Your ageing brain: does it mean loss of capacity?

Sorry to say, but your brain is ageing. Each passing day adds to the tally. An ageing brain means a decline in capacity.

At some point, the decline becomes severe enough to be detrimental to your functioning.

So how do you know if your brain is ageing and what can you do about it?

The signs are not always obvious. In particular, you may not notice. The brain has a difficult time not being able to do something and notice that it isn’t.

You forget names, places. Things you did. Things you had to do. In the beginning, it is innocuous. After all, you forgot when giving your math exam as a child.

But this is different.

This is long-term capacity being lost, perhaps forever.

You get stressed and anxious about things that would not cause you stress. You may find it hard to remain focused while completing a task.

Perhaps one of the simplest ways to find out is to stand on one leg and see if you can remain balanced.

Without falling over.

If you didnt do so well dont fret. Some loss of capacity is normal. Even inevitable. Our goal is to prevent further decline.

To do so, we need to understand the difference between neurons and synapses. Neurons are nerve cells that signal messages to your body. Synapses are the connections between neurons that transmit these messages.

It is hard to get new neurons. It is much easier to get new synapses. Think of it this way. It is hard to build new cities, but easier to build roads connecting cities.

So our goal is to build new highways.

Building highways allows the memory which never really went away to find new paths to retrival. You can remember better. Being able to do so lowers stress and anxiety. You feel more in control.

Brain ageing is inevitable, but decline not so much.

Reach out to me on twitter @rbawri Instagram @riteshbawriofficial and YouTube at www.youtube.com/breatheagain