Your brain needs stimulation to remain healthy throughout your life, just like your muscles need exercise. Did you know hearing plays a valuable role in keeping your brain engaged and active? Keep reading to find out more!

In childhood, your brain experienced constant stimulation with new sounds, impressions, and interactions with others. All these events helped the brain and senses to grow and thrive.

Now, as an adult, your brain still needs regular and consistent stimulation to stay sharp and healthy. In fact, without stimulation and exercise, research shows the brain can gradually lose its abilities.*

The good news? Exercising and stimulating the brain is easy and enjoyable! Check out our top three tips for stimulating and engaging the brain.

1. Stay active – physically and mentally

It’s a great idea to stay active throughout life, from when you’re a kid all the way through your senior years. Good hearing can help! Brain stimulation comes from all sorts of activities.

• You can try quieter ones like mental puzzles and challenges – think Sudoku or crosswords, or chess or bridge.
• Physical exercise works too. It stimulates your brain in all sorts of ways, whether it’s the rapid decision-making needed for tennis, or the more sedate calculations on the golf course.

Equally important are the conversations and companionship that accompany sports or activities where you interact with other people. In fact, socializing is also crucial for stimulating the brain.

2. Socialize, socialize, socialize

We all need social relationships to remain healthy throughout our lives. And, as we get older, these relationships help keep our brains healthy, as growing evidence shows. In fact, one study has shown that staying socially active helps us retain cognitive function as we get older.

Have you noticed, or noticed in your loved one, physical or mental fatigue after a day or evening of socializing with others? This is because untreated hearing loss requires more effort to figure out what’s going on, forcing your brain to fill in the gaps in sound information. This can make you exhausted, which in turn can make you less likely to socialize.**

3. Hearing health is brain health

When you can’t hear properly, your brain can’t work as effectively. We know that hearing well is essential to keeping your brain fit.*** So getting your hearing checked is one of the most important things you can do to safeguard your brain’s health.

Your hearing care provider can give you a simple and easy hearing test. They can also work with you to find the right hearing solution for your personal hearing needs.

Get started on the road to brain and hearing health. Find a hearing care provider today!

*Swaab DF. Brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease, “Wear and tear” versus “Use it or lose it.” Neurobiology of Aging. 1991;12(4):317-324. doi:10.1016/0197-4580(91)90008-8
**Amieva, H., Ouvrard, C., Meillon, C., Rullier, L., & Dartigues, J. F. (2018). Death, depression, disability, and dementia associated with self-reported hearing problems: a 25-year study. The Journals of Gerontology: Series A, 73(10), 1383-1389
***Livingston G, Sommerlad A, Orgeta V, et al. Dementia prevention, intervention, and care. The Lancet. 2017;390(10113):2673-2734. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(17)31363-6