What if for the holidays this year, you try to please your loved ones while taking care of their mental health? To achieve this, the editorial staff gives you some ideas for Christmas gifts that can boost and preserve the brain.
- On average, the French offer 8.5 Christmas gifts to those around them.
- The most common gifts given are toys, followed by books and gift cards.
Out of inspiration for your Christmas gift shopping? This year, the editorial staff Why Doctor gives you some tips on how to kill two birds with one stone: find a gift that pleases and offers benefits for cognitive health.
Puzzles improve cognitive abilities
A study conducted in 2019 by the University of Ulm in Germany with neurology researcher Patrick Fissler, showed that doing puzzles could improve cognitive abilities. “The study we conducted confirms that the practice of the puzzle significantly improves short and long-term memory, but also cognitive flexibility, mental rotation and visuo-spatial perception”, detailed the author. “This can be a protective factor against mental impairment in middle age, especially if you do puzzles consistently and regularly, not just once in a while.”
Another advantage of this gift? There are puzzles for all ages, with different levels of difficulty.
Light therapy treats many ailments
Another idea: a light therapy lamp or glasses! It is a form of phototherapy which consists of exposing oneself to artificial light capable of reproducing natural sunlight. Neurodegenerative diseases, bulimia, sleep disorders or depression, many studies show the benefits of light therapy.
Books strengthen the ability to memorize
Relaxing, engaging, eclectic… Reading has many advantages, but in addition, it would allow you to preserve memory capacity, especially as we get older. According to a team of researchers from the Beckman Institute in the United States, reading would notably improve episodic memory, or memory of events. It is this memory that allows us to remember what happened in previous chapters in order to make sense of the current story. This activity would also boost our working memory, that is to say our ability to keep information in mind while we learn new things by continuing to read.
Cooking improves mental health and vitality
Several studies have shown that cooking has real therapeutic benefits. A research Australian study published last March showed in particular that people who took cooking classes saw their mental health and vitality improve. This activity is also beneficial for people with Alzheimer’s disease, as it can help them maintain physical abilities while stimulating conversation and memory.
Tea helps protect the aging brain
And why not offer an assortment of different teas? A recent study published in the journal Neurology showed that a “higher dietary intake of total flavonols and flavonol constituents was associated with a slower rate of decline in overall cognition and several cognitive domains”. Flavanols are antioxidant compounds found in green leafy vegetables and tea leaves. But the benefits of tea on the body do not only focus on the brain! Another research relayed on Why Doctor last month also showed that black tea was beneficial to the cardiovascular health of seniors.