AFCI News, November 5, 2026

Hello, Folks!

This week we welcome back guest columnist Betsey Foster with the second of a two-part series on the aging brain. If you missed her first article, “Overwhelmed with the Aging Brain,” which explained why, as we age, we feel more easily overwhelmed by things we used to take in stride more easily when we were younger, you can click here to read it. This week, Betsey looks at strategies for coping with these sometimes unsettling but normal changes.

Enjoy your week,

Melinda Remington

AFCI Community Connector

melindaremington@yahoo.com

Managing the Aging Brain

by Betsey Foster

Recently I wrote about the many brain changes that happen as a normal part of aging. They included physical changes to our brains (shrinkage of various regions), biochemical changes, and changes in neurotransmission. While there is no magic pill to prevent these normal changes, there are things we can do to manage these changes.

Maybe one of the most important, for me anyway, is remembering that I am not 25 or even 65 anymore, and I should not expect myself to function the way I did at those ages. Not any easy thing to do.

From a practical standpoint, here are some simple things we can do to help us accommodate these changes.

Monotask - Right, cut out that multitasking of younger years. Do one thing. One.
As always, there are scientific reasons for monotasking as we age.

· A study at the University of California shows that older adults experience a specific “switching glitch” in brain networks, making it much harder to shift back and forth between different goals.

· Simultaneous tasks compete for limited resources in the frontal cortex and parieto-cerebellar system.

· Older adults must recruit more prefrontal cortex activity just to handle dual tasks, leading to faster brain fatigue, slower motor-cognitive performance, and higher error rates.

Brown University has these suggestions for becoming a monotasker:

· Avoid switching between tasks. Work on one task for a set time for about 20 minutes, and then switch to another task.

· Schedule a time of day to check your cell phone and email rather than checking it throughout the day.

· Limit distractions. Turn off email alerts or phone alerts while engaging in a task. Find a quiet place to work with limited interruptions.

· Declutter your space. Visual clutter is distracting to your brain.

· Practice mindfulness, which means paying attention to what you are doing in the moment. This may help you catch yourself multitasking.

Try to manage stress. Chronic stress has negative effects on many aspects of mental and physical health, including the immune and cardiovascular systems. It robs us of restorative rest, it leaves us feeling exhausted and unhappy, and it reduces our ability to focus and make decisions. Stress increases inflammation and cortisone levels in the body, which can cause damage to the hippocampus and increase the risk of neurodegenerative dementia.

If it’s possible to change the life situations or environment that causes chronic stress, that would be helpful for long-term brain health. If that isn’t possible, techniques to manage stress, such as mindfulness, meditation, regular exercise, and even deep breathing can make a positive difference.
Meditate - There are many ways to meditate, and probably all are equally successful. Meditation is focusing on one calming thing to the exclusion of all else. Meditation calms your mind and lowers the stress hormone cortisol. I’ll take that any day. There are many good free meditation programs online. Note that key word “free”. You don’t need to pay.

Credible research has shown that meditation needs to be done over a number of years to have a long term effect on brain aging. It may not work wonders starting in old age, but it can certainly make our days go easier and help us focus.

Exercise - I know, this seems to be the panacea for everything. However, there are specific benefits to brain and neuro health.

· Contracting muscles release signaling molecules (exerkines) into the bloodstream that travel to the brain to repair damaged neurons and forge new connections.

· Exercise can increase proteins like GPLD1, which reduce inflammation and strengthen the blood-brain barrier against toxic accumulation. (The blood-brain barrier is a highly selective, protective wall of tightly packed cells that lines the blood vessels in the brain. It acts like a strict security filter to keep the bad things out and let the good things in.)

· Research from the National Institute on Aging and the National Council on Aging indicates that consistent movement can lower a person’s biological “brain age” by months or years relative to their chronological age.

All good reasons to exercise whether it be walking, going to the gym, or something else you enjoy. Move those muscles and help your brain.

The usual - Eat a healthy diet. Get an annual exam. Avoid smoking and limit alcohol. These apply to every kind of health including brain health.

Sources:

https://www.nature.com/articles

https://www.nia.nih.gov/news/lifelong-exercise-promotes-brain-health-older-adults

https://www.brownhealth.org

https://my.clevelandclinic.org