The brain is the most important and complex organ in the body. The brain is constantly working, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It drives emotions and controls our every movement. It’s responsible for vital functions like heart rate and breathing, sleeping and hunger, and higher cognitive purposes like planning and multitasking.

Cognitive health refers to the ability to learn, remember, concentrate, communicate, and maintain a clear and active mind. A healthy brain allows us to fulfill the demands of life and function in the face of challenges. A healthy brain is essential for living life well.

Knowledge, experience and wisdom increase with age, while the speed of processing information, making decisions and working memory are likely to slow down. This process is known as cognitive aging. For example, a person might need longer to learn a new skill, have more difficulty recalling certain words or finding common items such as reading glasses or keys. These changes are considered a normal part of aging, which varies from individual to individual, and from day to day (AA, 2019).

When cognition is impaired, often called cognitive impairment, an individual has trouble with cognitive abilities such as learning new things or remembering. This process can have a major impact on health as it begins to affect everyday life. People of all ages may experience cognitive impairment, which can range from mild to severe.

Stages of Cognitive Aging

Subjective cognitive decline

Subjective cognitive decline (SCD) is the self-perceived worsening or more frequent loss of memory, confusion, or other cognitive problems (AA, 2019). SCD is self-reported, independent of cognitive testing, clinical diagnosis, or anyone else noticing the individual’s cognitive decline (Gaugler et al., 2019).

Mild cognitive impairment

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is a condition in which an older adult may have some minor changes in the ability to think clearly and remember things such as appointments or conversations from the past. With this condition, memory lapses are severe enough to be noticed by others and are identified during cognitive tests, but do not affect daily life (AA, 2019; Brondell et al., 2014; Daviglus et al., 2010). People living with MCI are at an increased risk of developing dementia. However, in some cases, MCI may be caused by other factors, such as medication side-effects, and the condition may be reversed.

Dementia

Dementia is a decline in cognition severe enough to interfere with daily living and independent functioning. Dementia is not a specific disease, but rather, an overall term that describes a wide range of symptoms associated with a decline in memory and other cognitive domains such as learning, comprehension or judgment (AA, 2019). Individuals with more severe cognitive impairment usually have difficulty expressing themselves and understanding others. They may be unable to complete tasks such as preparing meals, managing finances, or managing their medications. Eventually, individuals may become unable to care for themselves.

As a group exercise instructor, you can help your SilverSneakers members by providing physical exercise opportunities and building their social connections and engagement. These important elements may help fend off age-related declines in brain health and help protect against other serious conditions like heart disease, diabetes and high blood pressure. We can make an impact on the lives of our members.

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