According to cognitive-based definitions (there are others), intelligence is the ability to acquire and use knowledge adaptively. It encompasses higher-level abilities like problem-solving, decision-making, abstract reasoning, emotional skills, creativity, learning, and adaptation.
The quality of these mental skills is often used to gauge one's cognitive health. Over the years, more attention has been given to physical fitness, while cognitive health is seen as a topic for aging people trying to combat age-related diseases like Alzheimer's and dementia.
On the contrary, the discussion of cognitive fitness spans all ages and is an equally important aspect of human wellness.
This article explores cognitive health and mental fitness, how they affect your IQ, and how brain exercises can be the best form of self-care. They are one way to help keep your brain healthy and young.
What Is Cognitive Health and Mental Fitness?
Cognitive health concerns the human ability to think, learn, adapt, and focus. It deals with the brain and body working in perfect harmony for the individual's overall wellness.
While it may not seem like it, good cognition is the foundation for an all-around healthy life. It is the building block for social interaction, emotion management, intelligence, and physical health.
A common misconception is that cognitive health is a discussion for aging people who struggle with forgetfulness and cognitive decline. However, it is a vital part of wellness that determines the quality of life we enjoy at any age.
Good cognitive health has the following elements:
- Sharp focus and concentration
- Memory making
- Learning
- Mindfulness
- High-quality and consistent sleep
- Coping mechanisms for stress
What is Cognitive Reserve, and How Is It Connected to Mental Fitness?
The discussion of cognitive health leads us to a psychological term known as cognitive reserve. It is the ability of the brain to build several thinking skills throughout one's lifetime. It also enables the brain to improvise at different levels to get a job done.
You can compare cognitive reserve to a storage house that keeps valuable skills and knowledge from early developmental stages to adulthood. It is regarded as a person’s defense against memory loss and severe cognitive decline as they age.
People with reasonable cognitive reserves tend to experience slower cognitive decline and a lower risk of Alzheimer's disease. However, like physical fitness, mental fitness is achieved with intentional effort, a specific lifestyle, and brain exercises.
Follow on as we explain this connection to mental and cognitive fitness further.
Why is Maintaining Good Cognitive Health Important?
A healthy brain goes a long way to affect your professional success, confidence, relationships, and quality of life. Here are some reasons why you should strive for better cognitive health.
You Stay in the Present
If you've struggled with staying focused through conversations, it is a sign that your cognitive health needs more attention. Good cognition keeps you in a mindful state. It improves concentration and heightens your awareness of your surroundings.
Maintaining your brain health makes it easier to retain information and stay present in conversations. These cognitive skills help you foster better relationships and have more fluid social interactions.
You Have More Control
A mentally fit individual responds to unexpected occurrences in a rational and less emotive manner rather than giving a “fight or flight” reaction. As you maintain your cognitive health, you tend to have more control over your body, mind, and your entire life.
You Become More Productive
Good cognition directly contributes to better productivity. It improves your information retention, focus, information processing, communication, and sometimes time management. All these skills are essential for having a fulfilling personal or professional life.
You Experience Positive Emotions
Improved cognitive health has both long-term and short-term effects. While you are protected against cognitive decline in the long term, you also notice more instant improvement in your self-perception. Better cognition has been linked to positive emotions like self-confidence, optimism, empathy, and self-compassion.
You Enjoy Quality Sleep
Getting quality sleep goes beyond the state of your body and also affects your cognitive health. Improved brain health helps you create consistent and quality sleep habits, affecting your physical health.
What Does Your IQ Say About Your Mental Fitness?
IQ stands for "intelligence quotient." It is a figure used to represent one’s intellectual and spatial abilities.
For a long time, IQ tests have been popularized for educational purposes, intellectual assessments, and employee evaluations. However, they are also excellent tools for cognitive assessment and self-improvement. An IQ test helps measure an individual’s memory, speed, and focus.
While an IQ test does not replace a more in-depth cognitive examination (to discover severe cognitive impairment), it can reveal cogent insights about your brain health.
