Best Hobbies to Stimulate/Keep Brain Healthy Over 50
With Alzheimer’s, dementia, and brain fog on the rise in people over age 50, it is critical to find ways to stimulate the brain and keep it healthy.
The best hobbies to stimulate your brain and keep it healthy over age 50 include:
Physical exercise
Puzzles
Learning a language
Playing an instrument
Owning a pet
Meditating
Reading
Science has proven that there are plenty of hobbies to keep your mind sharp – choose one or two that sound the most appealing to you. It shouldn’t be a chore to stimulate and keep your brain healthy over 50. Let’s talk more about how each of the above hobbies change the brain for the better.
Physical Exercise
Research has shown that consistent physical exercise benefits brain health and mood. Exercise is linked to a lower risk of dementia.
This study examines the effects of physical activity on cognition. It concludes that after a bout of physical exercise, subjects show improved executive functions, better moods, and decreased stress levels.
Regular physical activity seems to improve blood flow to the brain. Other research suggests that exercise facilitates cell functions by generating oxygen and delaying the onset of dementia. Exercise reduces inflammation and stimulates brain cell growth in the brain, promoting the release of essential chemicals and the healthy function of blood vessels.
Other health associations: Diabetes, cholesterol, and high blood pressure are linked to dementia, Alzheimer’s, and brain fog, so that may be largely why regular movement is so important to brain health. Physical exercise also wards against depression, another condition that is linked to Alzheimer’s. An overall sense of well-being is connected to having a healthier brain.
Tip: You don’t have to make a major lifestyle change to start working out. Don’t rush to the gym and make a commitment; you’re not sure if you can keep. Add 15 minutes of stretching, walking, weightlifting, or yoga to your day. You can get your exercise in at work or at home – a little bit every day will make a difference.
Puzzles
Two publications in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry report that puzzles like Sudoku keep brains young. These studies show that older people who engage in Sudoku and similar puzzle games demonstrate problem-solving skills and short-term memories of someone 8 years younger than their actual age!
Based on this recent study, the more frequently that over-50s engage in puzzle games, the better their brains function.
Side note: Research on puzzle games show correlation with, not definite, causation of better brain health. However, what better way to protect your brain than by testing and using it?
Other puzzle possibilities include crosswords, jigsaw puzzles, and riddles.
Tip: Word puzzles keep the brain even younger than number puzzles do!
On a related note: Brain fog and dementia has weighing heavily on the mind of doctors, researchers, and scientists. They’ve created millions of brain training games to encourage healthy brain function, and they’re right at your fingertips!
What are brain training games? They are challenges that push various mental capacities, specifically designed to strengthen your brain function and ward off brain fog.
The phrase “use it or lose it” seems to be true in brain health. Brain training games are developed to allow you to “exercise” these parts of the brain that might slow down as you age.
Programs: Look up BrainHQ or Lumosity, who are well-established brain-game experts.
Learning a New Creative Hobby
Activities like learning how to paint or sculpt appear to have positive effects on the brain. Creative activities, like learning to paint with acrylics, are often associated with relaxation and working with the areas of your brain that stimulate your senses in new ways and help reduce cognitive decline.
Bolster your new hobbies with including friends and family to join you. You could plan for a brain or body-challenging activity (like taking a painting class or learning a new skill like cake decorating). That way, you double your brain-boosting benefits!
Research shows that emotional support that comes from socialization helps produce BDNF, which is a molecule that repairs the brain and helps the brain forge new connections. Add this to a creative fun project and increase both socialization (a brain-booster as we age) and work you brain in new and different ways!
Tip: If you’d like to expand your social circle online, try joining a group on social media to share photos of your creative efforts and get fun feedback from others who are in the same mind-set!
Meditating
A study published in Neurolmage showed that for one year of meditation in subjects over 50, the subjects got one month and 22 days off the age of the brain. Now those are some precise results!
The practice of meditation increases cell production and synapse formation, keeping your brain buzzing. The overall results of the study showed that regular meditators had brains that were about 7 and ½ years younger than their non-meditating counterparts.
How to start: Repeat, refocus, and recenter. Pick a mantra or phrase that centers you or betters you. Take just a few minutes each day to repeat the mantra to yourself, continually refocusing on the same thought. Center yourself and enjoy the present moment.
Tip: Just 25 minutes of mindfulness meditation each day can boost cognitive abilities, emotional responses, and recurrent thinking patterns. Meditation isn’t all hype – it can be life (and brain) changing.
Playing an Instrument
Triangle or trombone, it doesn’t matter which instrument you choose! Learning or practicing an instrument strengthens the nerve fibers in the brain. Playing an instrument specifically impacts the corpus callosum, which serves as the bridge that connects the left and right brains.
This study published in 2012 showed that the corpus callosum in musicians was far larger than those in non-musicians.
Playing an instrument relieves stress helps you feel accomplished, and improves your memory and creativity.
Tip: You’re never too old to start playing a new instrument. Think of the instrument you’ve always wanted to learn and go for it. You could hire an in-person teacher, get online lessons, or teach yourself with some help from YouTube.
Learning a Language
Italian researchers proved in an Alzheimer’s study that learning a language helps us build cognitive reserve. Those extra connections help keep brain fog and dementia at bay.
Dr. Thomas Bak found that young adults who proficiently speak two languages perform better on attention tests and have better concentration than those who speak only their native language. Bilingual young adults also showed the ability to ignore irrelevant stimuli and focus on the most important information.
This attention mechanism is exactly what many Alzheimer’s drugs targets. If improving attention and concentration slows the progression of Alzheimer’s, learning a language is an ideal way to keep your brain young!
Tip: There are so many ways to learn a language nowadays. Google Duolingo, Busuu, Memrise, and BBC Languages. Find out which tools are right for you.
Owning a Pet
Establishing emotional bonds with a pet will activate your brain and boost your mental health. There is a reason why therapy animals are life-altering for so many people.
Marwan Sabbagh, MD, explains that petting an animal decreases cortisol and boosts serotonin, which elevates mood and reduces blood pressure and heart rate. The calm and joy that pets can bring seems to go a long way in keeping the brain healthy. It activates many of the same parts of the brain that socializing does, fortifying you emotionally and mentally.
A lonely brain is an unhealthy one.
Tip: Choose the pet that makes sense for you. Dogs are excellent companions but are higher-maintenance than cats or guinea pigs. If you are interested in getting a dog, some of the best breeds for better mental health include golden retrievers, labs, poodles, and Pomeranians.
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