Your Brain Can Grow at Any Age
The health benefits of preventive medicine are many. Our diet, exercise, sleep, and regular physician checkups for blood sugar, cholesterol, blood pressure, vision, and hearing—prevent chronic disease and support a healthy body and long life. But what about our brain? While all these preventive measures help, there is more we can do to keep a strong and flexible mind throughout our life. Your brain is not fixed—you can strengthen it, protect it, and change your memory capacity at any age. I am very interested in how to build a stronger brain and coach and teach others how to do this.
When I teach how the brain works, the audience becomes a living model of the brain, with each person representing a single brain cell, called a neuron. Together, we experience how connections form, fail, and rebuild—revealing how neuronal communication and plasticity work.
One of the most striking discoveries comes from cognitive reserve—the extra “buffer” we build when we engage in mentally challenging activities throughout life. People with higher reserve—those who read widely, learn new skills, play instruments, speak multiple languages, or stay socially engaged—show a remarkable pattern: even when their brains accumulate age-related changes, their memory and thinking stay sharp for years longer.
We can even do more. Certain activities stretch our working memory (holding multiple pieces of information) while others help improve our episodic and source memory (remembering personal events or new facts). The key is to challenge your brain.
What counts as a “brain challenge”? The key ingredients are novelty, effort, and complexity. Keep learning something new—something hard—and something that one can make more complex as you go. That is a true brain challenge.
What does a “brain challenge” do?
First, it supports the hippocampus, the memory center of the brain. Studies show that learning new, demanding skills increases hippocampal volume and supports the growth of new neurons in older adults within months. Even in young adults and students, certain brain training challenges have resulted in better test scores.
Second, it strengthens synapses. Synapses are the way brain cells communicate chemically with each other. The more synapses a neuron has, the more ways it can communicate with other neurons and other brain areas. Every time we try something difficult, we build many more connections, and the result is more communication pathways. These pathways become more efficient, more resilient, and less likely to disappear as we age.
Third, neurons communicate with electrical charges as well, and brain challenges improve neural rhythms, especially theta or gamma waves that underlie memory formation. These neural rhythms or waves are like radio waves; both are forms of electromagnetic energy. These rhythms become more synchronized with use, making learning and recall sharper and more reliable.
And finally, challenging the brain raises levels of BDNF (Brain-Derived Growth Factor) — an essential growth factor that energizes brain cell neuroplasticity, the ability to form new neural connections and pathways.
The message is clear: your brain can improve at any age.
Not just slow decline—improve.
Large clinical trials in Finland—and later repeated in other countries including the United States, show that a healthy lifestyle combined with regular medical care and structured brain training, can delay cognitive decline and dementia, with positive follow-up results up to 10 years in the Finnish trial. This is very exciting news.
So how can we begin?
Start small—but start with something new. Try a skill you’ve never done before, or one you haven’t touched in years. Add a puzzle, a memory challenge, or a new song on an instrument you enjoy. Join a class that stretches you. Read outside your favorite genre. Embrace activities that make you say, “Oh, this is hard.”
Aim for a few minutes of cognitive challenge most days. The consistency matters more than intensity.
A brain that trains is a brain that thrives. And when we invest in it—even briefly each day—we’re not just caring for our memory. We’re shaping the life we get to live, a clearer, brighter, and more connected one.
Joining a brain training group helps by increasing your social network, encouraging your mental practice, and keeping you accountable. You will learn the risk factors and protective factors that support a healthy brain, strong memory, and lifelong cognitive reserve. Working together with others, socialization, is key to keeping a healthy brain and is supported with neuroscience.
Healthy living isn’t just adding years to your life—it’s adding life to your years.
Dr. Vicki Coffin, PhD, CVPCC
Founder, Brain to Brain
Helping people build stronger, healthier brains at any age