For example, an abnormally low IQ could be indicative of an intellectual disability. Or, it could indicate some type of cognitive impairment affecting memory and information retention. Likewise, someone with an extremely high IQ may also suffer some form of cognitive impairment.
When it comes to cognitive health, what’s even more important than a person’s intelligence quotient is whether their IQ changes over time, especially if it’s a drastic change. It’s also important to understand the difference between intelligence and cognition.
Intelligence Vs. Cognition
Intelligence is the ability to learn, understand and adapt to new experiences. Cognition, on the other hand, is the ability to process and recollect thoughts, focus, adapt to situations, and understand one's senses. They are similar yet different concepts, and each affects the other.
One way of looking at the two concepts is this. Intelligence measures a person's potential in certain areas. Cognition is more active; it’s the awareness and actual “doing” process. When a person’s cognitive abilities decline, it can then impact their IQ. This is because IQ tests assess processes directly related to cognition.
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Signs Of Cognitive Decline or Impairment
There is a fine line between harmless episodes of forgetfulness and cognitive impairment. For example, when you forget a co-worker's name or go on an intense search for the keys in your pocket. All these are entirely normal; however, when they become too frequent and continually interfere with your daily routines, there may be a need for concern.
Cognitive impairment is a condition that affects a person's ability to concentrate, make decisions, remember past information, or learn new things. It ranges from mild cognitive decline to full-blown dementia. This impairment is not secluded to a specific age group. However, individuals over 65 are at higher risk of this condition. Nevertheless, cognitive impairment isn't a norm for aging people as it is possible to have a healthy and agile old age.
Some signs of cognitive impairment (when different from usual) include:
- Frequent memory loss leads you to ask the same questions or retell the same story repeatedly.
- Difficulty recognizing people and locations that were once familiar.
- Planning and following routines become more difficult.
- A drastic change in mood and behavior.
- Indecisiveness and cluelessness in the face of an emergency.
- Vision problems not caused by eye issues.
How To Improve Cognitive Health
To enjoy better brain health and overall cognitive wellness, you'd want to build certain physical, mental, and emotional habits to keep your cognition in shape.
Here are some things you can do to stay cognitively healthy and mentally fit.
1. Engage in De-Stressing Activities
Stress is a significant cause of reduced productivity, anxiety, burnout, and some cognitive health concerns. While stress is almost inevitable as you carry out your daily living, you can create a lifestyle of regular de-stressing. It means taking intentional steps to avoid stress-inducing situations or indulging in activities that help you relax often.
An excellent way to de-stress in a work setting is by briefly walking during work hours with calming music playing through your headphones. If possible, take your breaks outdoors. Take a moment to take in nature, breathe in fresh air, close your eyes, and shut out the bustle of office life.
At home, you can incorporate a few minutes of exercise to clear your mind. Yoga, breathing exercises, and meditation are excellent methods to de-stress after a long day. They help improve your awareness and concentration and improve your productivity in the long run.
2. Maintain a Healthy Diet
Living on a healthy diet can work wonders for your brain health. Different studies have shown that the nutrients found in certain foods help accelerate cell-building processes, repair damaged ones, reduce inflammation, and increase the overall energy production of the brain. As a susceptible organ, the brain rapidly reacts to a nutrient deficiency which manifests as mood disorders, mild cognitive impairment, and other mental issues.
Nutritionists have tagged certain foods as “brain food” because of their enormous effect on brain power. Generally, food rich in omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and vitamins B6, B9, and B12 are great for cognitive health. You can find them in plant-based proteins, fatty fish (omega-3 acids), walnuts (vitamin B9 or folate), and brightly colored fruits (antioxidants).
In contrast, living on a diet of sugar, saturated fat, and processed foods can lead to inflammation of neurotransmitters, oxidative stress, and other issues that result in cognitive impairment.
3. Exercise Regularly
Physical activity is one habit that can positively contribute to an individual's overall wellness. It not only helps you stay physically fit, but it also affects your emotional, mental, and cognitive health.
