7 Mind-Sharpening Exercises To Do As You Age, According To Brain Experts

Let's dive into what neuroscientists and psychologists focused on aging well have to say about the best brain exercises for keeping your mind sharp through the decades.

For a general rule of thumb on when to prioritize different types of brain exercise, neurologists Dean Sherzai, M.D., and Ayesha Sherzai, M.D., directors of the Alzheimer's Prevention Program at Loma Linda University, previously told mindbodygreen that it may be helpful to focus on attention in your 20s, memory in your 30s, and executive function in your 40s and beyond.

Here are four brain-stimulating exercises that are engaging, enjoyable, and sustainable throughout the decades of your life:

Social games like board and card games can combine the benefits of brain exercises with those of social connection3. These are ideal to play weekly with friends or family. (I recently played Scrabble with a 90-year-old woman, and she won easily!) Consider joining a club or organizing your own game nights. Research suggests4 that this combination of social elements and mental stimulation is especially effective. 

Research suggests that brain-training games done solo, like crosswords or Sudoku, can also help protect against cognitive decline5. These types of activities are easy to do every day. Consider the New York Times crossword that differs in difficulty based on the day of the week—perfect for making sure you continue to flex your mental muscles.

"Brain HQ and Cognifit have been shown to have benefits for cognitive function6 (thinking, memory, etc)." These games and apps are built to increase in difficulty and are easy to engage in daily, especially since they are easily accessible on your phone. 

Finally, Swart notes, brain exercises should be transferable to real-life problem-solving. She also suggests activities like learning a new language, musical instrument, dance, coding, or cooking to round out the list.

Completing brain games and exercises isn't the only way to support your cognitive function. Here are a few other elements that have been scientifically shown to keep the mind sharp as you age:

"One of the things that I love more than anything else when I'm with people my age is how we laugh about how we can't wear high heel shoes anymore, or we go upstairs and then we forget why we're there," says Cole. She found this reflected in her research, observing focus groups of women thriving in their eighth decade. There was a shared feeling of relief to talk about these changes, and universal in these focus groups was the discussion of changes in memory.

One way to get started playing for the sake of your brain? Move your body to music. In O'Brien's research on active older women participating in a community dance exercise class, the combination of music and dance brought people together. "Music moves us physically and emotionally and improves our cognition and brain function at every age and stage of our life," she concludes.

"Ageism is a killer, literally and figuratively," Cole says. "If you think it's better to be younger than older, then you're not going to age well." Cole herself exemplifies the rejection of ageist thought patterns: She earned another master's degree at age 70 and 10 years later continues to engage in work focused on positive aging.

Swart echoes that anybody, no matter their age, can use neuroplasticity to reinvent themselves—an incredibly hopeful sentiment that reminds us of the opportunities each stage of life brings.

Brain games help fight cognitive decline by exercising the brain like any other muscle. Beyond using classics like crosswords and Sudoku, games that connect you with other people are especially effective because of how important it is to be with others, especially as we age. It's also important to acknowledge that our brains will change and that aging brings about new opportunities to continue to pursue passions, follow curiosity, and experience joy. To continue to learn about how to optimize cognitive function and memory, check out more resources on how to improve episodic memory and flex your mental fitness.