Five simple tips to maintain brain health

Seek positive relationships: One of the longest studies in the world—the Harvard Study of Adult Development, which followed the same families for 86 years—has identified positive and fulfilling relationships as the key to a longer, happier life with healthy brain function.

Dr. Robert Waldinger, the study’s director and a professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, said in a 2022 TED Talk: “Warm relationships not only help people stay physically stronger, but they also keep their brains sharper as they age.” He added, “Good relationships actually act like stress regulators.”

Social isolation and feelings of loneliness have been linked to an increased risk of premature death, anxiety, depression, heart disease, stroke, type 2 diabetes, and dementia. According to Rudy Tanzi, a Harvard neurology professor and director of the Genetics and Aging Research Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital, “Loneliness—which isn’t just about being alone, but about being alone and unhappy about it—doubles the risk of Alzheimer’s.”

February 28, 2025 | 4:51 am