CHALLENGE YOUR BRAIN

Challenge your brain to create an increased cognitive reserve. Whoops, that sentence may cause the reader to switch off. Allow me to explain. Our brain – one for each of us, of course – is (not even arguably) the most amazing engine in the world. It controls all the organs of the body. It controls your eyes reading this article, just as it did my fingers when typing it. But another part of the brain controls emotions that will perhaps render you bored stiff when reading the article, and the writer deeply ashamed for submitting it; and the publisher worried about the impact on the readership. Harvard Health states that cognitive reserve ‘reflects how agile your brain is in pulling in skills and capacities to react and resolve problems and cope with challenges’; some examples above.

If we are blessed with being able to reach old age we will, on average, live significantly longer than previous generations. Medical science and health care, dietary and welfare improvements, as well as regular exercise, have lengthened the average human life. What is emerging is a greater awareness of how the brain also needs special care and attention. That is to prevent the intrusion of what is known as dementia - a progressive memory loss and cognitive decline that can get especially sad for near ones and dear ones. You may consider you are way too young to be reading this. If so, then think of the oldies in your family and how reading this can help you to help them.

Our brains are designed to thrive on challenging and complex activities which fortify the many domains in the brain, and build up the strength and resilience of the millions of connections. This is called the cognitive reserve. The more you use the connections the more you reinforce the cognitive reserve. And this is a big protection against dementia.
So, in simple terms, to promote a longer healthy brain life requires frequent challenging of multiple areas of the brain at almost the same time. Sudoku challenges a mathematical centre of the brain, but most of the activities are linear in nature. The same applies to crossword puzzles, which mainly challenge the brain’s language centres.So how do we go about building up the cognitive reserve? We have to bring into our lives multi-modal activities such as learning a foreign language.

Studies have shown that bilingual elderly people (many emaSwati), if and when getting diagnosed with mild dementia, have stronger brain networks and cognitive reserves than those fluent in only one language. A group of eminent neurologists (brain specialists) are effectively suggesting that emaSwati, when speaking two languages constantly throughout their lives, may delay the onset of dementia by as much as four to five years more than the mono-linguists. And the actual learning of a language itself demands work from different parts of the brain.

Writing

Reading and playing music is another beneficial activity. Playing the piano requires motor and visual-spatial skills, the reading of the notes, the timing and the mood of the music. Try writing a book, especially your auto-biography, which could be in the form of a collection of memoirs. It involves tapping into memory centres, processing areas to organise a structure in the narrative, creating emotional components and the motor skills of typing or writing. Well now, I may soon get some healthy competition for the space allocated to my Thursday opinion article.
And what a pleasant surprise to read that singing in public, including karaoke, will help build the cognitive reserve. It’s the neurologists, not me, putting this theory forward. You’re reading the lyrics, remembering the tune, catching the emotional nuances as you make your own interpretation. Even stand-up comedy will work in a similar way as you draw on the motor skills to capture the attention and mood of the audience. Well, if that’s not your scene – and we can’t have everyone fighting to get on the stage to tell jokes - then get dancing. Studies have linked dancing to a lower risk of dementia. Ballroom dancing – even traditional dancing – involves coordination, memorisation and capture of established dance techniques; and an understanding of and reaction to, music.

Contribute

The list doesn’t end there. You have chess, bridge and poker. All of these contribute to strengthening your memory centres, focus and problem solving. All using parts of the brain that would otherwise lie dormant. Art projects that include drawing and painting, as well as model-building, strengthen the memory centres so you can recall the techniques and draw on them every time you work. And getting into adult formal education also makes a valuable contribution. One study in Brazil found that formal education started after the age of 60 improved general cognitive performance.
And wait for it: Social interaction - the more complex the better – works on many levels to increase cognitive reserve. Socialising requires complex communication skills that include face recognition, attention, memory, focus and listening and speaking skills. All this going on in your head while you’re having a good time. Don’t delay. The crossroads is around 40 years of age. That’s for yourself. At the same time help gogo and mkhulu, especially in the socialising. It can mean inviting visitors, organising refreshments with their contemporaries; or even walking with you in the park or down the high street. What to avoid? Insufficient hours of sleep, too much TV and long periods of isolation.

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