Helping your brain as you age
Moving beyond familiar advice
Most advice about protecting your memory is common: move more, eat well and get enough sleep.
What matters is knowing how much, what to prioritize and what to do when you notice a change.
The information below fills in the details.
How much of memory loss can you prevent?
In July 2026, the World Health Organization (WHO) released updated guidance on protecting memory as we age. Their finding: up to 45% of dementia worldwide is linked to risk factors that can be changed.
That number is often misunderstood, so it is worth being clear.
It does not mean 45% of your personal risk is in your hands. And a diagnosis is never proof that someone failed to do the right things.
What it does mean is that there are meaningful areas where you can take action. The list below focuses on practical steps you can take.
What kind of exercise protects your brain?
Almost every article on brain health recommends staying active, but stops there.
That is where the advice falls short.
There are three types of exercise that support brain health, and each offers different benefits. It's important to note, doing more of one type does not provide the same benefits as including all three.
1. Walking grows the memory part of your brain
Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh asked 120 older adults to walk around a track for 40 minutes, three days a week.
After one year, the walkers' hippocampus had grown about 2%. That is the seahorse-shaped part of the brain where new memories are formed. In the comparison group, it kept shrinking at the usual rate.
Two percent may not sound like much. But it's worth about one to two years of normal age-related decline, which can be earned back with three walks a week.
What to aim for: 40 minutes, three times a week, at a pace where you can still talk but would rather not sing.
2. Strength training matters more than you think
Muscle rarely comes up in conversations about memory. It should.
In an Australian study, 100 adults who already had mild memory problems were randomly assigned to lift weights, do computer brain training, both or neither. Nobody knew which group they were in.
The weights worked. The share of participants scoring in the normal range for thinking and memory doubled, from 24% to 48%. A follow-up study found something even more interesting. The people whose muscles got stronger were the people whose thinking improved. The two went together.
There is a second reason to lift weights that has nothing to do with test scores.
Strength is what lets you carry your own groceries, get out of a low chair and stay in your own home. You lose muscle steadily after midlife unless you work to keep it. Keeping it is much easier than rebuilding it.
What to aim for: Strength training twice a week, focusing on the major movements: push, pull, squat, and carry. Choose enough resistance that the last few repetitions feel challenging. Resistance bands, dumbbells and bodyweight exercises at home all count.
3. Balance training protects your head
Head injury is one of the risk factors on the list. In people over 65, the usual cause of a serious head injury is a fall from standing.
Balance training may not be glamorous, but it can make a meaningful difference. The Otago program combines 17 strength and balance exercises with a walking routine, typically done at home three times a week. Studies have linked it to roughly 35% fewer falls. Tai chi offers another option and may appeal to people who prefer following a routine online or joining a group class.
This week, try this
Sit in a dining chair and stand up without pushing off with your arms. Then do it over and over for thirty seconds and count how many you manage. (Another honest test: stand on one leg while you brush your teeth.)
If you cannot get up without your arms, or the count worries you, that is real information and not a personal failing. Ask your doctor for a referral to physical therapy and use the words "falls risk assessment." It is a recognized referral and often covered. For a class instead of a visit to a clinic, your local area Agency on Aging keeps lists of proven falls programs. Reach them through the Eldercare Locator at 800-677-1116 or eldercare.acl.gov.
What should you eat for brain health?
The MIND diet was created at Rush University Medical Center. It combines the Mediterranean and DASH eating patterns and leans toward foods linked to slower memory decline.
In practice, this means leafy greens most days. Berries, nuts, beans, whole grains, fish, poultry and olive oil as your main fat. Red meat, butter, cheese, pastries and fried food stay occasional rather than forbidden.
Here is the part most articles leave out.
A long-term study followed older adults in Chicago and recorded what they already ate. Those whose meals most closely matched the MIND diet pattern developed Alzheimer's disease at a rate 53% lower than those whose meals matched it least. Moderate followers saw a rate about 35% lower.
But that study could not separate the food from everything else that tends to go with it.
So, researchers ran a stricter test. They assigned older adults with a family history of dementia to either the MIND diet or a slightly calorie-reduced diet, and followed them for three years. At the end, there was no meaningful difference in memory or brain scans between the groups. Both showed modest improvement.
This is not a failure.
What this shows is the MIND diet is a healthy approach to eating, but it is not more effective than other healthy dietary patterns. The takeaway is simple: follow the MIND diet comfortably rather than anxiously.
Where to start with food
Try this. For three days, write down what you eat without changing anything. Then count. How many days included a leafy green? How many meals came out of a package? Then change one meal, not your whole life. Breakfast is the easiest to shift. Perhaps you try oatmeal, berries with a few walnuts.
While this isn't required for the MIND diet, numerous online recipes and cookbooks are available for those who prefer following step-by-step instructions.
One more thing about supplements. If you’re taking a supplement specifically to protect your memory, but you don’t have a diagnosed deficiency, current guidance does not support taking it for that purpose. The evidence points to the overall pattern of your diet, rather than any single supplement.
