Cooking Once a Week Could Protect Your Brain
A six‑year Japanese cohort study of 10,978 adults aged 65+ found that cooking meals from scratch at least once a week lowered dementia risk by roughly 25‑30%. The protective effect was dramatically stronger—about 65‑70%—among participants with limited cooking skills, suggesting a "novice effect." Researchers attribute the benefit to the cognitive demands of planning, sequencing, and adapting recipes, as well as ancillary factors like shopping trips and aromatic stimulation. While observational, the findings highlight a simple lifestyle habit that may bolster brain health.
Turn Anxiety Into Curiosity
The latest Better You, Backed by Science edition positions curiosity as a practical antidote to uncertainty‑driven anxiety. Neuroscience research shows curiosity lights up dopamine‑rich reward circuits in the striatum and midbrain, which also boost motivation and memory formation in the...
Why Your Brain Needs Silence
Emerging neuroscience research shows that periods of silence trigger the brain’s Default Mode Network, facilitating memory consolidation, creative thinking, and emotional processing. When external stimuli cease, the brain shifts from active information intake to internal housekeeping, reducing cognitive load and...
A Surprising Way Daily Moisturiser May Slow Brain Ageing
Recent research suggests that a simple daily habit—applying moisturiser—may help slow age‑related cognitive decline. The study followed 200 adults over 65 for three years, comparing a group that moisturised their forearms and lower legs twice daily with a control group...
4 Surprising Science-Backed Ways to Slow Ageing
The article outlines four science‑backed habits—seeking novelty, practicing kindness, brief cold exposure, and regular skin moisturisation—that can slow biological ageing. Novel experiences enrich memory encoding, making time feel slower and supporting cognitive health. Kind acts reduce inflammatory gene activity, counteracting...
How Kindness Is Contagious
Research by Christakis and Fowler shows kindness spreads through social networks up to three degrees of separation, creating exponential ripple effects. A single act can theoretically reach 125 people as it cascades through friends of friends. The article illustrates this...