Your brain is amazing. Its 86 billion neurons enable you to dance and sing, read a book, solve an equation, fall in love, remember the name of your fifth grade teacher and learn the name of your son’s new girlfriend. Throughout your life, your brain never stops changing.
It should come as no surprise that how you treat your brain is essential to your health, longevity and happiness. What may be surprising is that optimizing its health is relatively straightforward — and you can do it by adopting a few good habits.
Like any healthy behavior, the earlier you start, the better. But it’s also never too late. A large study published this summer, called the POINTER trial, found that adults age 60 to 79 who had a high risk of developing dementia improved their cognition over the course of two years by making a few key lifestyle changes.
That’s what this challenge is all about. Starting on Jan. 5, we’ll lead you through five days of activities designed to benefit your brain, and we’ll explain the science behind why they work.
Here’s how to get started.
To receive each day’s challenge, make sure you’re signed up for the Well newsletter. You can do that here. (If you already receive the Well newsletter, you don’t need to do anything else.)
From Monday, Jan. 5, to Friday, Jan. 9, you’ll receive a daily email to help boost your brain power.
Once the challenge ends, you’ll continue to receive our weekly Well newsletter.
While you’re at it, recruit a friend.
To help you get the biggest benefits from this challenge, we’re encouraging you to sign up with a buddy. That’s because, in order to make lasting change, you need to commit to doing these activities long-term. And having an accountability partner increases your odds of sticking with the behaviors.
Researchers who ran the POINTER trial attest to this. The study included regular support group meetings for the participants, which Laura Baker, a professor of gerontology and geriatrics at Wake Forest University School of Medicine who helped lead the study, called the trial’s “secret sauce.” The accountability and community those meetings provided were key to helping 89 percent of people stick with the trial for two years, she said.
Social connection is another reason to buddy up. Research shows that people who have more social support tend to have greater cognitive resilience, a reduced risk for stroke and dementia and even healthier-looking brains.
Your accountability partner can be anyone — a friend, family member, co-worker, neighbor — so long as they’re supportive and committed to seeing the challenge through.
Send them the sign-up link here.
We hope to see you both on Jan. 5!
Dana G. Smith is a Times reporter covering personal health, particularly aging and brain health.
The post Want a Healthier Brain in 2026? Sign Up for Well’s 5-Day Challenge. appeared first on New York Times.
