Some time ago, when communicating with some friends around me, I found that we all seemed to have this feeling: as we age, we always feel that our brains are gradually not as flexible as before. 

For example: our memory is getting worse.

We can no longer effortlessly remember information as we used to. Our thinking agility has declined. When encountering the same problems or situations, it always takes us some time to react. Our learning efficiency has also decreased. When learning new knowledge or skills, we always feel that our brains are sluggish and a bit unable to think clearly...

Although we are still quite far from "getting old", it's better to plan ahead. If we can develop some good habits and awareness in advance, it will be very helpful for keeping our brains young, enabling us to spend every stage of life in the best state.

So, in today's article, I want to share with you how to better help your brain resist aging and keep your brain power young and healthy for a long time.

First, I want to give you a reassurance. As we all know, our intelligence can be divided into fluid intelligence and crystallized intelligence. Crystallized intelligence refers to our experience, while fluid intelligence is our ability to analyze, think and solve problems, similar to what we generally call "IQ" and "brain power".

Traditional research believes that the peak period of our fluid intelligence in our lives is around the age of 25. After the age of 25, fluid intelligence will gradually decline.

Especially after the age of 45, the decline will be significantly accelerated. So, we often feel that our brains are most active around the age of 25. And in our thirties, there will be more or less some decline. However, newer research has found that this may not be the case. In 2022, a study published in Nature found that the rate of our intellectual decline may not be as much as we previously thought. (von Krause et al., 2022)

 Simply put, if properly maintained, our thinking speed can remain at a relatively stable level until about the age of 60. So, why did traditional research observe a decline in thinking speed? This study believes that it may be because as we age, we become more cautious and need to consider more factors, thus appearing less "decisive" than when we were young.

I also have a similar feeling: many times, it's not that a person's brain has aged, but rather their mindset has. When a person starts to become hesitant, complacent, stubborn and reluctant to accept new things, their brain power will actually be more significantly affected.

So, what I want to tell you is that as long as you maintain a good mindset and keep your brain open, active and enthusiastic, you can maintain your peak state for a quite long time. Moreover, what was mentioned above is only fluid intelligence.

Don't forget that we also have crystallized intelligence. Crystallized intelligence will steadily increase throughout our lives and can remain at a relatively high and stable level even at the age of 60. In other words, everything we learn and accumulate in our lives will not disappear, but will support us in better understanding and dealing with the world in some form. Therefore, no matter which age group you are currently in, you can hold onto this belief: now is my peak moment, and this peak moment can be maintained for many years.

So, what can't we start from now? Of course, you may also have noticed that I emphasized one point earlier: "proper maintenance". So, what does proper maintenance mean? What effective methods can better protect our brain power? I hope this "Brain Anti-Aging Handbook" can give you some help and inspiration.

1. Enhance Cognitive Reserve Our brains are composed of hundreds of billions of neurons. The connections between neurons form our thinking. Brain neurons are basically non-renewable. These neurons that are born in our childhood will accompany us throughout our lives.

We can't replace and increase them like we replace body cells. However, although we can't increase the resources, we can still optimize the resource allocation.

For example, when doing a project, your budget is fixed. But through careful design, you can reduce unnecessary waste and generate more benefits with less budget. Applying this principle to the brain is called "cognitive reserve". Simply put, assume that completing a task requires 100% of the brain's neural network resources.

Now, through continuous optimization, you only need 95% of the resources to complete the same task. Then, the remaining 5% of the resources is the cognitive reserve. In case your neurons are damaged and 5% of them can't work, this reserved 5% can be used to continue to complete the same task.

So, how to improve cognitive reserve? The most direct way is to learn. Among them, learning foreign languages and music have been more studied. Research has found that as bilingual people age, their temporal and parietal lobes are less likely to be damaged, and the connectivity between the frontal lobe and the temporal and parietal lobes becomes stronger, which can effectively improve cognitive reserve. At the same time, learning foreign languages can improve the brain's executive control ability and attention, and increase the connection density of neurons in the prefrontal cortex, which can effectively offset the damage caused by aging.

Currently, many researchers are studying how to prevent and alleviate Alzheimer's disease by teaching the elderly foreign languages, and some results have been achieved. Generally speaking, people who can speak two languages will experience less brain aging than those who only know one language. Learning three or four languages will have better effects, but the increase in the effect gradually decreases. Simply put, if you pursue cost - effectiveness, then mastering a foreign language proficiently is enough.

