VT Professor Who Studies Brain Health Urges Audience to Follow AARP’s “Six Pillars”

Take it from an expert when it comes to brain health. That’s exactly what more than 100 people did in Roanoke, as a Virginia Tech professor who has conducted extensive studies told them the results of his own research support the value of following AARP’s program Six Pillars of Brain Health.

AARP

Dr. Benjamin Katz founded and leads VT’s Cognitive Aging And Translational Science Laboratory, and he shared his expertise at AARP’s Brain Health Awareness Month event held at the Harrison Museum of African American Culture. Katz told those attending that AARP’s six pillars are helpful and effective guideposts to live by.

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AARP

“The biggest message that we have, which is consistent with the AARP’s pillars, is that each of these things is good — but there’s no royal road or silver bullet, and it’s about doing as many of them as you can as safely that you’re able to for as long as you can.” said Katz.

Those pillars are:

• Be social
• Engage your brain
• Manage stress
• Ongoing exercise
• Eat right
• Get restorative sleep

Katz said his research finds that the earlier you employ these six pillars in your life, the more likely you are to benefit later; but no matter when you begin, the results will help you.

“And that we see that people that start these things at different points in life, it’s helpful even if you start later, so it’s about doing as many of these healthy lifestyle behaviors as you can for as long as you’re able to,” he said. “It’s tricky because we have to find ways to develop habits out of those things right. So it may not be ‘I’m going to run a marathon,’ but I might find a way to make sure that 30 minutes in the morning every single day [or] I do some type of cardiovascular exercise.”

AARP

And to help those attending get actively involved with each pillar, there were activities related to each pillar, including social connection Bingo, word search games and chair yoga.  “Our purpose was to help people consider how the ‘Six Pillars of Brain Health’ could be more readily integrated into their daily choices and habits,” said AARP Associate State Director Brian Jacks. “Often we find that individuals unwittingly choose lifestyle paths which are detrimental to their overall brain health, but when reminders and accountability plans are put into action, people willingly pick better options.”

Katz said AARP’s brain health resource center is a particularly valuable web site on all matters related to the subject. Find it here: https://www.aarp.org/health/brain-health/