What are you discovering about brain health?

@edsutton
WOW, Ed,
Thanks for sharing that beautiful video.
It would be impactful to see any day, but it especially touched me today.
Trish

I'm caregiver/POA to my cousin in nursing home with dementia, she is younger that I am. I'm "next of kin" according to funeral home to a friend who is in hospice now, 93 yo, we've been friends for almost 40 years now. I've been studying Spanish daily for a few years, I do NYT crosswords and Sudoku, and other games. I handle all my own bill paying, banking, shopping, meal prep, housework etc....and do needlework......all to keep my brain working while I listen to classical music on the radio.......I was going to art class at senior center once a week.
Any suggestions what else I can do to keep those neurons firing away for a few more years

@1995victoria

Wow!! Sounds like you already have those neurons firing away. Congratulations 🎉

@1995victoria About all that's left is ensuring you get some level of aerobic exercise each day, even if it has to be two short sessions. One longish session is better according to the empirical data exercise and brain physiologists have been collecting in recent decades, but if it must be short, the idea is to do enough of it cumulatively that the brain and body both benefit. Whether that is to be slow stair climbing (so that your effort rises but you can also sustain it for about 10-15 minutes), or walking outdoors with some hills for added measure, riding a cycle ergometer, using a rowing ergometer....something...anything that increases respiration and heart rate enough to make it fall under the rubric of 'exercise'. Almost more than anything else in a sensible and aged person's regimen, it's going to be daily exercise that keeps the 'system' integrated and robust.

https://med.stanford.edu/news/all-news/2026/09/two-separate-brains.html
Fascinating!!! What do you think?

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10994667/
This seems to be used as a preventative measure.
Has anyone else been studying this?

@1995victoria
How I understand what a good life is can be summed up by what Thoreau has said loong ago, according to Sherry Turkle, a sociologist and author of many books on our need for human connection in the digital age: "I had three chairs in my house; one for solitude, two for friendship, three for society."

What I call, Purpose, I think Thoreau is suggesting what he means by doing something for society -- community or country or even humanity incl. nature.

It is certainly an area I make an effort to put my attention into using my mental/intellectual abilities; my physical ones in my 80s are just enough to look after myself! Others may have different ways such as their time, expertise, influence or money. In my case it's critical that it provides me with a sense of having lived my life Fully -- that I did My best to live most the one live we all are given, each with their own gifts.

@1995victoria
I too enjoy classical music. It is very relaxing. I also enjoy most other forms of music and I find that listening to them stimulates my thought process because adding words or new instruments to music brings a new layer to the song. Whether I'm listening to jazz, boogie woogie, rock and roll, classic rock, country, Christian, Motown, contemporary or any other genre, I'm listening and thinking how the instruments and/or words complement each other and what message that particular song is trying to convey. Maybe this works for me because I'm a history buff and some music is like a time capsule.

@gravity3 -
Search Lithium Orotate for several discussions in Mayo Connect.
I take Lithium Orotate daily. It doesn't cost much, and might be of benefit.

.