With aging, an unpleasant side effect many people experience over time is cognitive decline. But cognitive activity is not limited to just what happens inside someone’s head.
External factors, such as socialization, nutrition and physical activity can be major factors in someone’s overall cognitive health.
“We put on an Alzheimer’s symposium each year, and what we talk about in there are ways to keep your brain healthy and to avoid cognitive decline,” said Terry Jackson, director of independent living at Eden Hill Communities in New Braunfels. “I often cite a book written by some folks here in town called ‘Pillars of Brain Fitness.’ Whenever we are working on strategies or activities for folks here, we often go back to that.”
She said those pillars include physical exercise — the most important pillar — social activity, good nutrition, stress management and good sleep.
But it’s not always as easy as developing a habit of crosswords or sudoku, she said.
“People talk about the mental activity with stuff like sudoku, and that’s good, but you often get better at sudoku rather than improve your overall brain health,” Jackson said.
Those mind games go back to rote activity or memory, which aren’t doing much to get the brain active, she said.
The Centers for Disease Control says cognitive function includes language, thought, memory, executive function (the ability to plan and carry out tasks), judgment, attention, perception and remembered skills. According to the CDC, many people never develop serious decline in their cognitive performance, and cognitive decline does not necessarily develop into dementia.
So when developing activities at Eden Hill, Jackson said she focuses on physical fitness, social activities, nutrition and stress.
She said daily interactions are some of the most important, but often some of the easiest to lose later in life.
“This is really more in keeping the brain well to prevent mental decline. Physical fitness gets oxygen to the brain,” Jackson said. “Social activities are so important because the brain fires so rapidly when you are involved in social gatherings, that just being around other people is huge for your mental well being.
“Obviously that’s been so hard during COVID. We offer communal living at Eden Hill, and that’s part of it. We recently had a resident move in who said they are so tired of isolating at home and would rather isolate around friends. And we are finding that here, that people can stay robust as long as they are maintaining those good social interactions.”
Because of that, she said the programs offered at living facilities has become event more important.
“The idea is real conversation, whether that’s in the context of dining with somebody or taking part in classes you like to do together or exercising together,” she said. “Happy hours — anything where true communication is needed because there is that give and take where the brain has to process what you are hearing and then what you are saying before you say it. The idea is that true engagement in meaningful conversation is a goal of those social activities.”
But the COVID-19 pandemic might have brought the deficient social interactions in people’s everyday lives to light for some.
“Part of the pandemic is becoming more isolated is the norm for seniors, and it can kind of creep up on folks,” Jackson said. “All of the sudden they realize they haven’t talked to anyone in a few days, especially if a spouse passes in their home and they are just not out and about. That’s when you see not only increased depression, but increased cognitive decline when folks aren’t having those interactions.”