If you have enough time and interest, the more the better. Another example is music. A study in 2018 found that music - related activities can effectively improve the brain's memory and executive control ability.

The reason may be that music can stimulate the brain to obtain information through hearing, thereby exercising the brain's ability to process information and improving the brain's utilization of resources. So, if you have time, it is highly recommended to develop the habits of learning foreign languages and music. It's best if you can play a musical instrument. If not, singing, dancing, or even listening to more music is also good. This can very effectively improve cognitive reserve and make the brain's thinking more efficient.

2. Accept New Stimuli Previously, I focused on foreign languages and music. So, does it mean that other types of learning have no effect? Of course not. In fact, any kind of learning is extremely beneficial to the brain. In addition to cognitive reserve, they can also work in another way, that is, by providing new stimuli.

Many times, what is the essence of the "decline in brain power" we feel? It's not that the brain has really declined, but that due to a long - term lack of dopamine, the brain has entered a "chronic fatigue" state. This will cause us to gradually become listless, lack motivation, lose interest, and be reluctant to think or use our brains. Over time, we will gradually lose the ability to "use our brains".

 So, how to stimulate the brain to secrete enough dopamine? Continuously providing it with a sense of freshness is a crucial way. When the brain receives new information, it will compare it with the established prediction framework.

Once it finds that the information is not within the prediction framework, it will enter a state of alert and try to "digest" this new information.

How to digest it? There are two ways. One is to directly discard it and pretend that it has never been encountered. This is also the most common way for many people with "brain decline" to deal with it. In fact, it's not because the brain has declined that one can't accept new things; on the contrary, it's because one has always refused to accept new things that the brain has gradually declined. Therefore, in order to maintain brain power, we need to choose the second path, that is, try to understand it, accept it, and internalize it into our prediction framework so that the brain can understand its existence.

Whether it's a new knowledge field or newly emerging things, it's crucial to maintain an open mindset and always try to accept them. If possible, you might as well refer to my "15% possibility" rule. Allocate 15% of your available time in life specifically to contact and understand new fields. You don't need to learn it very professionally, nor do you need to "monetize" it. You just need to let it continuously provide new stimuli and dopamine secretion for the brain. This will continuously inject vitality into your brain.

3. Conduct Brain Exercises I once saw a news report about an 88 - year - old grandmother who has been playing games online and has become a game streamer, attracting millions of fans.

In fact, games are indeed a very effective way to exercise the brain and are very helpful for maintaining the brain's vitality and youth. The reason is that games are an entertainment form that requires the use of many brain functions. Take shooting games as an example.

 You need to identify directions, remember routes, understand the environment, find enemies, formulate strategies, and take actions. All these actions require the high - level cooperation and participation of various brain regions. Many studies have found that it has good effects on improving hand - eye coordination, spatial ability, and motor ability. (Remember not to be addicted to games, otherwise, it will be counterproductive.) Of course, it's not just video games.

All activities that require high - level brain participation can be regarded as a form of brain exercise and are very helpful for maintaining the brain's activity. For example: Tabletop games such as board games and scripted murder games can effectively exercise reading, understanding, and reasoning abilities; Games such as chess, riddles, and quizzes are very helpful for attention, memory, and pattern recognition abilities;

 Drama and other theatrical performances can exercise understanding, memory, expression, and perception abilities; Handicrafts, painting, and other art forms are of great help to concentration, imagination, expression, and coordination abilities; Even participating in some activities that require competition and cooperation (such as ball games) can be helpful because it involves competition and cooperation mechanisms, which require you to make quick judgments and decisions. You might as well develop the habit of participating in these activities. This can not only exercise the brain but also continuously obtain a sense of accomplishment and happiness.

4. Maintain Sufficient Social Interaction Maintaining good social interaction can not only improve happiness but also reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease.

Research has found that actively participating in socially productive activities (social interaction is one of them) is a key factor in keeping the body and mind as young as possible. Here, social interaction doesn't mean that you must have a lot of friends or meet strangers. It includes two aspects.

 On the one hand, try to maintain contact with friends and avoid long - term isolation from others. Research shows that long - term loneliness can cause irreversible damage to the brain and affect our cognitive ability.

