Why Older People Really Should Get Rid Of Their Clutter

Whether it's your grandma, great uncle, or neighbor, you've probably been to an elderly person's home that is packed with clutter. Someone who has spent that many years on the Earth will naturally accumulate a lot of stuff. But it's a different type of clutter that is negatively affecting elderly people. A new study review suggests that one of the reasons older people have issues with memory is that they have too much clutter in their brains (via NBC News).

Tarek Amer, a postdoctoral fellow at Columbia and Harvard Universities and the review's first author, says that older adults may have "too many associations between information" in their brains. "It's not that older adults don't have enough space to store information. There's just too much information that's interfering with whatever they're trying to remember." This "clutter" in the brain can make searching for memories as difficult as searching for a shirt in a messy closet.

It is a fear of many older people that they will lose memories as they get older. Fortunately, there are a few ways that you can improve cognitive function and keep your brain sharp as you get older. According to Healthline, the current Wordle craze is something your grandparents may want to join. "Puzzles and games, especially those involving novelty, can stimulate and challenge key parts of the brain, including reasoning, language, logic, visual perception, attention, and flexibility," said Dr. Douglas Scharre, a neurologist and director of the Center for Cognitive and Memory Disorders at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.

According to Harvard Health Publishing, eating a well-balanced diet with plenty of plants, exercising regularly, getting at least eight hours of sleep each night, managing your stress in a healthy way, and staying social are all important skills for your brain health. Keeping your body healthy will also keep your mind healthy.