Research has shown that daily exercise helps you stay alert, improves concentration, and heightens information retention. Another study found that cognitive decline is twice as common in adults who lead a sedentary lifestyle, unlike those who exercise regularly. Aside from the struggle with your cognition, physical inactivity also puts you at risk of chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease or depression.
The good thing is that you don't have to do athlete-type exercise to gain cognitive fitness — any amount of movement can make a difference. However, according to the CDC, for the best results, you need at least 150 minutes of moderately intense workouts or 75 minutes of high-intensity exercises on a weekly basis. It can be split into 30-minute sessions spread out over 3-5 days a week. You can also break your workout routine into small sub-routines in between daily activities; all that matters is that you get good physical movement.
Some simple ways to incorporate exercise into your day are:
- Dancing to lively music while doing the chores.
- Squat or stand on one leg in between your favorite TV shows.
- Take the stairs instead of the elevator.
- Go on regular walks with friends or pets.
4. Practice Mindfulness
The world can be a chaotic place sometimes. It is essential for our cognitive health that we don't get caught up in overwhelming activities but be more conscious of our thought processes, and this is where mindfulness comes in. Mindfulness is a form of meditation concerned with bringing awareness to the present experiences without the burden of evaluating the emotion you feel at that time.
Simply put, mindfulness is a moment-to-moment consciousness of our thoughts, bodily sensations, feelings, and things around us. When done right, mindfulness is a good way to purposely build focus and memory skills, reduce stress, and improve the sync between your brain and body — all of which are important for our mental and cognitive health.
A practical way to incorporate mindfulness in the workplace or at home is the meta-cognitive strategy. This is where you mentally step away from a situation to experience it rather than judging or paying attention to the emotions surrounding the moment. An example is when a deadline looms, you become tense with many emotions.
Mindfulness helps you go through that process without paying attention to distracting feelings. This way, you can maintain adequate focus and get more work done while reducing the chances of being stressed out.
5. Exercise Your Brain
To enjoy better cognitive health, you must be willing to exercise the primary organ for cognition, which is the brain. Just like any other muscle in the body, you can carry out exercises to target specific areas of the brain and their associated cognitive functions. For example, you can strengthen your memory by memorizing your favorite songs.
Reading a book or playing games like chess, crosswords, and puzzles will benefit your reasoning and processing skills. Good sleep and meditation are also forms of “brain exercise," and they can improve your concentration skills. Even taking online IQ practice tests can stretch your brain.
Role of Brain Exercises In Improving Intelligence and Cognitive Fitness
More than just physical fitness, you should aim for all-around wellness, including exercising your brain. Brain exercises are mental activities to improve memory, cognition, creativity, and intelligence.
Brain training exercises are a fun way to improve your cognitive wellness and will help you achieve the following:
Maintain Brain’s Neuroplasticity
Just as you reinforce your tissues and muscles as you lift weights, brain exercises repair and build new connective tissues between the neurons in a process known as neuroplasticity. It is the brain's unique way of adapting and reorganizing after an experience, thereby increasing capacity. As you exercise your brain, you maintain its neuroplasticity, which protects you from cognitive decline as you age.
Improve Information Retention
Studies have linked regular mental challenges and exercise to better memory capacity. For example, a 2006 study observed taxi and bus drivers in London to know which had better memory capacity. The results showed that taxi drivers had a larger hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for memories, than their counterparts. In turn, they displayed better memory capacity and information retention.
The outcome was attributed to taxi drivers indulging in frequent mentally stimulating activities such as navigating the maps and learning new routes, unlike bus drivers who have to follow the same path every day.
Slows Down Cognitive Decline
Some form of cognitive decline is bound to happen as we age, but brain exercises can prolong the process. Studies have found that certain mental activities can reduce brain cell damage that occurs with Alzheimer’s disease.
Take Care of Your Cognitive Health
On your journey toward cognitive health and total wellness, it is important not to overlook the simple things.
While mentally stimulating activities are great, there is also power in rest, hydration, socializing, and the knowledge of your IQ score.
When you take the BrainManager online IQ test, not only will you get a snapshot of your current IQ, but you’ll also have access to brain training exercises designed to specifically improve your mental fitness based on our results!
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