I will focus on three empirically-supported actions to take today and every day to avoid becoming demented as you age. To put the matter simply, keep active physically, mentally, and socially. Meaning what?

Exercise vigorously and often. Exercise can be overdone, but the more common error, by a large factor, is too little exercise. Send your body the message that it needs to toughen up so that it is ready for big physical demands in the future.

Keep mentally active. Don’t retire completely, if you can avoid it. Do volunteer work, the more challenging the better. Take on new tasks and acquire new skills at work and outside work. Exercise your brain vigorously and often. Send your brain the message that it needs to keep ready to learn lots in the future.

Keep active socially. Involve yourself with friends and family. Make new friends; help strangers. Work on your relationships. All this social activity exercises your brain and helps you give and receive large amounts of social support. Send your brain the message that it needs to stay socially attuned so that it is ready to interact effectively with others.

All three types of activities, in addition to exercising us in body and mind, give us many opportunities for positive events that boost our mood, increase our self-efficacy, and make our life interesting and productive.  Our brains may slow down because they are getting old physically, but it is also true that our brains slow down because we act old.

Why do these types of activities help us avoid dementia (and stay alive)? It may be that these activities keep us tuned up, ready to deal with stressors, including destructive processes of aging. Recent research findings show that the activities cause cells to release exosomes, membrane-wrapped packages of proteins and genetic information, that stimulate oligodendrocytes (neuron-support cells) to produce more myelin sheath, which helps neurons stay healthy and transmit signals. The activities also may lead to other positive biological effects.

So how do we get individuals to remain active as they age? Here are five ideas: (1) spread the word about the importance of keeping active, physically, mentally, and socially; (2) provide a model to others of ways to keep active; (3) praise others who show sustained high levels of activity, especially older individuals, (4) help create opportunities for older individuals to stay active, e.g., through organized activities, and (5) try to prevent developments, such as physical injury, chronic illness, depression, and substance abuse, that can impair the ability of a person to remain active.

How active are you? How about your parents and grandparents? What ideas do you have for helping others stay active, physically, mentally, and socially?

John Malouff, PhD, Assoc Prof of Psychology