How To Maintain Your Brain

Minds and bodies too often rust out and far too seldom wear out.?

Ageing can be a scary thing.?

You seemingly wake up one morning and you can’t do the things you used to do.

You can’t eat the things you used to eat and stay slim (if that was ever even possible), you don’t have the energy to stay up all night dancing (how did you used to do that??), and you now refer to your knees not as ‘left’ and ‘right’ but as the ‘good one’ and the ‘bad one’.

This is all very normal (to a degree, but that's a post for another day) but the most concerning part for many of us is when our brain starts to let us down.

We start to forget things, or it takes us a little longer to understand something we should have gotten right away.

This is an unfortunate effect of ageing and as the workforce increasingly goes through this, it can have far-reaching implications.

Fortunately, however, there are several simple things we can do to significantly halt or even reverse this decline.

We’ve always known this, but new research out of the University of New South Wales has made it official, and given us an exact roadmap for how to turn things around.?

The Maintain Your Brain trial is the largest internet-based study aimed at preventing cognitive decline and dementia, with the findings being published in Nature Medicine.

The trial, led by Professor Henry Brodaty AO from UNSW’s Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing (CHeBA - which is an awesome name) recruited over 6000 adults (55-77) from the Sax Institute’s 45 and Up Study, all at risk for dementia.?

Half received online personalised coaching in lifestyle modules - physical activity, brain training, nutrition, and mental health - while the control group received general health information that is accessible online.

The four intervention modules included:

Physical activity: 300 minutes of moderate or 150 minutes of vigorous exercise weekly, plus strength and balance training.

Nutrition: A Mediterranean diet rich in plant foods, healthy fats, and limited meat and dairy.

Brain training: Three 45-minute cognitive training sessions weekly for 10 weeks, followed by monthly sessions.

Mental Health: Training from ThisWayUp, a digital mental health program based on the principles of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) aimed at reducing or preventing depression and anxiety.?

Importantly, both groups improved, but the group who received online training, “...saw the greatest cognitive benefit to date in a randomised control trial,” (Prof. Brodaty), and participants aged 55-65 benefitted more than those 66-77, suggesting the earlier prevention starts, the better.?

These findings have far-reaching implications for the population as a whole, and present us with some exciting opportunities amongst the workforce.

The amount of skills, knowledge, and experience that older Australians possess is immense, and we now know that with some simple, targeted interventions those attributes can stay sharper and be utilised for longer than previously thought.?

So, what does this look like in a practical sense for workplaces?

Physical activity: Get. Moving. Encourage staff to do more physical activity each day. Provide the means and the time for staff to engage in regular activity and build this into your company culture. Gym access, walking meetings, group exercise sessions, run clubs; there are a million and one ways to do this, the most important thing is to take action.?

Nutrition: Promote the importance of a well-balanced diet high in nutrients, plants and healthy fats and low in processed junk. Education groups, group recipe books, healthy lunches, access to accurate nutrition advice and (ideally) a registered dietitian are all proven and effective ways to make positive change.?

Brain training: Introduce brain training as a natural part of life. Give staff access to online resources to help improve cognition and encourage them to utilise it regularly. Creating competitions and providing incentives for completing this training is a great way to increase engagement.?

Mental health: Upskilling our mental health tools and resources is always a useful thing to do and now we know it has even greater benefits for our future. Provide staff with online resources as well as group and individual training on techniques such as CBT. Encourage them to access those resources and build it in as part of your culture. Training your brain is no different than training your body and should be seen as just as important.

Provide proactive coaching: Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) are seen as a must-have in workplaces as they provide support in mental health crises, but what if we could provide that support before the crisis occurs? We know from the data, and now from the findings in this study, that proactive coaching has a measurable impact on health and wellbeing and it should be the norm across every workplace, rather than something only exceptional companies offer. It’s simple to implement, incredibly effective, and relatively low-cost (especially compared to the adverse events it helps to prevent).?

This landmark study is a huge step forward in the fight against cognitive decline and a shining light for all of us, proving that we have more control over our future than we might think.

As individuals, we can and should follow the advice presented and as organisations, we can and should help our people to implement that advice as seamlessly as possible.?

With a little bit of effort in the right areas, positive change is possible for all of us.?

Let’s all wear out at 100 instead of rusting out at 60.?

Question: How many of these recommendations could you implement for yourself right now??How many could you implement for your organisation?

P.S. This kind of thing is what we do every day, so if you want to hear more, send me a DM and let's chat.