Brain Health

Blueprint for Brain Health: Staying Sharp for a Lifetime

Pioneering medicines along with evidence-based lifestyle habits can now help you maintain memory and thinking skills more effectively than ever before.
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Updated on February 14, 2025
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Of all the diseases we face as we age, Alzheimer's is one of the most feared, surveys show.

 And that fear is valid: An estimated 6.9 million Americans ages 65 and older are already living with Alzheimer’s in 2024, and the number of new cases of Alzheimer’s and other dementias is projected to double by 2050. If you’re a 65-year-old woman, you have a 1 in 5 chance of developing Alzheimer's in your lifetime, per the Alzheimer's Association.

But research suggests that 45 percent of all dementia cases can be prevented or delayed.

 Hundreds of research studies are in progress to explore what might help, including daily habits we can all change. And some new medications have been shown to slow cognitive decline in people with early impairment.

Everyday Health’s Special Report highlights these promising approaches and shares what researchers are learning about brain health. We sort through the differences between normal cognitive changes associated with aging, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia, including Alzheimer’s. After decades of frustration and dead ends, new discoveries are bringing hope that you can keep your memory and thinking skills as sharp as possible — for a lifetime.

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Prevention: How to Keep Your Brain Healthy and Your Mind Sharp

We’re used to our brains going on autopilot, but it’s important to cross-train it, just like we cross-train our muscles.

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Silky Pahlajani, MD, behavioral neurologist and neuropsychiatrist at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City

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The relationship between alcohol consumption and the risk of cognitive decline is likely dose-dependent. The longer the years and the higher the amount of alcohol consumed, the higher the risk.

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Georges Naasan, MD, associate professor of neurology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City

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Games and exercises that improve or maintain brain health must continually challenge you. … If you don’t have to think too hard, and you are just engaging at a light level, that’s not the level we really need to protect our brains.

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Jessica Caldwell, PhD, director of the Women’s Alzheimer’s Movement Prevention and Research Center at Cleveland Clinic in Las Vegas, Nevada

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The brain [restores itself] while we sleep, so it’s important to get quality sleep for at least seven hours a night.

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Silky Pahlajani, MD, behavioral neurologist and neuropsychiatrist at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City

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Any deviation from a person’s usual behavior or abilities might be a cause for concern.

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Katherine Rankin, PhD, neuropsychologist who conducts research at the University of California in San Francisco Memory and Aging Center

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Even people who have a very high genetic risk will have more dementia-free years if [top modifiable risk factors] are controlled.

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Gill Livingston, MBBS, professor and researcher in psychiatry at University College in London, and the leader of the Lancet Standing Commission on Dementia Prevention, Intervention, and Care

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Detection and Diagnosis: Catching Cognitive Changes Early

Living Your Best Life With Cognitive Impairment

Brain Basics: The Structures and Function of Your Brain

The brain is the command center of the body, through which we perceive, think, remember, feel, and act. While no single part of the brain is solely responsible for any one function, certain areas play leading roles in certain tasks.

Much of what is known about the different areas of the brain comes from studying people who have had injuries or damage to those parts of the brain. With newer imaging technology, however, scientists have ways of studying the various parts of the brain in healthy, undamaged brains, to better understand how the parts work individually and in coordination with other parts of the brain.


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