Brain twisters

Cognitive processes can be divided into six areas: attention, perception, memory, language, learning and higher reasoning. These can occur both simultaneously and independently, but they often intertwine to orchestrate how we think, feel and move our way through life.

But we can learn new skills or new ways of thinking even more rapidly when we also learn new movement patterns, whether a new dance or another type of movement, which will increase our cognitive fitness and the longevity of our mental processes.

When you get moving, you increase circulation, which in a sense exercises the blood vessels themselves and helps to prevent neurodegenerative conditions known to create cognitive impairment.¹ Exercise also helps to control blood sugar levels,² and recent studies have shown that people with impaired glucose tolerance and blood sugar balance have deficits in the hippocampus—a part of the brain involved in forming and accessing memories. It shrinks in volume as well as function in this population.³

Reducing the sympathetic nervous system’s fight-or-flight response increases your ability to mentally adapt and stay flexible with change—a great recipe for maintaining cognitive