But once you know the basics, you can practice tai chi anywhere, anytime. The next time you interact with someone, take note of four things about them. Maybe you observe the color of their shirt or pants.

Are they wearing glasses? Do they have a hat on, and if so, what kind of hat? What color is their hair?

Once you decide on four things to remember, make a mental note, and come back to it later in the day. Write down what you remember about those four details. Focusing on your brain health is one of the best things you can do to improve your concentration, focus, memory, and mental agility, no matter what age you are.

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How Well Do You Sleep? Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Mental Well-Being. Medically reviewed by Timothy J. Legg, PhD, PsyD — By Sara Lindberg — Updated on February 17, Try puzzles Play cards Build vocabulary Dance Use your senses Learn a new skill Teach a skill Listen to music Try a new route Meditate Learn a new language Do tai chi Focus Bottom line Exercising the brain to improve memory, focus, or daily functionality is a top priority for many older adults.

Share on Pinterest. Brain exercises. Have fun with a jigsaw puzzle. Try your hand at cards. Build your vocabulary. Dance your heart out. Use all your senses. Learn a new skill.

Teach a new skill to someone else. Listen to or play music. Take a new route. Learn a new language. Take up tai chi.

Focus on another person. The bottom line. How we reviewed this article: Sources. Healthline has strict sourcing guidelines and relies on peer-reviewed studies, academic research institutions, and medical associations.

We avoid using tertiary references. You can learn more about how we ensure our content is accurate and current by reading our editorial policy. Feb 17, Written By Sara Lindberg.

Aug 7, Written By Sara Lindberg. Medically Reviewed By Timothy J. Take swimming, for example. It has obvious cardiovascular and muscle-building benefits, but also involves constant thinking, processing, and learning. You have to be mindful of your breathing rhythm and how to properly execute strokes and kicks.

You also can measure your expertise in terms of endurance and speed, which motivates you to practice your skills to be a better swimmer. A brain training activity doesn't always have to be exercise-related.

Much research has found that creative outlets like painting and other art forms, learning an instrument, doing expressive or autobiographical writing, and learning a language also can improve cognitive function.

A study in Gerontologist reviewed 31 studies that focused on how these specific endeavors affected older adults' mental skills and found that all of them improved several aspects of memory like recalling instructions and processing speed. Pick one new activity. Devote your time and attention to only one additional activity, so you won't be tempted by other interests.

Sign up for a class. Classes are a good way to learn the basics of any new activity, especially one that requires specific skills, like painting or music. Schedule practice time. Don't focus on the amount of time you practice at first, but rather aim for consistency. Devote what time you can, but be firm with your commitment.

Schedule it and do it. No matter which new activity you choose, make sure it follows three guidelines in order to maximize brain training, according to Dr. You have to always challenge your brain in order for it to grow.

This is why choosing a new activity is so beneficial. It engages your brain to learn something new and offers the chance to improve. Not up for a new endeavor? Raise the bar for an existing activity.

For instance, if you are a casual golfer, commit to increasing your ability and aim to lower your handicap or shoot a specific score. A complex activity not only strikes a match of excitement, but forces your brain to work on specific thought processes like problem solving and creative thinking. A study in Psychological Science found that older adults ages 60 to 90 who did new and complex activities, such as digital photography or quilting, for an average of 16 hours per week for three months scored better on working and long-term memory tests than those who did more familiar activities like reading and doing crossword puzzles.

Practice makes permanent, and that goes for brain function, too. Your activity should require some level of constant practice, but the goal is not to strive for vast improvements. As a service to our readers, Harvard Health Publishing provides access to our library of archived content.

Please note the date of last review or update on all articles. No content on this site, regardless of date, should ever be used as a substitute for direct medical advice from your doctor or other qualified clinician. Thanks for visiting. Don't miss your FREE gift. The Best Diets for Cognitive Fitness , is yours absolutely FREE when you sign up to receive Health Alerts from Harvard Medical School.

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Look at the eight words again and this time spend a minute creating a story that links them all together. Perhaps you visualise a clown with orange hair riding a horse, or a doctor smoking a pipe and playing guitar. Use your first associations and link the images in any order you like.

Now write the words again and see how much better your memory has become already. Combining visualisation with associations will make your memories more meaningful and thus more memorable. The strategy is useful for the most common age-related memory complaint of forgetting names and faces.

Mental stimulation from games, puzzles, reading, and conversations is associated with better memory, so I encourage people to keep their minds active. My two-week younger brain programme introduces games and exercises that will activate your neural circuits and bolster your mental acuity skills.

As you gradually build your skill, you will find that these games get easier, so you can progressively increase the challenge level. The following are some sample brain games that boost a range of cognitive functions to help keep your mind limber and sharp.

Word games help build this left hemisphere, while mazes and jigsaw puzzles can bolster the right hemisphere, which controls visual skills and orientation. Answers below. Count up the number of squares in the figure on the left. Hint: Be sure to count the squares within the squares.

Left brain : changing words. Begin with the word WALL and change a letter at a time until you get the word FIRM. Each change must be a proper word. Right brain : numbering toothpicks. Arrange three toothpicks into the number 9 without breaking or bending them.

