It’s easy to observe how your body ages over time. You get wrinkles. You start to lose your hair or it turns grey. Your joints begin to stiffen. Your skin becomes a little saggy in places. Perhaps you start to notice some fading of your eyesight and hearing. It’s pretty hard not to see these changes.
But the affect getting older has on the mind isn’t always so evident. You might notice that your memory isn’t as good as it used to be and that you need to begin noting important dates on your calendar. Perhaps you find yourself spacing out more and missing significant events. The trouble is that this sort of cognitive decline happens so slowly and gradually that you may never detect it. And that hearing decline can be exacerbated by the psychological effects.
Luckily, there are a few ways that you can exercise your brain to keep it clear and healthy as you age. Even better, these exercises can be absolutely fun!
The relationship between cognition and hearing
Most individuals will gradually lose their hearing as they age (for a number of reasons). This can lead to a higher risk of mental decline. So what is the connection between cognitive decline and hearing loss? There are several silent risk factors according to research.
- When you have untreated hearing loss, the part of your brain that processes sound starts to atrophy. The brain may reallocate some resources, but overall, this is not very good for mental health.
- Neglected hearing loss can easily result in a sense of social isolation. Due to this lack of social connection, you can start to detect cognitive lapses as you withdraw from the outside world.
- Neglected hearing loss can also trigger depression and other mental health issues. And the corresponding risk of cognitive decline can be increased by these mental challenges.
So, can hearing loss turn into dementia? Well, not directly. But untreated hearing loss can increase your risk of cognitive decline, up to and including dementia. Managing your hearing loss can significantly reduce those risks. And those risks can be lowered even more by boosting your overall brain function or cognition. A little preventative management can go a long way.
How to enhance cognitive function
So how do you accomplish giving your brain the workout it needs to improve cognitive function? Well, the good news is that your brain is like any other part of the body: you can always achieve improvement, it simply calls for a little exercise. So here are some enjoyable ways to exercise your brain and increase your sharpness.
Gardening
Cultivating your own vegetables and fruits is a delicious and rewarding hobby. A unique combination of deep thought and hard work, gardening can also increase your cognitive function. Here are some reasons why:
- You have to think about what you’re doing as you’re doing it. You have to utilize planning skills, problem solving skills, and analyze the situation. This gives your brain a great deal of great practice.
- Relief of anxiety and a little bit of serotonin. This can help keep mental health concerns such as depression and anxiety in check.
- Gardening requires modest physical activity. Whether it’s digging around in the dirt or moving bags of soil around, the activity you get when gardening is enough to get your blood pumping, and that’s good for your brain.
As an added bonus, you get healthy fruits and vegetables from your hobby. Of course, you can grow a lot of other things besides food (herbs, flowers cacti).
Arts and crafts
You don’t have to be artistically inclined to enjoy arts and crafts. You can make a simple sculpture out of popsicle sticks. Or you can get started with pottery and make a cool clay pot! When it comes to exercising your brain, the medium matters much less than the process. That’s because arts and crafts (drawing, sculpting, building) tap into your imagination, your critical thinking skills, and your sense of aesthetics.
Arts and crafts can be good for your cognitive ability because:
- It requires the use of fine motor skills. Even if it seems like it’s happening automatically, a lot of work is being done by your nervous system and brain. That kind of exercise can keep your cognitive functions healthier over the long haul.
- You need to process sensory input in real time and you will need to employ your imagination to do that. A lot of brain power is required to accomplish that. You can activate your imagination by undertaking these unique brain exercises.
- You have to stay focused on what you’re doing while you do it. This kind of real time thinking can help keep your mental processes limber and flexible.
Whether you pick up a paint-by-numbers kit or draft your own original work of art, your level of talent doesn’t really matter. What counts is that you’re utilizing your imagination and keeping your mind sharp.
Swimming
There are a number of ways that swimming can help you stay healthy. Plus, it’s always enjoyable to hop into the pool (especially when it’s so sweltering hot outside). And while it’s obviously good for your physical health, there are some ways that swimming can also be good for your cognitive health.
Your brain has to be engaged in things like spatial awareness when you’re swimming in the pool. After all, you don’t want to collide with anyone else in the pool!
You also have to pay attention to your rhythms. How long can you stay underwater before you need to breathe? That sort of thing. Even if this type of thinking is going on in the background of your brain, it’s still great cognitive exercise. And mental decline will advance more slowly when you participate in physical exercise because it helps get more blood to the brain.
Meditation
Spending a little peaceful solo time with your mind. Meditation can help calm your thoughts (and calm your sympathetic nervous system at the same time). Sometimes known as mindfulness meditation, these methods are designed to help you focus on what you’re thinking. Meditation can help:
- Improve your attention span
- Improve your memory
- Help you learn better
In other words, meditation can help present you with even more awareness of your mental and cognitive faculties.
Reading
Reading is good for you! And even better than that, it’s fun. A book can take you anywhere according to that old saying. In a book, you can travel anywhere, like outer space, the ancient world, or the depths of the ocean. When you’re following along with a story, manifesting landscapes in your imagination, and mentally conjuring up characters, you’re using a lot of brain power. A big part of your brain is engaged when you’re reading. Reading isn’t possible without engaging your imagination and thinking a great deal.
As a result, reading is one of the most ideal ways to focus your thoughts. Imagination is needed to picture what’s going on, your memory to keep up with the plot, and when you finish the book, you get a satisfying dose of serotonin.
Take some time each day to build your brain power by doing some reading, regardless of whether it’s fiction, science fiction, non-fiction, or whatever you enjoy. Audiobooks, for the record, work just as well!
Better your cognition by getting your hearing loss treated
Disregarded hearing loss can raise your risk of cognitive decline, even if you do everything right. Which means, even if you swim and read and garden, you’ll still be struggling uphill, unless you get your hearing loss treated.
When you do get your hearing treated (usually because of a hearing aid or two), all of these fun brain exercises will help boost your cognition. Improving your memory, your thoughts, and your social skills.
Are you dealing with hearing loss? Call us today to make an appointment for a hearing test and reconnect to life!