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Why it’s important to keep your brain active after retirement

By Cleveland Clinic Mahoning Matters

September 15, 2023 2:03 PM

While retirement is a time to kick back and relax, it’s important to find activities to keep your mind sharp.

“When we retire, we often lose a lot of intellectual engagement we got from our job. Without that, we’re not optimizing our brain health for life,” said Jessica Caldwell, PhD, a neuropsychologist at Cleveland Clinic’s Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health.

Dr. Caldwell said finding ways to keep your brain active in your golden years may help prevent memory issues down the road.

Ways to keep brain active

While picking an activity that’s enjoyable is key, it must also challenge you.

Learning a new skill, reading a book and doing a puzzle are just some examples of how you can engage your brain.

Dr. Caldwell said the goal should be to do an activity like this every day.

Staying social and active

Finding ways to stay social is also crucial when it comes to long-term brain health.

“Most of us make friends at work, or at least have acquaintances at work we enjoy seeing,” Dr. Caldwell said. “If you retire and don’t have that network outside of work, you might find yourself feeling isolated or lonely. Both isolation and loneliness are not good for our brain health and are risk factors for dementia. When you retire, it’s important to keep up a social network.”

Dr. Caldwell adds that regular exercise and eating a healthy diet are other ways to maintain brain health as you age.

Start by looking into community organizations, like pickleball at the Jewish Community Center of Youngstown or at the YMCA, a book club at the local library or even try your hand at knitting with Western Reserve Knitting Guild.