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Things Gen X and Millennials Should Do Now to Protect Their Brains for Healthy Longevity

The habits you establish — and avoid — in your 40s and 50s can make a big difference decades down the line

Anna Medaris and Cori Vanchieri

Published October 15, 2026

A mother and her teenage daughter smiling and hugging each other.

AleksandarNakic/Getty Images

Key takeaways

For Gen X, the choices made now can help protect cognitive health and support independence in the decades ahead.
Learning new skills, protecting your hearing and making time for in-person connections can help build cognitive resilience.
Managing blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar is especially important because heart health and brain health are closely connected.

Some people call the Gen X crowd the stressed generation. Taking care of kids and often aging parents, building a career while trying to follow the latest health trends. It’s a lot.

But there’s also good reason for Gen X — people ages 46 to 61 — and even Millennials — people in their 30s and 40s — to keep their older selves in mind when making choices now.

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“Brain health does not begin in old age,” says Caghan Kizil, a professor of neurological sciences at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and a research grantee of the American Brain Foundation. “The best time to protect the aging brain is decades before it begins to feel old.”

Midlife is a chance to set the stage for healthy longevity, says Dr. Kevin Bickart, assistant professor in adult neurology at UCLA. “This is a window of opportunity where the more physical, mental, social, spiritual, emotional engagement that you put into your life right now, the more you can get out.”

Here’s how to take advantage of those midlife opportunities.

Learn new things

Everybody loses some mental sharpness as they age, but one thing that limits how much is lost is how much was acquired to begin with, says Dr. Kavosh Rouhani, a Las Vegas-based internist and psychiatrist at Psychiatry Connection. That’s, in part, why research shows that the more education someone gets, the more likely they are to have strong cognition and memory later in life. Educational attainment is predictive of a longer life expectancy and delayed onset of Alzheimer’s disease or dementia, too.

But building cognitive resilience — what Kizil describes as “the brain’s ability to adapt and continue functioning in the face of aging, injury or disease” — isn’t just about advancing to the next grade or getting another degree. It’s about learning new things, whether in school or out in the world.

“We build [cognitive resilience] gradually through learning, challenging activities, exercise, restorative sleep, meaningful relationships and varied real-world experiences,” Kizil says. “Think of it as a savings account for the brain: The earlier you begin contributing, the more the brain may have to draw upon later.” So learn a new language or sport, pick up a new musical instrument or try out a new creative pursuit.

The same way a runner improves when pushing new paces, terrain or distances, a brain improves when thinking through — not just regurgitating — new ideas and information. As Rouhani says, a robust cognitive reserve largely depends on “the effort in obtaining information and not necessarily the information itself.”

Protect your hearing

“Hearing loss has a direct connection to dementia, so it’s essential to protect our hearing,” says Dr. Ayesha Sherzai, a neurologist and Alzheimer’s researcher and co-author of the upcoming book, “A Better Brain with Age.” With hearing loss, the brain has to work harder. And when people can’t hear, they often pull away socially, which is no good for brain health.

In terms of reducing risk, protecting your hearing is probably one of the most important things you can do for yourself, says Dr. Reza Hosseini Ghomi, a neuropsychiatrist at University of Washington.

AARP offers an annual hearing test, free to members. You can take it on your phone or laptop.

Limit screen time

Taking deliberate breaks or putting time limits on your use of digital media frees up time for what we know improves brain health: sleep, exercise, healthy in-person social connections and engaging in deep learning, Kizil says. “The greatest risk from a smartphone may not be what it does to the brain directly, but what it prevents the brain from doing,” he says.

Above all else, prioritize heart health

What’s good for the heart tends to be good for the brain, Kizil says. That’s in part because a robust cardiovascular system means good blood flow to the brain, less inflammation and more neuroplasticity, or the brain’s ability to adapt and rewire itself to strengthen connections, according to one 2025 review article in The Lancet.

“Over time, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking and physical inactivity can damage blood vessels, including the tiny vessels that serve the brain,” Kizil says. “That damage can contribute to stroke, cognitive impairment and dementia later in life.”

Indeed, a study reported in 2026 in Neurology Open Access found that middle-aged people who maintained healthy blood pressure, avoided diabetes and didn’t smoke had an average of 13 more years of dementia-free life than peers who had all three risk factors.

Ghomi says he’s very strict on blood pressure and cholesterol. “A person’s blood pressure may be 138 over 93 and may not get treated. I want much tighter control.” The American Heart Association agrees. If your systolic is 130 or higher, act. Don’t wait until later. “If you’re Gen X, start now."

Get moving. Activity is so important for tackling so many risk factors, Bickart says. “But activity doesn’t have to mean boot camps, or all the stuff that looks so cool on social media; the things that make you sweat and hurt in the gym.” The first step, he says, is to take a look at your balance of movement versus inactivity. How much time do you spend sitting? How can you move instead? You have myriad options. Find the ones that fit with your life and interests.

“If you love to fix cars, forget the gym, go fix the car,” Bickart says to his patients, many of whom are veterans. “The squatting, the bending, getting under the car and getting up, that’s all meaningful. Pair that with walking around the block and you’ve got a program.” The 10,000 steps started off as a gimmick for pedometer companies to sell pedometers, he adds. But even 7,000 steps turns out to be a really reasonable number. And moving up to 10,000 steps is good for a person with cardiovascular risk factors.

Start by getting your heart rate up for 30 minutes three to four times a week. Then add resistance training, especially for the legs, your largest muscles.

“If we’re not treating our body well, we can’t possibly look to have good brain health,” Bickart says.

Eat a heart-healthy diet. Eating plenty of leafy greens, berries, whole grains, beans, nuts and at least one weekly serving of fish — and limiting red meat, sugar, cheese, and fast and fried food — has been associated with a lower risk of cognitive decline. It can help prevent high blood pressure, too. It’s not about restricting as much filling your plate with whole plants and then lean meats and good fats.
Know your numbers. Ask your doctor about blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar when appropriate, Kizil says. “Many brain disorders appear late in life, but some of the risks associated with them begin accumulating decades earlier,” he says.
Sleep well. Consistent, restorative sleep is among the American Heart Association’s “Life’s Essential 8,” as well as AARP’s Global Council on Brain Health’s six pillars. The same principles apply to brain health, with research showing sleep disturbances are linked with neurodegenerative disorders.

If you have a hard time falling asleep at night, with thoughts racing about all the things you could have done or should have done that day, or thinking about tomorrow’s list, find ways to make the time before bed as relaxing as possible, Bickart says. Along with all the sleep hygiene advice — no caffeine later in the day, dark room, no doom scrolling, no food or alcohol right before bed — create a relaxing ritual right before you go to sleep. It works.

Avoid drugs and alcohol. Alcohol affects the brain’s communication pathways and is linked with an increased risk of dementia, according to research reported in BMJ in 2026. Drug use, particularly at a young age, "is impacting the brain’s ability to develop,” Rouhani says. “Some of those changes can be very, very, very difficult to overcome as we age.”

The key takeaways were created with the assistance of generative AI. An AARP editor reviewed and refined the content for accuracy and clarity.

Anna Medaris is a Brooklyn-based freelance journalist with 15 years of experience covering health and lifestyle for publications including The Washington Post, Women’s Health, Business Insider and US News & World Report.

Cori Vanchieri is AARP’s brain health editor.

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