The other day, I was reading about a new supplement named 'StayIn' (stay in), introduced by the israeli startup company Biomind and meant to boost cognitive function. It is made up of seven ingredients among them vitamin B6, vitamin B12, karnitin, rhodiola.
As a retired, third age person, in fear of cognitive decline associated with the aging process (memory loss, dementia), it caught my attention.
So far, all I did was to look for mind stimulating activities.
I don't mean all those 'word and mind games' (sudoku, crosswords, puzzles, etc..). I personally prefer practicalities that help me in my every day life - like learning to fix things in the house or with the computer. In this way, I also don't get dependent on others.
Luckily, there are written guides as well as online videos that can teach us things, and do wonders to our mental skills.
Among some of the more known ways of improving cognitive ability are : learning a foreign language, learning to play a musical instrument, memorizing texts/ poems, focusing on specific activities that are supposed to contribute to our health (meditation, yoga).
(Reading fiction and watching TV are activities that mostly entertain me and /or help me escape daily worries, but I feel they do little to 'sharpen' my mind).
Writing, as opposed to reading is a more efficient form of stimulating the brain, especially writing in a language that is not one's native language, and so requires more mental effort. I say this from personal experience as both Hebrew and English are not my first language.
The blog helps me 'catch two birds with one hand': writing (exposing facts and views) , and preserving my knowledge of English which is an acquired language for me.