Supporting Brain Health as We Age: Bringing the Foundations of Healthy Ageing Together

How purpose, curiosity and everyday experiences may support cognitive wellbeing.

When we think about brain health, memory is often the first thing that comes to mind. We might picture crossword puzzles, brain-training games or moments when a familiar word temporarily escapes us. But brain health is much broader than remembering names or completing mental challenges.

The World Health Organization (WHO) describes brain health as functioning across cognitive, sensory, social-emotional, behavioural and motor areas. In other words, it includes how we think, feel, communicate, move, respond to our surroundings and participate in the things that matter to us (WHO, 2022). 

This connects closely with the WHO’s definition of healthy ageing, explored throughout this series: developing and maintaining the functional ability that enables wellbeing in older age. Our memory, emotions, senses, movement and relationships can all contribute to this functional ability - helping us meet our needs, make decisions, maintain connections and take part in meaningful activities.

This broader definition offers a reassuring starting point. Supporting the brain is not about achieving a perfect memory; it is about creating conditions that help us remain engaged with life and continue doing what matters to us.

Brain Health Is About More Than Memory

Ageing does not affect every cognitive ability in the same way. Processing speed can gradually become slower, while aspects of working memory and episodic memory - the ability to remember particular events and experiences - may become less efficient. This can make it take longer to retrieve a word, follow unfamiliar information or switch between several tasks. These changes are partly associated with gradual alterations in brain structure and communication, including changes in white matter, which helps different regions of the brain exchange information (Harada et al., 2013; Park & Reuter-Lorenz, 2009).

However, cognitive ageing is not simply a story of decline. Vocabulary, general knowledge and skills developed through experience often remain comparatively strong. Even attention does not change in one uniform direction. In a study of 702 adults aged 58-98, alertness to incoming information tended to become less efficient with age, while the ability to direct attention and ignore distractions improved into the mid-to-late seventies (Veríssimo et al., 2022). 

How The Brain May Adapt: Neurocognitive Scaffolding

The brain may adapt by recruiting additional or alternative networks to help maintain performance. This capacity varies between people and can be influenced by health, environment and life experiences (Park & Reuter-Lorenz, 2009).

Dementia is not an inevitable or normal part of ageing, and an occasional lapse does not automatically mean that something is wrong. A strengths-based approach therefore asks a different question. Instead of focusing only on what may become more difficult, it considers what remains strong, what helps a person function well and what enables them to feel confident and connected.

This reflects positive neuropsychology: an approach concerned not only with cognitive difficulties, but also with the strengths, resources and environments that help people flourish (Randolph, 2018).

Purpose: A Psychological Resource for the Brain

Purpose does not have to mean a single grand ambition. It can be the sense that our days contain direction, value or something worth contributing to. Caring for somebody, tending a garden, volunteering, maintaining relationships, learning a skill or sharing knowledge can all provide purpose in different ways.

Research Spotlight: Purpose and Cognitive Health

Howard and colleagues (2025) followed 13,765 adults aged 45 and over who had normal cognitive performance at the beginning of the study. Over a median of eight years, those reporting the highest levels of purpose had an approximately 28% lower risk of developing cognitive impairment than those reporting the lowest levels, after accounting for factors including age, education, depressive symptoms and APOE ε4 genetic risk.

This is encouraging, but it needs to be interpreted carefully. People with a stronger sense of purpose may also differ in their health, relationships or daily routines in ways that are difficult to measure completely. The finding nevertheless adds to evidence that psychological wellbeing deserves a place alongside physical and social factors in conversations about brain health.

Curiosity Does Not Have an Age Limit

Curiosity gives us a reason to pay attention. Mindfulness is one way of practising present-moment attention, which is explored in an earlier blog on our page, How Mindfulness Supports the Brain as We Age. Curiosity offers another route: it directs our attention towards something we genuinely want to understand. It may encourage us to ask a question, explore an unfamiliar place, return to a forgotten interest or consider another person's point of view.

Meaningful Challenges, Not Perfect Performances

There is no single activity that guarantees protection against cognitive decline. Meaningful challenge is broader. It may involve learning, adapting, creating, planning, communicating or using an existing strength in a new way.

An activity is more likely to become part of life when it is personally relevant and realistically challenging. Examples might include learning a song, trying a different walking route, joining a discussion group, helping somebody use technology, returning to painting, practising a language or teaching a family recipe. The aim is not constant difficulty. Rest, familiarity and pleasure matter too.

How can one activity engage so much of the brain?

