The best way to prevent dementia

A few days ago, I watched a YouTube video that shared a story about a person who played Go (one of the most complex games one can ever play) for many decades since his 20s but still ended up getting dementia when he went into his senior years. It reminded me of a Quora post that I read about someone’s piano teacher who got dementia when she got old.

It’s counter-intuitive to see them getting dementia even though they engaged in activities that requires a lot of brain power for decades. Isn’t dementia (Alzheimer’s especially) something that only the ones who don’t use their brain enough (like watching nothing other than those “brain rot” videos lol) eventually get?

Not necessarily, the YouTube video explains — the reason people who actively engage with complex activities like playing Go or piano still could get dementia is because these activities only activates the same parts of the brain all the time and don’t activate other parts too much. In other words, the “uncharted territories” in the brain are likely to deteriorate and contribute to developing dementia later.

The video suggests that the best way to prevent dementia is to engage in new type of activities that activate different parts of the brain, eventually stimulating as many parts as possible and charting new neural paths all over the brain.

I feel like this is what I have been doing always already, with my hundreds of hobbies and interests. Of course there have been many downsides that came with my ADHD-esque broad interest and ever-increasing number of hobbies — lack of depth and mastery. On a second thought after watching the video, however, I think I should keep going with my pursuit of everything that interests me, because it definitely will help me live healthier and longer. Time to add a new language to my Duolingo!