- Actively exercise
It’s important to stay active if you want to keep your memory sharp. Exercise increases oxygen levels in the brain and reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes, which can lead to memory loss, lower levels of stress hormones, and increase the action of beneficial brain chemicals.
Exercise also promotes neuroplasticity in certain structures of the brain, thereby enhancing cognitive function.
In an analysis investigating brain health in people over the age of 50, researchers found that a combination of aerobic exercise and resistance training can boost brain power. Aerobic exercise improves cognitive performance, while resistance training improves memory, working memory, and executive function.
Aerobic training in young adults has also been shown to be a predictor of recognition memory.
In particular, hormones that increase during exercise, called growth factors, help improve memory. Growth factors mediate the link between exercise and brain health through the hippocampus, the region of the brain responsible for learning and memory.
Doing at least 45 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic and resistance training at a time, on as many days of the week as possible, may benefit your cognitive performance and memory.
Research also suggests that if you want to remember what you just learned, you should start exercising after 4 hours. People who exercised 4 hours after study were better at remembering information 2 days later than those who exercised immediately after study or didn’t exercise at all.
Exercise doesn’t have to be all running and weightlifting; horseback riding has been shown to boost cognitive performance in children, and dancing can reverse signs of brain aging.