Do brain training games work?
Brain-training apps reliably improve your performance on the specific tasks they contain.
What holds up better is real novelty and real difficulty such as playing a new instrument, learning a new language or taking a new class. Think: demanding work, complicated hobbies and serious reading.
What health problems affect memory?
Several factors on the list below are common medical issues your doctor can evaluate and address. Because they can often be identified with routine medical care, they are worth discussing with your doctor.
1. Hearing Loss
Hearing loss is one of the larger modifiable risk factors on this list. It can also make socializing exhausting, which may lead people to gradually withdraw from activities and time spent with others.
The signs are often social rather than medical. Do you avoid restaurants because they’re difficult to follow? Does your family say the television is too loud? Can you follow one person but lose the thread when several people are talking?
Difficulty following multiple voices can be an early sign of hearing loss and is often mistaken for a memory problem
Ask your doctor for a hearing test. Also, since October 2022, the FDA has allowed hearing aids to be sold over the counter to adults with mild to moderate hearing loss. No exam, no prescription, no audiologist needed. You can buy them at a pharmacy or online. If your loss is worse than mild, or one ear is much worse than the other, see an audiologist instead. Our page on hearing loss and memory goes into more detail.
2. Blood pressure
High blood pressure is the most consistently supported item on the whole list, especially when treated in midlife. It has no symptoms, which is exactly why it goes untreated.
A home monitor costs less than a pair of shoes. Measure sitting down, arm supported, same time of day, twice a week. Then bring the readings to your doctor. More on blood pressure, cholesterol and memory.
3. Common medications
Several common medications affect memory, and some are sold over the counter. Sleep aids with "PM" in the name, older allergy medicines and bladder medications, for example, are all worth reviewing.
A good idea is to put everything you take in a bag and ask your doctor or pharmacist for a review. See medications that affect memory.
Some medications are dangerous to stop suddenly. Talk to your doctor.
What your doctor can check
Not everything that looks like memory loss is permanent. Sleep apnea, thyroid problems, low vitamin B12 and depression all cause genuine memory trouble, and all of them can be treated.
Ask your doctor directly for a sleep study, a thyroid panel, and a B12 level. If low mood or lost interest has lasted more than a couple of weeks, say so at the same visit. In the United States, you can reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline any time by calling or texting 988. See when memory loss can be reversed.
How much sleep do you need?
Most adults need seven to nine hours of sleep each night.
For your body clock, a consistent wake-up time may matter more than a consistent bedtime and it is often easier to maintain. Morning light outdoors is especially effective for helping regulate your internal rhythm.
How can you stay socially engaged?
Two approaches tend to be most sustainable.
A regular weekly commitment is easier to maintain than an open invitation that may never happen. And having a role where others rely on you can be more sustaining over time than simply being visited.
If transportation is the barrier, solve that first. The Eldercare Locator at 800-677-1116 will find what exists near you.
How do you know where you stand today?
Having a baseline makes changes easier to recognize over time.
Memory Exam is a 10 – 15 minute verbal assessment you can take at home. It cannot diagnose anything and it cannot tell you why something has changed. What it can do is show whether your memory performance differs from what is expected for someone your age and similar background. Retake it later to compare with your earlier result instead of comparing your results solely a population average.
Memory Exam is a screening tool, not a diagnosis. Results should be discussed with a qualified doctor or healthcare professional when appropriate.
One step is enough to begin
You may feel overwhelmed and do not have to do everything on this page.
Pick the one item that felt most true to you when you read it. Book the hearing test. Buy the blood pressure cuff. Put two strength sessions on your weekly calendar.
What is most important is you are being proactive on your cognitive wellness journey. That is worth acknowledging.
Where this information comes from
- World Health Organization. Risk Reduction of Cognitive Decline and Dementia: WHO Guidelines, Second Edition. July 2026.
- Livingston G, et al. Dementia Prevention, Intervention, and Care: 2024 report of The Lancet Standing Commission. The Lancet 2024.
- Erickson KI, Voss MW, Prakash RS, et al. Exercise Training Increases Size of Hippocampus and Improves Memory. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 2011;108(7):3017-3022.
- Fiatarone Singh MA, Gates N, Saigal N, et al. The Study of Mental and Resistance Training (SMART) Study. Journal of the American Medical Directors Association 2014;15(12):873-880.
- Mavros Y, Gates N, Wilson GC, et al. Mediation of Cognitive Function Improvements by Strength Gains After Resistance Training in Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society 2017;65(3):550-559.
- Morris MC, Tangney CC, Wang Y, et al. MIND Diet Associated with Reduced Incidence of Alzheimer's Disease. Alzheimer's & Dementia 2015;11(9):1007-1014.
- Barnes LL, Dhana K, Liu X, et al. Trial of the MIND Diet for Prevention of Cognitive Decline in Older Persons. New England Journal of Medicine 2023;389:602-611.
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Over-The-Counter Hearing Aids Final Rule, effective October 2022.