Begins with having a cognitive reserve! Think of cognitive reserve as your brain’s ability to improvise and find alternative ways to get a job done. It reflects how agile your brain is at drawing on skills and capacities to solve problems and cope with challenges. Cognitive reserve is developed by your lifetime of education and curiosity. 

A “cognitive backup plan” is your brain being like a well-used walking path, rather than a network of trails in a park. If you only ever walk the same single path, it works well—until something blocks it and you fall? Then you can be stuck. But if you’ve explored many different trails over time, you have other options. If one path is closed, your brain can naturally shift to another and keep moving forward.

That’s what cognitive reserve does for your brain. It builds multiple pathways for thinking, remembering, and problem-solving. So, when conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, stroke, or overwhelming stress affect certain areas, your brain can “reroute” using other connections you’ve built over time.

The heart of our brain health and cognitive fitness program requires lifestyle changes. Researchers at Harvard Medical School have identified six CORNERSTONES for any effective brain health and cognitive fitness program.

Step 1: Mix in a plant-based diet to get 50-60 grams of protein a day.

Step 2: Exercise regularly. A sedentary lifestyle WILL shorten your life.

Step 3: Get enough sleep, 7 + hours, enough to get your brain into restorative REM sleep

Step 4: Manage your stress. BREATHE, call someone to ask “How are You”

Do random acts of kindness EVERY DAY  Secret ones bring best reward.  

Step 5:  Do NOT isolate!  Nurture social contacts BE ENGAGED in your Life

Step 6: Continue to challenge your brain. Do something every day with your non-dominant hand. PRACTICE EVERY DAY! Rinse and Repeat!

These factors are equal parts of a cohesive plan—they don’t work in isolation. Simply eating more fiber or adding a morning walk to your routine isn’t enough to forestall mental decline. Instead, exercise, diet, sleep, stress management, social interaction, and mental stimulation work in CONCERT to yield the best results.