Mass. — Everyone has memory lapses from time to time.
Even young people told Boston 25 News they can forget where they left their keys or wonder why they went to the kitchen and opened the refrigerator.
One young man admitted he worries about his memory. “All the time, because I forget a lot. Oh my god, when I’m 70 what’s going to happen?”
Rudy Tanzi, Ph.D., Director the McCance Center for Brain Health at Massachusetts General Hospital, said “I like to tell people that as we get older, our joints get a little stiffer, just in the same way you know the brain function starts to go down. It doesn’t mean you have a disease.”
He says people need to give their brains some T-L-C and not assume that cognitive functions run on autopilot.
“I think the average American thinks more about the organs from the neck down, rather than the neck up.”
His first piece of advice is for people to stay open to new learning opportunities.
He says a new hobby or interest keeps the internal mechanics of the brain working.
As we age, he adds that people need to avoid “Twinkle to Wrinkle Syndrome.”
“When you’re young, the twinkle is in your eyes. Everything’s amazing. So, you learn really well because you’re present in the moment. As you get older, you get a little more jaded. You get the wrinkle in your eyes, think yea, so what been there, done that. You have to reverse that.”
A recent study out of Mass General found a daily multivitamin appears to slow cognitive aging and improve memory skills.
Dr. Tanzi follows that advice himself.
“There are certain vitamins that are good for the brain. B vitamins like B6, B12, B3.”
He says taking a vitamin D supplement can be helpful.
A healthy lifestyle involving a good diet is key.
“Your gut has trillions of bacteria. 1000s of strains of bacteria that actually keep the entire body and brain healthy,” explained Dr. Tanzi. “Some people take probiotics which are fine, but better is nuts, fruits, nuts, vegetables, whole grains, and seeds. Your gut loves crunchy things that aren’t just candy and potato chips!”
He says the benefits of exercise are real when it comes to a healthy brain. “You actually make new nerve cells in the part of the brain that’s most vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease.”
We asked Dr. Tanzi about the value of brain games like Wordle and Sudoku. He said those can help increase a person’s focus, but that if the goal is to improve memory, then that new focus needs to be applied to a new learning experience.
Although being forgetful can be anxiety-provoking, Dr. Tanzi offers this context: “I like to say if you don’t remember where your keys are, don’t worry about it, but if you put your keys in the fridge, that’s a problem.”
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