Delay cognitive impairment. Cognitive impairment is defined as the aging of the brain as it reaches adulthood. Consequently, some areas of the brain are altered and this can cause negative changes: memory impairment, lack of concentration, unstructured language and/or loss of visuospatial skills.

Although the cognitive deterioration is declared almost unstoppable, it is possible to work on different techniques to delay cognitive impairment. For this, it is necessary to exercise the brain. Here Nomenial leaves you with 5 techniques to reduce and/or delay cognitive deterioration.

1. Color

2. Play

3. Spend time with children

4. Share time with your pet

5. Sing and dance

5 exercises to train your brain and delay cognitive impairment

The brain remains active, in part, thanks to its muscular activity. Just as we do gymnastics to keep our muscles healthy and attractive, we must also give the same training to the brain to keep it in good shape. Brain exercises are practiced by performing cognitive processes, that is, doing what makes us connect and interact with those around us.

Below, we present a series of activities to put your brain to work:

1. Color

You don’t have to paint like Dali to be an artist! There are different options to develop your most creative side: coloring mandalas, painting with watercolors, taking photographs, drawing on paper and/or practicing calligraphy. These are some of the activities that will improve your cognitive abilities of attention, spatial perception and concentration.

2. Play

Crossword puzzles, wordsearch puzzles, and jigsaw puzzles are pastimes that not only help fix attention and concentration, but also activate memory; improving the ability to retrieve memories and preparing the brain to retain new ones. Besides this, this entertainment also acts in other areas of the brain, since it practices lexicon, reasoning and self-esteem.

3. Spend time with children

Playing or spending time with the little ones improves our communication. It also prevents sedentary behavior and awakens our youthful side. Inventing stories, games, activities, and laughing and enjoying with them are fundamental dynamics for our mental health.

4. Share time with your pet

Spending time with your pet awakens your brain. Living with a pet triggers a series of responsibilities that require you to be attentive, observant, affectionate and busy. These four attitudes stimulate areas of the brain needed to avoid a stagnation of brain activity. In addition, numerous studies show that spending time with your pet relieves depression, increases the feeling of happiness, reduces stress and increases the sense of responsibility.

5. Sing and dance to delay cognitive impairment

Singing, dancing and even playing a musical instrument, besides having fun, promotes neural plasticity. In this way, we increase the connections between neurons and generate the necessary brain activity to exercise the brain.

With these 5 techniques, we are not only reducing and/or delaying cognitive deterioration, but also eliminating passive activities (such as watching television) that harm our cognitive, social and affective capacities. If you want to expand your knowledge, you can also consult keys to promote active aging. Brain training is a necessary exercise to avoid possible Alzheimer’s and/or Parkinson’s diseases, and to be able to stay young from the inside and to be able to express it outwards.

These 5 techniques to reduce and/or delay the cognitive deterioration help to favor a healthy aging. They are key activities to promote the autonomy and to delay the deteriorations and alterations.