How Lifestyle, Mental Health and Stress Control Go Together

Our cognition and mental well-being are crucial factors for our quality of life and put us in a good position to contribute to society. Ultimately, it can be near impossible to achieve physical goals and demanding life challenges if our brain health is not optimal.

Yet most of us appear to be more concerned with physical health than brain health. According to the YouGov website, the most popular New Year’s resolutions in the UK in 2024 were doing more exercise, saving money, losing weight and dieting – with about 20% reporting they were failing some resolutions only just six days into the year.¹⁾Smith M. What New Year’s resolutions are Britons making for 2024? YouGov UK, December 21, 2023 A large study of approximately 1,000 participants showed that mental health only featured in about 5% of resolutions.²⁾Oscarsson M et.al. A large-scale experiment on New Year’s resolutions: Approach-oriented goals are more successful than avoidance-oriented goals. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0234097

It’s easy to monitor your physical health using mobile devices and wearable technology to preserve physical health throughout your life. It may be more unclear, however, how to improve and monitor brain health and mental well-being. In our new book Brain Boost: Healthy Habits for a Happier Life, we draw on research to offer practical tips.³⁾Sahakian B, Langley C. Brain Boost: Healthy Habits for a Happier Life. Cambridge University Press, 2025

A number of factors contribute to our happiness in life, including genetics, our social and physical environment, cognition and our behavior, such as lifestyle choices. Studies have shown that good cognitive function is related to better well-being and happiness.⁴⁾Brain Waves Module 1: Neuroscience, society and policy. The Royal Society, January 2011
Subramaniam K, Vinogradov S. Improving the neural mechanisms of cognition through the pursuit of happiness. Front Hum Neurosci. 2013 Aug 7;7:452. doi: 10.3389/fnhum.2013.00452.

Interestingly, according to the 2024 World Happiness Report, all five Nordic countries – Finland, Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden – are in the top 10 happiest countries. The UK and the US, however, do not feature in the top 10.⁵⁾World Happiness Report, 2024

In the UK, the YouGov website has been tracking mood states and while it reports that happiness is the most commonly expressed emotion, only 45% of people feel it. Ideally this number should be much higher.⁶⁾Difford D. What has five years of measuring Britain’s mood weekly shown? YouGov UK, August 15, 2024

In addition, feeling stressed and frustrated are the next top emotions with 40% and 35% of people having these feelings respectively. Disappointingly, optimism is also low, for example, only 23% of 18-24 year-olds and over 75-year-olds feel optimistic on average, and 17% of 45-54 year-olds.

Happiness and well-being in general reduce the effects of stress and promote health and longevity.⁷⁾Kubzansky LD, Huffman JC, Boehm JK, Hernandez R, Kim ES, Koga HK, Feig EH, Lloyd-Jones DM, Seligman MEP, Labarthe DR. Positive Psychological Well-Being and Cardiovascular Disease: JACC Health Promotion Series. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2018 Sep 18;72(12):1382-1396. doi: 10.1016/j.jacc.2018.07.042.
Pressman SD, Cohen S. Does positive affect influence health? Psychol Bull. 2005 Nov;131(6):925-971. doi: 10.1037/0033-2909.131.6.925.

Nurturing your brain

In our book, we draw on the latest scientific evidence, including our own, to highlight seven essential lifestyle factors that improve our brain health, cognition and wellbeing. We demonstrate how simple — and often surprising — adjustments to our daily habits can enhance brain fitness, boost cognition, and promote overall well-being.

We suggest small incremental steps to improving lifestyle habits and ensuring these fit within our daily activities, as well as being enjoyable and pleasurable. In this way, we can ensure that unlike New Year’s resolutions that we give up within six days, we can maintain these throughout life. This puts us in a better position to achieve physical challenges in the future.

These lifestyle factors include exercise, diet, sleep, social interactions, kindness, mindfulness and learning, and knowing how to get the best out of work. For example, exercise is an “all-rounder”, as it can boost our physical health but also our brain health, cognition and mood. In fact, studies have shown that exercise can increase the size of our hippocampus, which is critical for learning and memory.⁸⁾Gomez-Pinilla F, Hillman C. The influence of exercise on cognitive abilities. Compr Physiol. 2013 Jan;3(1):403-28. doi: 10.1002/cphy.c110063.

Similarly, sleeping the optimal number of hours each night can improve our immune system, brain structure and mental wellbeing. Our own study showed that sleeping 7-8 hours per night in middle to older adulthood was associated with better brain structure, cognition, such as processing speed and memory, and mental health.⁹⁾Li, Y., Sahakian, B.J., Kang, J. et al. The brain structure and genetic mechanisms underlying the nonlinear association between sleep duration, cognition and mental health. Nat Aging 2, 425–437 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s43587-022-00210-2

Staying socially connected also plays an important role in our brain health. We have shown that being socially isolated in older adults is associated with a 26% increased risk of dementia.¹⁰⁾Shen C, Rolls ET, Cheng W, Kang J, Dong G, Xie C, Zhao XM, Sahakian BJ, Feng J. Associations of Social Isolation and Loneliness With Later Dementia. Neurology. 2022 Jul 11;99(2):e164-e175. doi: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000200583. Whereas, having the optimal number of friends in adolescence, about five, is linked with better brain structure, cognition, educational attainment and wellbeing.¹¹⁾Shen C, Rolls ET, Xiang S, Langley C, Sahakian BJ, Cheng W, Feng J. Brain and molecular mechanisms underlying the nonlinear association between close friendships, mental health, and cognition in children. Elife. 2023 Jul 3;12:e84072. doi: 10.7554/eLife.84072.

Learning new things is also essential to keep the neural circuits in our brain functioning at their best level for as long as possible. We need to challenge ourselves mentally to keep our brains active – just as we need to do physical exercise to keep our bodies fit.

This builds cognitive reserve and helps us in times of stress.¹²⁾Barnett JH, Salmond CH, Jones PB, Sahakian BJ. Cognitive reserve in neuropsychiatry. Psychol Med. 2006 Aug;36(8):1053-64. doi: 10.1017/S0033291706007501. We can also keep our brains active in a number of ways, for example, by learning a new language or how to play a musical instrument or you can read an educational book about something that interests you.

Keeping our bodies healthy is incredibly important. But we need to also nurture our brains if we want to be happy, mentally sharp and well protected against diseases such as dementia.

Embracing these simple strategies to prioritize our brain health and well-being is essential for a happier and more fulfilling life. Ultimately, lifestyle choices play a significant role in reducing stress and promoting resilience, creativity and overall quality of life.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.