8 Daily Habits That Will Keep Your Brain Young and Sharp

Working at your desk all day can feel monotonous-but at least your brain is breaking a serious sweat: Regularly using a computer makes you 42 percent less likely to show symptoms of cognitive decline, finds new research from the Wisconsin Alzheimers Institute. Shutterstock 8 Daily Habits That Will Keep Your Brain Sharp Your desktop provides enough stimulation to send your brain into overdrive, firing up your memory-making hippocampus to prevent your grey matter from aging. As for the negative effects of sitting at a desk all day, this could solve a lot of your problems: Here are seven more quick tips for keeping your mind sharp now and long into retirement. Pick Up Your Pace Take a brief, brisk walk during the day to significantly reduce your dementia risk, suggests a study in the New England Journal of Medicine. Scientists say walking at a power pace will improve your bodys blood flow, thereby sidestepping the condition. Learn Another Language Learning a new skill for just 10 minutes a day can help you stave off a cognitive slide, according to research published in the journal Neurology. In fact, the study finds that learning a second language through apps like DuoLingo may be more effective at fighting dementia than any available drugs. Dont Be So Cynical Finnish researchers find that cynics-people who generally see the worst in others-are more likely to develop dementia than their more trusting peers. The scientists dont know exactly how pessimism is linked to dementia, but say that depression among cynics may play a role. Evidence is mounting that your attitude affects your health, the researchers warn. Watch Your Favorite Sitcom Spend 20 minutes a day laughing and youll boost your brains defense against dementia, according to the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. Fire up […]

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