“What you don't use, you lose.”

The adage “use it or lose it” applies to mental abilities, as exercising key brain areas strengthens existing neural pathways and stimulates neuronal growth. As muscle strength increases through consistent training, targeted brain exercises strengthen cognitive and emotional strengths.

Scientifically supported methods

Practically supported methods can be used to “train the mind and choose activities that capture interests, in order to make sustained improvements in memory, learning, attention span, planning, and impulse control possible with consistency over time.” Not only does mental training prevent age-related decline, it unleashes capabilities that enable a richer quality of life, such as:

1. Learn new skills

Practicing mentally stimulating activities regularly stimulates brain cell growth and communication between different brain regions. New and complex activities are ideal “brain exercises.”

Learning a new language trains the areas involved in speech production and comprehension. Picking up the tool engages motor, auditory, and visual processing areas.

Reading about an unfamiliar topic also strengthens neural networks as they absorb and analyze new information. Games and problem-solving activities give the brain a proper workout, which contributes to activating cognitive skills such as logic, pattern recognition and working memory. Strategic games such as chess help build thinking systems, planning, and mental flexibility.

2. Working memory training

Working memory is the mind's ability to process and retrieve information. It serves as a mental workspace or scratchboard, and is essential for learning, focus, and cognitive performance. Targeted exercises can expand the storage limits of working memory, often involving memorization of increasingly longer strings of information.
Experts advise starting with simple steps, such as memorizing a short list of words, and then increasing the number of comments during sessions to continue challenging yourself. To remember longer strings of numbers, you can imagine placing them sequentially in familiar places.

Fun brain training apps can also be found that include activities specifically designed to exercise working memory. Many involve repeating background sequences, remembering the locations of boxes, or remembering details from clips.

Enhancing working memory capacity increases focus, thinking, and your ability to manage multiple tasks.

3. Practice mindfulness

Mindfulness practices involve focused awareness of the present moment, building the neural pathways needed for focus while strengthening areas that regulate emotions and stress. Meditation and breathing are typical techniques to achieve this goal, with a view to starting with short 5-10 minute sessions and then gradually increasing over time. Personalized practice supports cognitive skills such as sustained attention, information processing speed, and impulse control. It also reduces mind wandering and rumination of negative thoughts.

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