Joining a painting group, for example, combines visual processing, fine-motor control, planning, memory, creativity and communication. Research suggests that the older brain remains capable of neuroplasticity: learning a new skill has been associated with temporary changes in MRI measures of grey matter, while active art production has been linked with changes in functional brain connectivity (Boyke et al., 2008; Bolwerk et al., 2014). These findings do not show that art prevents cognitive decline, but they illustrate how one meaningful activity can engage several brain networks.

A gentle brain-health prompt: What is one question, skill or activity that you would genuinely enjoy exploring - and could you share it with somebody else?

 Bringing It All Together: The Foundations of Healthy Ageing

Over the past four weeks, we have explored several foundations of healthy ageing. We began by considering what healthy ageing really means, before looking at mental wellbeing and sleep, movement, nutrition and the ways we live and connect. In this final week, we add another important building block: brain and cognitive wellbeing.

Although each foundation has been explored separately, they continually interact and support one another:

• Sleep supports restoration, attention, memory and emotional regulation. Feeling well rested may also make it easier to move, connect with others and participate in meaningful activities.

• Movement supports physical ability, cardiovascular health, mood and sleep. It can also create opportunities for social connection, learning and spending time in stimulating environments.

• Nutrition provides the energy and nutrients needed for the brain and body to function. Eating well can support strength and movement, while preparing or sharing food can also offer routine, enjoyment and connection.

• Social connection provides emotional support, shared experiences and cognitive stimulation. Relationships can strengthen our sense of purpose and encourage us to remain active and engaged.

• Meaningful challenge gives us opportunities to remain curious, develop skills and adapt to new experiences. These activities may also involve movement, creativity, purpose and interaction with others.

• Brain and cognitive wellbeing supports how we think, learn, communicate, make decisions and navigate daily life. In turn, it is influenced by how we sleep, move, eat, connect and continue engaging with the world.

The message is not that we must tackle every area at once. One manageable activity can create positive ripple effects: a regular walking group, for example, may combine movement, social connection, time outdoors, routine and a shared sense of purpose. Together, these foundations can support the functional ability, engagement and wellbeing that help us continue doing what matters as we age.

A Final Reflection for Healthy Ageing Month

As Healthy Ageing Month comes to an end, it may be helpful to reflect on which part of the series felt most relevant to you. Perhaps you would like to protect your sleep, move more regularly, reconnect with somebody or make time for an interest that has been neglected.

Healthy ageing will look different for everyone. Our health, circumstances, abilities and sources of meaning are not the same, so the changes we choose do not need to be the same either. What matters is finding something that feels manageable, personally meaningful and worth returning to.

The ageing brain retains an ability to respond and adapt, although that capacity differs between people and circumstances. By supporting our physical health, emotional wellbeing, relationships and curiosity, we can create opportunities to remain connected with ourselves, with other people and with the world around us.

What is one small step you would like to carry forward beyond Healthy Ageing Month?

Reference List:

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Bolwerk, A., Mack-Andrick, J., Lang, F. R., Dörfler, A., & Maihöfner, C. (2014). How art changes your brain: Differential effects of visual art production and cognitive art evaluation on functional brain connectivity. PLOS ONE, 9(7), e101035. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0101035

Boyke, J., Driemeyer, J., Gaser, C., Büchel, C., & May, A. (2008). Training-induced brain structure changes in the elderly. The Journal of Neuroscience, 28(28), 7031–7035. https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0742-08.2008

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Howard, N. C., Gerasimov, E. S., Wingo, T. S., & Wingo, A. P. (2025). Life purpose lowers risk for cognitive impairment in a United States population-based cohort. The American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 33(10), 1021–1031. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2025.05.009

Park, D. C., & Reuter-Lorenz, P. (2009). The adaptive brain: Aging and neurocognitive scaffolding. Annual Review of Psychology, 60, 173–196. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.59.103006.093656

Randolph, J. J. (2018). Positive neuropsychology: The science and practice of promoting cognitive health. Applied Neuropsychology: Adult, 25(4), 287–294. https://doi.org/10.1080/23279095.2018.1457465

Veríssimo, J., Verhaeghen, P., Goldman, N., Weinstein, M., & Ullman, M. T. (2022). Evidence that ageing yields improvements as well as declines across attention and executive functions. Nature Human Behaviour, 6, 97–110. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01169-7

Whatley, M. C., Murayama, K., Sakaki, M., & Castel, A. D. (2025). Curiosity across the adult lifespan: Age-related differences in state and trait curiosity. PLOS ONE, 20(5), e0320600. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0320600

World Health Organization. (2015). World report on ageing and health. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789241565042

World Health Organization. (2022). Optimizing brain health across the life course: WHO position paper. https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240054561