Brain Health: Keeping your brain active

I've decided that neural plasticity is the key. We need to find challenges that keep the mind engaged. I'm in my mid sixties now, and about thirty years ago I went through a particularly challenging time when I got seriously depressed, had panic attacks, and my life was in a downward spiral.

To cut a long story short, it occurred to me then that what I wanted to do was "get my life back the way it was" which seemed so difficult it veered on impossible. So I asked myself why I was so attached to a need to return to values and interests that didn't really seem to serve me.

I looked at the things I was scared of in life, and the things I found uninteresting, too challenging, or boring, and I began to visit them in a different light. My idea was to "recreate" myself - taking the idea of recreation quite literally - and decided that play was something that had been missing in my life for too long.

I looked at things that scared me, such as heights, water, and poverty, and I deliberately challenged myself with each. First, I did a parachute jump. It terrified me, of course, and I could barely speak once it was over, but I can remember a real sense of some kind of internal engagement with a part of me that had dissociated, perhaps from childhood. Next, I learned to SCUBA dive, initially in the cold waters of The English Channel, but later would night dive off an island in Belize, and a couple of years ago I dove in The Gulf of Thailand.

So challenge stayed with me. In 2019, at age 63, I rode a motorcycle across India. It seemed about as daring a thing as I could do. (Incidentally I left the UK for the US in 1997, aged 40, with just $350, a guitar and a suitcase, no credit cards, no green card, and knew nobody - I survived!)

Now I'm doing a degree in Psychology, studying neuroscience on the side, learning drums, and am working on being ambidextrous, as I have a theory about how the circuitry of the body and brain work dependent on handedness. My venture into left handedness seems to be yielding some really interesting things that I hope to document at some point. I play chess, am poised to take up piano (again I think that music and the use of two hands working in coordination are essential for really exploring neural plasticity)

But the key is challenge. Do things that scare you, that are physically demanding or mentally challenging. Ask yourself why the things you find boring are things others find interesting, and then take them up. Question who you are, why you like what you do, and find something else and explore that. Wear clothes you wouldn't normally be seen dead in, or clothes you've always wanted to but never dared. Challenge who you are, and see what happens.

This is my take on how to survive aging.

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Crossword Puzzles - my grandmother was an avid puzzler and she read the newspaper from cover to cover daily. Those were the good ole days. Anyway, she was mentally sharp all of her life. She died at 96 and had a long sharp mind.

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Three years ago I decided to paint. I was 70 years old, never painted in my life, but I was determined to try. Oh my goodness! I am having so much fun creating art on canvas, board, and even alcohol ink on glass. A new world has opened up for me.
Two years ago I was diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment. So I have added several new, to me, skills. I do jigsaw puzzles, and word games online. I have grown my family tree on Ancestry to several thousand people.
My thinking is not getting better, but that’s ok. I remember things from the past very easily. It’s the very recent stuff that I hung up on.

Oh, my great-grandmother lived to 98.5. She always ate her dessert first!

Cheers!

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You are an inspiration to me. In the last few years I have had to set aside the art making that’s occupied me since early childhood because of health issues, especially with my eyes. New glasses are on order though and I am wondering where to begin sorting out my life’s business like household and files. Your note reminds me to treat the art projects a priority rather than a luxury. I will start with something my granddaughter admired before it was finished! Thank you for helping me set my priorities!
xxxxx

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I've decided that neural plasticity is the key. We need to find challenges that keep the mind engaged. I'm in my mid sixties now, and about thirty years ago I went through a particularly challenging time when I got seriously depressed, had panic attacks, and my life was in a downward spiral.

To cut a long story short, it occurred to me then that what I wanted to do was "get my life back the way it was" which seemed so difficult it veered on impossible. So I asked myself why I was so attached to a need to return to values and interests that didn't really seem to serve me.

I looked at the things I was scared of in life, and the things I found uninteresting, too challenging, or boring, and I began to visit them in a different light. My idea was to "recreate" myself - taking the idea of recreation quite literally - and decided that play was something that had been missing in my life for too long.

I looked at things that scared me, such as heights, water, and poverty, and I deliberately challenged myself with each. First, I did a parachute jump. It terrified me, of course, and I could barely speak once it was over, but I can remember a real sense of some kind of internal engagement with a part of me that had dissociated, perhaps from childhood. Next, I learned to SCUBA dive, initially in the cold waters of The English Channel, but later would night dive off an island in Belize, and a couple of years ago I dove in The Gulf of Thailand.

So challenge stayed with me. In 2019, at age 63, I rode a motorcycle across India. It seemed about as daring a thing as I could do. (Incidentally I left the UK for the US in 1997, aged 40, with just $350, a guitar and a suitcase, no credit cards, no green card, and knew nobody - I survived!)

Now I'm doing a degree in Psychology, studying neuroscience on the side, learning drums, and am working on being ambidextrous, as I have a theory about how the circuitry of the body and brain work dependent on handedness. My venture into left handedness seems to be yielding some really interesting things that I hope to document at some point. I play chess, am poised to take up piano (again I think that music and the use of two hands working in coordination are essential for really exploring neural plasticity)

But the key is challenge. Do things that scare you, that are physically demanding or mentally challenging. Ask yourself why the things you find boring are things others find interesting, and then take them up. Question who you are, why you like what you do, and find something else and explore that. Wear clothes you wouldn't normally be seen dead in, or clothes you've always wanted to but never dared. Challenge who you are, and see what happens.

This is my take on how to survive aging.

Jump to this post

Three years ago I decided to paint. I was 70 years old, never painted in my life, but I was determined to try. Oh my goodness! I am having so much fun creating art on canvas, board, and even alcohol ink on glass. A new world has opened up for me.
Two years ago I was diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment. So I have added several new, to me, skills. I do jigsaw puzzles, and word games online. I have grown my family tree on Ancestry to several thousand people.
My thinking is not getting better, but that’s ok. I remember things from the past very easily. It’s the very recent stuff that I hung up on.

Oh, my great-grandmother lived to 98.5. She always ate her dessert first!

Cheers!

Jump to this post

I get what you're saying but have a different take on it. I'm retired and for the first time in my life I'm free to do what I like. Working full time, running a busy household and raising two active boys was challenge enough me. Lately my biggest challenge is to getting up and out early enough to catch the first tour at the Met and you know what if I don't make it I just have that second cup of coffee and read the papers. So, I guess what I'm saying is "Different strokes for different folks"...good luck !

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I started painting and doing puzzles during the pandemic. Both were activities that I was totally absorbed in. Putting paint on canvas taught me how to not be judgemental of my self, but to just let my creative mind take over with no thinking. A go with The flow type of thing. It's great! Good for you for finding ways to enhance your self!

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