How to keep your brain young!

Keeping yourself feeling young on the outside, will help you to feel young on the inside. Michael Merzenich, a neuroscientist at the University of California San Francisco, says our brains start slowing down at 30-years-old, but studies show you can train the brain to be young again by doing activities that challenge and excite you.

Practice what you know as you get older and teach others in the process. This will help to stimulate your brain and pass on your years of knowledge.

Mind stimulations through puzzles and word games will keep your mind active and busy. Neurologist David Bennett of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago says the brains of those who practice brain stimulation decline at a slower rate.

Eating foods rich with antioxidants such as fruit and vegetables will help boost your brain and keep it healthy.

Learning something new will excite your brain and get it thinking differently. If you do the same thing day in, day out your brain will not be stimulated as much as it should be.

Daniel Amen, the medical director of the Amen Clinics in Newport Beach in California says learning a new language really pushes the linguistic and memory centres of the brain. It also gives you something new and exciting to think about and a good excuse to go on holiday!

Studies have found that exercise is not only important for you physical health but for your mental health as well. Mark McDaniel, of psychology at Washington University in St. Louis, says exercise may forestall some kinds of mental decline.

Say no to stressful situations and learn how to laugh. Taking things too seriously can have a bad effect on the brain. Choose to laugh instead and let the chemical dopamine, which is released when you laugh, help you feel good!