Brain health is an essential part of overall health and wellbeing, as it plays a vital role in our ability to live long, healthy, and full lives. Our brains are responsible for just about every aspect of our existence. They are fundamental to our ability to think, learn, communicate, problem-solve, make decisions, respond to our environments, balance, move, and so much more. Each physical and mental activity we perform is initiated and carried out by our brains.
While some changes to brain health are likely to occur as you age, it is important to understand what are considered “normal” changes to brain health and what may be signs for concern. Regularly assessing and monitoring brain health as you age is crucial to detecting cognitive impairment early before irreversible damage is done to the brain.
Below, we explain everything you need to know about brain health as you age, including what are considered normal and abnormal changes, how to keep your brain healthy, and how to monitor your brain health.
As you get older, changes occur in all parts of the body, including the brain. As you age, some changes to brain health are normal. Aging may cause minor changes to cognitive abilities, such as memory, planning, organizing, and decision-making. For example, as you get older, you may:
However, changes that interfere with your ability to complete everyday activities, or Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), like finding your way home, driving, using your phone, shopping for groceries, or preparing a meal, are not normal. Cognitive impairment is not a normal part of aging and may be an early sign of Alzheimer’s disease or other causes of dementia. Examples of abnormal changes in brain health include:
Advancements in neuroscience and neurological disease research have provided us with information that may enable us to maintain or even improve brain health. In general, what is good for your heart is good for your brain, as cardiovascular conditions and risk factors are also risk factors for dementia. Here are seven steps you can take to take charge of your brain health:
At Altoida, we are dedicated to providing a reliable, affordable, accessible, and highly accurate way to measure and monitor your brain health as you age. Our Precision Neurology platform and app-based medical device transform your smartphone or tablet into the world’s most powerful tool to assess brain health.
By completing a series of augmented reality and motor activities on a smartphone or tablet, Altoida’s device extracts and provides robust measurements of brain function across 13 unique neurocognitive domains. Our device measures and analyzes nearly 800 multimodal cognitive and functional digital biomarkers backed by 11 years of clinical validation.
This method and our innovative artificial intelligence will pioneer fully digital predictive neurological disease diagnosis. After our Breakthrough Device designation by the FDA, Altoida’s device will provide patients with a predictive score that will enable a highly accurate prediction of whether a patient aged 55 and older will or will not convert from Mild Cognitive Impairment to Alzheimer’s disease within 12 months. Our diagnostic capabilities enable us to understand and differentiate between changes in brain health due to Alzheimer’s disease and changes due to other factors.
To learn more about brain health as you age or about Altoida’s Precision Neurology platform and medical device, contact us today.