Get Enough Shut Eye

Getting enough high-quality sleep is critical to support optimal cognitive functioning, and it can even enhance your performance beyond normal conditions. 

Sleep is critical to

• Consolidate your memories – also leading to better learning and decision-making 
• Maintain focus and attention
• Facilitate language processing

In a literature review exploring the link between sleep and cognitive function, researchers highlighted that sleep not only strengthens our memories but also helps us to gain insights and make connections in large amounts of information.

Sleep also helps protect your brain. Think of sleep as the housekeeper of your brain. While you sleep, your brain resets inflammation and neurotransmitter receptors, allowing them to rest and regain sensitivity for during the day

In Part 1, we talked about neuroplasticity and all of the new synaptic connections that can be made throughout the day. Sleep helps refine these synapses by eliminating excess ones to make them more efficient.

How much sleep is enough to preserve your cognitive functions? A study of 4,417 adults studied the effects of sleep on cognitive function. Those participants who slept less than six hours per night or more than nine hours per night had worse cognitive function than those who slept between seven and eight hours per night

Ideally, you should aim for seven to eight hours per night.

Stay Curious and Exercise Your Brain

Curiosity is the basis of our cognitive function. It’s what drives motivation and pushes us to learn more about the world around us. You learn better when you are curious about something. Your hippocampus becomes active when you are curious in anticipation of learning and helps strengthen your memory.

Curiosity drives you to learn more and learn things more thoroughly. While researchers are just beginning to explore how curiosity boosts cognitive function, they believe it’s highly promising.

Some strategies to stay curious include:

1. Ask questions, constantly
2. When you are curious about something, go down that rabbit hole
3. Listen actively to the people around you
4. Looks at the things around you rather than your phone
5. Memorize facts and information
6. Rather than focusing on being right in a conversation, focus on understanding.

Exercise

Staying active and engaging in physical exercise promotes healthy cognitive function and well-being. It also improves your neuroplasticity which increases your ability to make new connections

Critical to brain health are neurotrophins, which help your neurons survive and grow and are critical for the proper development of your nervous system.

The release of BDNF, in particular, increases with exercise. This means that when you get active, you are boosting your cognitive functions.

A study of 128,925 individuals explored the connection between physical activity and cognitive decline. Subjects who were less active experienced a more significant reduction in cognitive health. In fact, cognitive decline was twice as common in those who were inactive compared to those who stayed physically active.

Getting at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week can help boost your cognitive function.