It's a common feeling: feeling younger or older than your actual age. A person might be 42, but during an afternoon playing with their kids they feel like they're 12 again. Or after a hard day of cheating, grocery shopping, and an emergency vet appointment, they fall into bed feeling closer to their 70s.
When it comes to our brain, science shows that it can age at a different rate than our years.
Here are 3 signs that your brain is staying young:
- You feel younger than you are
The age you feel, as compared to your biological age, is known as your “subjective age.” And if your subjective age is younger than the number of years you’ve actually accumulated here on Earth, that’s a good thing!
- Speak more than one language
Researchers reported that bilingual people have more centralized and specialized neural connections because speaking two languages ??makes your brain "select" information more efficiently and this saves brain energy, which helps keep it young.
- Live the moment
Mindfulness practices that help you stay in the present can also help preserve your brain's gray matter, which is essential for good memory. Meditation is ideal; it's possible that when you meditate, you can physically preserve the gray matter in your brain by reducing stress. Try meditating as soon as you get out of bed for at least ten minutes to give your brain a peaceful and productive start to the day.
4 signs that your brain is aging rapidly
- You are a cynical person.
Negative stress can be the culprit; cortisol, the stress hormone, has a very unhealthy effect on the brain and stops you from thinking clearly. If your worldview tends to be cynical — defined as a belief that others are generally selfish or dishonest — start noticing when this attitude emerges about something or someone, and in those moments, try to actively change your mindset: take a deep breath and choose to think of something positive to say.
- Your attention is lost a lot.
We all know how hard it is to concentrate when we are excited or nervous. Easy distraction is a sign of cognitive aging. This trait can appear in the brain as early as age 30 and may be a sign of Alzheimer's.
- Your friends mention that you are forgetting things
If your friends mention that your behavior seems different, take their comments seriously. Have they noticed that you're having memory problems? If so, pay attention to them - it's time to get a professional opinion.
- You are tired during the day
Napping during the day not only means your brain isn't getting the proper "cleansing" rest it needs at night, but it can cause direct physical brain changes associated with aging.
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Source: Prevention
