Today is National Train Your Brain Day. According to National Today, this observance raises awareness of the power of the mind and the potential benefits of positive mental training. It is an excellent day to try to teach your brain to make the most of everything.

Aultman Clinical Educator Linda Griggs, who also serves as the geriatrics/NICHE coordinator, said one of the best things we can do for our brain is to learn something new. As we age, our brain starts losing the neurotransmitters that help us carry “messages” from one neuron to the next.

These messengers help us with many functions, including taking in and responding to information, managing our thoughts, remembering and learning things. When we learn new things, it helps us make new connections in our brain.

“Something you have done for a long time is easy for your brain,” Griggs said. “Those pathways have been in existence for a while – they are like a highway with a lot of lanes for information to travel. But if you are learning something new, it is more like driving down a dirt road. That dirt road is a new path, so you are making new connections.”

Learning something new doesn’t mean you have to sign up for a class. There are lots of ways you can challenge yourself to learn new things.

• Try a new recipe. Use your math and planning skills by getting into the kitchen with a new recipe. When you cook something new, you not only exercise your brain, but you also reap the benefits of a healthy, home-cooked meal!
  
  
• Read a book. Reading improves your ability to make decisions and use your imagination. It also exercises your brain. Think how you try to figure out what is going to happen next or how you visualize what is being described as you read.
  
  
• Learn a new language. This will take time and repetition, of course. But it will also help improve your memory. Language repetition helps keep those new brain pathways open, which increases the survival of the new brain cells.
  
  
• Do something creative. Make music, paint or draw. Creative work helps maintain hand and eye coordination and encourages the stimulation of our brain messengers.
  
  
• Play brain games or board games. In addition to old school games like checkers, bingo and cards, there are many online brain-boosting games and phone apps that can improve your memory, problem-solving skills and processing speed.

In addition to these activities, adequate sleep and exercise are essential for our brains. Sleeping allows our brains to get rid of waste, which results in improved mood and an increase in our ability to focus, learn and remember.

Exercise plays a similar role, bringing necessary oxygen and nutrients to the brain through increased blood flow. This too helps with our ability to think and remember, and of course, physical activity helps us be in a good mood!

So, start training your brain today … try something new, get some exercise and get a good night’s sleep!

Sources:
Boltz, M. Capezuti, & Fulmer, T. (Eds.). (2024), Evidence-Based geriatric nursing protocols for best practice (7th ed.). New York, NY: Springer Publishing Company
National Today
Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders