a brain-healthy lifestyle and performing regular, targeted brain exercises can also increase your brain's cognitive reserve.
Some simple brain exercises are included below and further information on helping to maintain a healthy brain are also included in this website.
Brain exercise examples
Recall test
Make a list of five items in your lounge room and memorise it. An hour or so later, see how many items you can recall. Make items on the list as challenging as possible for the greatest mental stimulation!
Memory map game
After returning home from visiting a new place, try to draw a map of the area; repeat this exercise each time you visit a new location. Try driving home using a different route.
Maths puzzles
Figure out problems without using a pencil and paper or a calculator.
New recipes
Cooking uses a number of senses: smell, touch, sight, and taste, which all use different parts of the brain.
Word pictures
Visualise the spelling of a word in your head, then try and think of any other words that begin (or end) with the same two letters. As well, you can play word games like Sudoku and crossword puzzles.
Learn a foreign language
The listening and hearing involved in learning a new language stimulates the brain.
Learn music
Learn to play a musical instrument or study music.
Hand-eye training
Learn a new skill that involves fine-motor skills, such as knitting, drawing, painting, assembling a puzzle, etc.
Sporting activities
Take up an exercise that utilizes the mind and body, like golf or basketball or dancing.
