A neuroscientist has outlined how individuals can maintain good cognitive health at any age by cultivating habits that support brain function. Benjamin Boller, a professor of neuropsychology at the University of Quebec at Trois-Rivieres, explains that remaining mentally sharp while aging is achievable through lifelong engagement in intellectually stimulating activities.
The Role of Cognitive Reserve
One of the most effective strategies identified by research is developing and maintaining cognitive reserve. This refers to the brain's ability to resist aging or neurodegenerative diseases without significant functional decline. The Lancet's 2024 report highlighted that 45% of dementia cases could be prevented or delayed by addressing 14 modifiable risk factors, including physical inactivity, depression, social isolation, and low education levels.
Education has long been considered a key indicator of cognitive reserve, but Boller notes that cognitive reserve is not fixed. It can be built and strengthened throughout life through learning, social interactions, and stimulating leisure activities such as playing a musical instrument, chess, or volunteering that requires planning and problem-solving skills.
Understanding the Mechanisms
Scientific research offers complementary models for understanding cognitive reserve. The brain reserve model suggests that individuals born with more neurons can better cope with aging. The brain maintenance model emphasizes that active lifestyles can slow brain aging by strengthening biological resilience. The cognitive reserve model focuses on the brain's functional flexibility, enabling it to recruit alternative neural networks to compensate for age-related losses.
Recent work by Boller and colleagues shows that structured learning of memory strategies, such as the method of loci or mental visualization, can induce significant changes in brain activity. More educated individuals show more targeted brain activation during learning and recall, suggesting more effective strategies. Other research links years of schooling to grey matter volume and brain activation in memory tasks.
Practical Interventions
The Engage study by the Canadian Consortium on Aging and Neurodegeneration examines the effects of cognitively stimulating leisure activities in older adults. This hybrid intervention combines formal cognitive training with activities like learning music, a second language, or video games. Preliminary results show that such natural interventions produce effects comparable to traditional cognitive training programs.
At Boller's NeuroAge lab, a project explores the effects of learning English as a second language on cognition and brain activity in older adults. The protocol integrates classes, tutoring, and cognitive and EEG measurements. Preliminary results support the idea that intellectual engagement, even when started later in life, can generate measurable benefits.
Conclusion
Maintaining good cognitive health at any age requires a combination of accessible, motivating, and stimulating interventions. Cognitive reserve is built throughout life, and advances in research offer concrete tools for healthy aging, particularly for cognitive health.
