Ben Parris is Professor of Cognition and Cognitive Neuroscience at Bournemouth University’s School of Psychology. He is also co-founder of the University’s Interdisciplinary Neuroscience Research Center
A decline in your cognitive health is something that can sneak up on you. It’s not like a bad back or a troublesome knee that will give you a lot of gip as soon as a problem arises. You may suddenly find that you are not as mentally sharp as you once were.
You may notice that it becomes harder to hold conversations, remember phone numbers and do everyday tasks such as going to the shops. This is the result of your frontal lobe starting to waste away, which happens to all of us as we age, albeit at different rates.
This part of the brain is located just behind our forehead and is home to our executive functions – our ability to plan, organize, focus and generally interact with the world around us. It is different from dementia, although this disease accelerates the process.
While the frontal lobe eventually deteriorates, as a professor and researcher studying cognitive decline, I’ve seen it remain in good shape in people 60 and older.
The key to keeping your mental skills sharp as you age starts with noticing when your frontal lobe shrinks. If you’re aware, there are things you can do to slow down. So here are the signs it’s happening to you and what you can do about it. We’ve also compiled a series of tests so you can test how well your brain ages, which you can access below.
1. You can’t multitask
One of the first signs of a decline in your cognitive health may be the need to switch between tasks, such as cooking a meal while having a conversation with someone.
You might find yourself struggling to respond to someone’s comment because you’re still thinking about what to do next in your recipe.
There is a weakening of the sharpness that was once there. Tasks bleed together, you are unable to concentrate and it takes a while to adjust.
This signals a problem with cognitive flexibility, which is the ability to switch between different tasks and stay focused. This is one of the more difficult tasks we engage in on a daily basis, so it may be the first skill you notice deteriorating.
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In extreme cases, people may stir a pot, and while turning to talk to someone, they are still doing the act of stirring, but without the spoon in their hand.
2. Skip words in sentences
We can all get our words mixed up sometimes, especially if we’re tired or distracted. However, if you find yourself regularly skipping words, it could be a sign of cognitive decline.
For example, instead of saying “I’m just going to the shops”, you could say “It’s just the shops”.
It may be a sign that there is a problem with your response inhibition, which is a cognitive function located in your frontal lobe. It’s a skill we need to focus and block out irrelevant information.
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When you skip words like this, it means your brain failed to inhibit (or block) the last word in the sentence until it was time to say it. It is a form of language breakdown that can be an early sign of dementia.
3. You mix related words
Regularly mixing up related words is another sign that your knowledge isn’t top notch.
For example, if you want to say the word “fork”, it should be at the forefront of your mind, but when there is a problem with response inhibition, related words such as “spoon” and “knife” may also float to the surface.
If this part of our cognitive function continues to deteriorate, we may say words that become increasingly distant from the word we intended to say, for example “plate” or even “train” instead of “fork.” This is a sign that something is wrong with the brain.
The frequency with which this happens and the distance from the word you intend to say can be used to determine the severity of cognitive decline.
4. You forgot to bring your wallet to the supermarket
If you realize you need to go to the store for some milk, your brain quickly comes up with a plan. Where is the nearest store? How will you get there? Do you have any way to pay?
With good cognitive health, this takes little effort and you may not think about these questions. However, if one of these components goes wrong – for example, you forget a means of payment – it signals a failure of working memory, which is our ability to hold and manipulate information.
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As you left the house, you failed to maintain one of the key components of the task. Such mental lapses become more common as we age and the frontal lobes atrophy.
If this happens occasionally and does not increase in frequency, there is no need to worry. I have been known to drive to the supermarket and go home, forgetting that I left the car because I was busy thinking about other things.
However, if it’s happening more and more often, you may want to consider seeing your GP. It could be an early sign of dementia.
5. Shop around to find what you’re looking for
Forgetting what you need from the store and struggling to find the items you want to buy are signs of cognitive decline.
You rely on your short-term memory to remember what you need from the store and your spatial memory (the ability to understand where you are in relation to your surroundings) to find the products you need.
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If this part of your cognitive health deteriorates, you may find yourself walking up and down the same corridors many times because you’ve forgotten which one you’ve already been down.
One famous study took patients to a shopping mall and gave them a list of items to buy, such as milk and a newspaper. Those suffering from cognitive decline walked up and down several times, obtaining the items in an illogical way, following an incoherent path.
When to see your GP
If you’re experiencing any of these symptoms and they’re significantly affecting your ability to carry on with your normal life, or you’ve noticed they’re getting worse, I’d recommend seeing your GP.
It’s also worth making an appointment with your doctor if a loved one is concerned about your cognitive health, even if you’re not, as you may be experiencing anosognosia, which is a lack of awareness of your own cognitive decline. This is a common problem.
While these symptoms could be a sign of cognitive decline or dementia, they could also be caused by a stroke or tumor. The sooner you see your GP, the easier it is to treat.
If you are concerned, your doctor should refer you to your local hospital’s neuropsychology clinic. There, you’ll likely complete a series of memory tests, such as the “Stroop task” and the Corsi blocking test, and have an MRI to look for shrinkage in the frontal lobe, which would indicate dementia or lesions, which may be evidence of a stroke.
How to protect your cognitive health
There are no hidden secrets when it comes to maintaining cognitive health. As far as we know, these are the same recommendations as for maintaining bodily health.
Professor Parris lists diet, exercise, alcohol consumption and socializing among the lifestyle factors that affect our cognitive health – Heathcliff O’Malley for the Telegraph
Follow a healthy diet and exercise regimen
Diet and exercise are the two most important pillars to focus on for your brain.
Eating a healthy diet—which includes plenty of green leafy vegetables, fish, nuts, and berries—has been shown to slow cognitive decline, which is thought to be because these foods contain nutrients like folic acid and omega-3 fatty acids.
Weight training twice a week has been associated with a smaller brain and better performance on memory tests, while cardio improves blood flow, including to the brain, promoting the development of new brain cells and protecting the organ from inflammation.
Do not smoke and limit alcohol consumption
I always recommend cutting back on alcohol – and drinking only a few times a year myself – because research has shown that it causes the parts of the brain important for memory to shrink and perform worse on cognitive tests. I would also recommend giving up drinking alcohol alone, as the only benefits thought to come from drinking alcohol are if it takes you out of socializing.
Read, learn a new skill, do mental math and complete puzzles
Damage to our frontal lobes may occur or be accelerated due to lack of use, and challenging your brain has been linked to delayed cognitive decline. This could mean learning a new tool or language, reading difficult books, doing calculations in your head instead of on your phone’s calculator, completing puzzles and even looking at quizzes. All can play a role in keeping the brain younger.
Spend time in nature and socialize
Spending time in nature has been linked to better working memory, while having conversations, and socializing has been shown to maintain our cognitive health for longer. Whether it’s having a conversation or making plans to meet loved ones, you’re working these cognitive muscles.
As he told Emily Craig
Illustrations by Haley Jiang
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