Studies have shown that walking 45 minutes a day created positive brain activity.  This brain activity helps the neurons of the brain survive.  Scientists believe it’s related to the influx of additional oxygen during the exercise.  Further studies have shown executive level skills like planning and scheduling were also improved by the walking program.  Additionally, the actual size of the brain, particularly the frontal lobe where cognition occurs, increases with exercise.  Add some weight to your walks.  Some research has shown that a small amount of weight has significant positive effect on brain health.  Put on ankle weights before the next walk for a mental health boost.  Work in the garden. Leisurely swim a few laps. Clean the house from top to bottom. Rake some leaves. Studies have shown that exercise that requires some mental steps has greater boosts in mental health.  Something that requires coordination like an aerobics class engages both the muscles and the mind.  A team-building obstacle course provides an outlet for not just the physical activity, but also strategy.  The key is that simple physical exercise has less of an impact on mental health than exercise including mental demands.  Try counting your steps during a run. Add up the total weight lifted when doing strength exercises (e.g. 3 reps of 20lbs would be 60lbs). Sign up for an instructor led class that will challenge you to memorize a routine. Improving coordination and balance is a sure-fire way to avoid potential head injuries related to poor mental health and degraded mental cognition.  By practicing something like Tai Chi, the muscles used to balance are strengthened and stabilized, and there is less chance of falling or head injury.  Doing some squats will strengthen various balance muscles in your legs. Try balancing on one leg.  You’ll wobble at first, but with enough practice, you’ll begin to stabilize. Head trauma has been connected to an increased chance of Alzheimer’s, and recent research in athletics has linked it to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE).  CTE is a degenerative disease caused by multiple head injuries, including concussions.  Whenever engaging in physical activities that provide safety measures, always use them properly.  Wear a helmet whenever riding a bike or skateboard. Always buckle your seatbelt when available. Avoid contact whenever possible in contact sports. Dementia-related illnesses are diagnosed via an assortment of tests like brain imaging and blood-work.  Some drugs, or particular doses, may have a negative affect that exacerbates poor mental health.  Research has shown early diagnosis of symptoms related to mental impairment can help reverse potential cognitive impairment.  One study has shown that 80% of people with Alzheimer’s also have cardiovascular issues.  Take preventative measures by improving your cardiovascular system, lowering blood pressure, and lowering cholesterol, and you’ll improve your chances against Alzheimer’s.  If you are forgetting more often, having trouble with instructions, words are getting jumbled, or you're losing things often, you may need to see your doctor to see if these issues are related to Alzheimer’s.

Summary: Get physical exercise most days. Add mental demands to the exercise. Practice balance exercises. Wear protective headwear. Get regular checkups.


When people lie, they are likely to use short responses to questions and elaborate less about their story. They might also pause and take longer to respond. When they do respond to statements and questions from others, people will give fewer rich details. Try prompting the other person to tell a story that should be long. For example, ask what that person's plans are for the holidays. Avoid asking questions whose answers could be “yes” or “no.” If you listen carefully to the way the person tells his or her story, you can sometimes tell if it's a lie. Liars use more sense-based words, like “I saw,” “it smelled like,” or “I heard.” They also will probably use other-oriented pronouns and phrases, like “she forgot this” or “something happened to the car” instead of “I forgot this.”  Liars are less likely than truth-tellers to correct themselves while telling a story. Look out for more far-fetched stories, that seem outside of the realm of possibility. People who are lying generally use fewer gestures. Is the person speaking in a higher tone than normal? Is the person speaking faster than normal? Quieter or louder? The discomfort of lying usually makes people's voices sound higher, but some individuals may compensate or go another route. If your significant other is speaking in unusual tones, it might be a sign.

Summary: Listen for less. Pick up on the details. Notice her/his voice.


You need a minimum of two players to play I spy, but otherwise there's no limit on how many people can play a game. Players are old enough to play when they have an understanding of the world around them and can easily name everyday objects. For each round of I spy, there is one person who is the spy. That person selects an object and has to get the other players to guess what the object was based on a clue.  There are many ways you can determine who gets to be the first spy. For instance, you can draw cards or straws, ask whose birthday is coming up next, go by whose name is alphabetically first or last, or even have an outside person who isn't playing randomly select the first spy. In another variation on the game, the spy is instead called the king or queen bee. As the first spy, your job is to pick an object from your immediate surroundings that all the players can see. But once you’ve picked it, don’t say what it is! Instead, think about the object to yourself, and come up with a few features and characteristics that make this object noteworthy. If you're in a moving vehicle, you will have to work quickly, otherwise the object will have passed before anyone else has a chance to see it. In order to get players to guess the object you’ve chosen, you have to provide them with a piece of information about the object. Use those noteworthy features you came up with and think about what you can say that will hint to your fellow players what object you're thinking of. Good adjectives to use can relate to the object’s:  Color Height Weight Texture  Geometric features  First letter Material A word that it sounds like In this game, the spy uses the phrase “I spy with my little eye, something that…” and the then finishes that hint with the descriptor or adjective chosen to describe the object. For instance, if you picked a purple hat that a nearby person was wearing, you could finish with “something that you wear.”  When you say the hint out loud, be sure you aren't looking right at the object!  Another variation on the hint phrasing is “I spy something and it’s designed to keep you warm,” for instance. For the bumblebee game, you can say “Bumble Bee Bumble Bee, I see something you don't see, and the color of it is purple,” for example. Once you’ve provided the hint, give the other players a chance to look around and find the object. Then, go around the group and give each player a chance to guess what object you chose.  I spy is usually played with yes or no answers (players ask if specific objects were the chosen ones and the spy says yes or no), but the spy can also provide additional hints to the players by saying whether the guess was hot or cold. If a guess was close to or similar to the chosen object, the spy says the guess was warm (close) or hot (very close). If a guess was nowhere near the object, the spy says cold, or cool if the guess was mostly off. If none of the players are able to guess the object, repeat the phrase and provide another hint. Choose a different adjective this time, and concentrate on a different feature. For instance, if your hint before told the players what color the object was, provide a hint about something else, like the object’s material, shape, or texture. Go around in the same order and let each player guess again. When a player does guess correctly, that player becomes the new spy, and the game begins anew.  If nobody is able to guess the object, you can either provide another hint, or the spy role can automatically pass to a new player. If all the players are young and not able to easily guess, consider having a set order in which everyone gets to be the spy.
Summary: Choose the players. Select the first spy. Pick an object. Pick your first hint. Provide the first hint. Let each player guess. Provide another hint if necessary. Let the player who guesses correctly become the next spy.