Challenge Your Brain

"You can protect your brain by exploring your creative potential and learning new things. Learning a new language makes your brain shift between the old and new languages, much like a tennis match. This provides a powerful challenge to your brain. As your brain is stimulated through this learning process, it is strengthening and building new neural pathways." - Ronald C. Petersen, M.D.,Ph.D., professor of neurology and director of the Alzheimer's Disease Research Center at Mayo Clinic.

Take Action Now

• Get out of your comfort zone. Challenge yourself to drive home a different way. Take a walk along a different path than you normally walk.
• Explore your creativity. Engage in a creative activity that is new and different from anything you have ever done before.
• Take your skill to the next level. Prepare a meal that is complex and unlike anything you have cooked in the past. Better yet, make a healthy recipe.
• Employ practical strategies to help you remember. Keep a calendar and establish a dedicated place for your things.
• Learn a new language. When you challenge yourself to learn a foreign language, your brain gets a workout!