Of course, the loneliness here refers to the "reclusive" and "unsociable" state of not communicating with others, not the "solitude" that you choose voluntarily. The latter is okay, so you can rest assured.

On the other hand, it is to participate in social activities. Such as parties, competitions, team sports, interest activities, etc. These activities can effectively create new environmental stimuli for the brain, improve the brain's vitality, and continuously stimulate the brain's self - optimization and improvement. On this basis, it would be even better if you can create more "outputs".

For example, creating content, sharing insights, developing your own products, engaging in artistic creation, providing professional knowledge consulting and services to customers, etc. These advanced activities can fully mobilize various brain regions and functions of the brain, allowing the brain to fully maintain its best state. Therefore, I often say, create, don't just consume.

Because creation can not only provide us with sufficient, high - level happiness but also comprehensively exercise and strengthen our brain, allowing it to continuously grow and self - improve.

5. Maintain Healthy Habits The most important thing to avoid is sitting for long periods.

Prolonged sitting has been considered by many studies as the worst daily bad habit for physical and mental health, which will increase the risk of many diseases. A study in 2018 focused on the relationship between sitting for long periods and cognitive ability. The results showed that sitting for long periods can reduce the brain's cognitive ability.

The reason is that sitting for long periods is not conducive to cardiovascular and cerebrovascular circulation, which will significantly reduce the brain's thinking and cognitive ability. (Bakrania et al., 2018) Another example is what I mentioned in a previous article: sitting for long periods can cause partial brain regions to lack oxygen. Although this lack of oxygen may be temporary, it will almost certainly cause minor damage to the nervous system.

Over time, this accumulated damage may cause irreversible consequences, such as making neurons more prone to apoptosis or destroying neural connections due to long - term lack of oxygen. On the contrary, even mild exercise can be beneficial to the brain.

 For example, people with a higher level of exercise have a slower decline in cognitive ability (Steves et al., 2016). A study in 2019 found that walking 5,000 - 10,000 steps a day can effectively increase brain volume and reduce the degree of brain aging.

A study in 2012 found that when we run, the blood flow in the brain will increase by about 15%, which can improve the brain's operating efficiency (Wasson et al., 2012). Therefore, you must not sit for long periods. Develop the habit of getting up and moving more. At the same time, internalize exercise into your daily life through dispersed exercise to offset the impact of sitting for long periods as much as possible. If you are very busy, you can do some exercise in your spare time, such as running in place, going up and down stairs, sprinting, etc.

Even doing some simple stretching exercises can have some effects.

If you have the conditions, you can participate in some outdoor sports with friends more often.

This can not only achieve the purpose of physical exercise but also comprehensively improve physical and mental health through social interaction and brain exercise. If you don't like intense activities, taking a walk and getting some sun on weekends or in your spare time is also a very effective form of exercise, which I personally highly recommend.

At the same time, developing the habit of exercise can also help improve the quality of sleep. In this way, it can also remove the brain's metabolic waste through good sleep and reduce the risk of Alzheimer's disease. It can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

6. Train Brain Order As mentioned before, the brain's thinking ability often depends on the efficiency of the connections between neurons.

The more efficient and "orderly" the connections between neurons are, the higher the overall efficiency is, and the better our thinking ability will be. So, what methods can be used to exercise the brain and make it more orderly? A simple way is to often summarize, generalize, and refine information from the bottom - up.

Help the brain cut off useless and unnecessary connections and consolidate and strengthen high - dimensional connections.

 You can try the following "brain calisthenics": When you encounter a new problem, you can think: which category of problems I've encountered does this problem belong to? What are the similarities and differences between this problem and the problems in this category? How can the process of my thinking and dealing with this problem be applied to this category of problems?

When you receive information and integrate knowledge, you can think like this: what do I know about a certain topic? What knowledge have I accumulated about it?

How can I establish connections between other knowledge points and a certain piece of knowledge? What experiences and practices have I had in a certain type of situation? What methodologies have I summarized?

 In addition, it is to continuously reflect and review the projects you have done and the actions you have taken: what actions did I take? Why did it work? How can I turn it into a set of processes? What difficulties did I encounter during the action? Are these difficulties low - probability or high - probability? What kinds of attempts can I make to deal with these difficulties?

Can these attempts be sorted out into a set of precautions? This can fully stimulate the brain and continuously optimize the internal connections of the brain, making our thinking clearer and more powerful.