Left brain : letter scramble No 1. Come up with as many words as you can from the following letters. Use each letter only once in each word.

Right brain : continuous line. In the figure on the left, draw a continuous line that connects the number 1 to the letter A, then A to 2, then 2 to B, then B to 3 and so on until you can longer continue the numerical or the alphabetical sequence. Left brain : finding colours. Rearrange all the letters to find the four colours mixed up below.

Hint: Only one is a primary colour. All the vowels have been removed from the following proverb, and the remaining letters have been clustered into groups of three or four letters each.

Replace the vowels and reveal the proverb. Try to come up with as many words as you can two or more letters from the following: OGEUNRY.

Extra credit: A seven-letter word from this letter scramble and a five-letter word from letter scramble No1 will remind you of the title of my book. Frank has very eccentric tastes. WALL, WILL, FILL, FILM, FIRM. IX Roman numeral. I, In, Ran, Rib, Rain, Nab, A, An, Air, Ban, Bar, Bin, Barn, Bran, Brain.

Star shape. Green, Orange, Violet, Yellow. Two heads are better than one. On, Or, One, Ore, Oner; Go, Gun, Guy, Gone, Gore, Grey, Goner; Rue, Run, Rug, Rung, Rouge; You, Young, Younger. The seven-letter word is Younger and the five-letter word is Brain.

Skiing, since he only likes words that contain double letters. Puzzles reprinted with permission, all rights reserved, 2 Weeks to a Younger Brain © Humanix Books, Completing a jigsaw puzzle can be a good way to pass the time and may also benefit the brain.

A study found that puzzles activate many cognitive functions, including:. The study concluded that doing jigsaw puzzles regularly and throughout life may protect against the effects of brain aging.

Number puzzles, such as sudoku, can be a fun way to challenge the brain. They may also improve cognitive function in some people. A study of adults aged between 50 and 93 years found that those who practiced number puzzles more frequently tended to have better cognitive function.

A meta-analysis notes that chess and other cognitive leisure activities may lead to improvements in:. A review notes that some types of video games — such as action, puzzle, and strategy games — may lead to improvements in the following:.

Enjoying company of friends may be a mentally engaging leisure activity and may help preserve cognitive function. A study found that people with more frequent social contact were less likely to experience cognitive decline and dementia.

A study of older adults found that learning a new and cognitively demanding skill, such as quilting or photography, enhanced memory function.

A simple way to increase vocabulary is to read a book or watch a TV program and note down any words that are unfamiliar. A person can then use a dictionary to look up the meaning of the word and think up ways to use the word in a sentence. A review notes that bilingualism increases and strengthens connectivity between different areas of the brain.

A study published in Brain Sciences found that listening to music a person enjoys engages and connects different parts of the brain. The researchers propose that this may lead to improvements in cognitive function and overall well-being. According to a study , playing an instrument may benefit cognitive development in a young brain and help protect against cognitive impairment in an aging brain.

Such hobbies may include:. Regular physical exercise is beneficial for both the brain and the body. Authors of a review note that exercise improves the following aspects of brain health:.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention CDC , exercise has beneficial effects on the following aspects of cognitive health:. Dance is a form of exercise that may also engage areas of the brain involved in rhythm and balance.

Certain sports are both physically and mentally demanding. Some require a range of cognitive skills, such as:. A review notes that elite athletes who participate in high demand sports tend to have improved attention and faster information processing speeds.

Tai chi is a form of physical exercise that involves gentle body movements, rhythmic breathing, and meditation. A study compared brain function and connectivity among tai chi practitioners and those who did not practice it.

The researchers found that the tai chi practitioners had enhanced connectivity between different regions of their brain. They proposed that this may improve cognition and decrease the rate of memory loss.

While not necessarily an active exercise, sleep is crucial for both the brain and the body. According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke , most adults need between 7 and 9 hours of sleep each night, although many people get less sleep than they need.

A review notes that sleep has been proven to:. As such, making sure to get enough sleep each night is an important step toward maintaining a healthy brain. Brain exercises can be as simple as actively engaging the brain in everyday tasks.

Others are targeted workouts for the brain, specifically designed to enhance memory, cognition, or creativity. Exercising the brain may help improve brain function and boost connectivity between the different areas.

This may help protect the brain from age-related degeneration. People are likely to differ in terms of the brain exercises they find most enjoyable. It may be a good idea to try a range of brain-training activities at first and to stick with those that provide the most enjoyment or reward.

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Medical News Today. Health Conditions Health Products Discover Tools Connect. Medically reviewed by Timothy J. Legg, PhD, PsyD — By Jon Johnson — Updated on April 4, Meditation Visualizing more Playing games Card games Crosswords Puzzles Sudoku Chess Checkers Video games Socializing Learning new skills Increasing vocabulary Learning a language Listening to music Musical instruments Engaging hobbies Regular exercise Dancing Sports Tai chi Sleeping Summary Brain exercises may help boost and maintain brain function.

Visualizing more.