Brain Flossing

My brain has been feeling like an old Commodore 64 computer. About 20 years ago, my brain used to process information quickly and efficiently. Now it seems to be moving at a snail’s pace. I think I may have brain plaque.

Plaque (beta amyloid) build-up is common in aging brains. It is a leading cause of Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive impairment issues. Regular exercise and a healthy diet are the usual recommendations to fight brain plaque formation.

Well…I already maintain a healthy diet and exercise daily; so why does my brain feel so clogged up?

I wonder: If flossing my teeth can reduce plaque, why can’t the same work for my brain? Of course, I don’t mean literally getting inside my brain and scraping the plaque out. Yet, there must be some way I can clean the debris that has built up over the decades.

Learning anything new seems to help a bit, whether it is knitting or graphing parabola translations. At first, it feels awkward and labored—and just like when you first start to floss your teeth, it’s frustrating when the thread gets stuck. It’s not fun to feel incompetent. It’s tempting to go back to the familiar. Yet, if I keep tugging, flossing, and cleaning—maybe I’ll prolong the usefulness of my brain. After all, I could get dentures if my teeth fall out, but it might be harder to get a prosthetic brain. (I guess smartphones are today’s version of the prosthetic brain, and soon they will figure out how to just implant it directly into our skulls.) Yet, just like I hope to keep my own natural teeth, I hope to keep my own natural brain functioning. So, I try to floss my brain regularly by continuous learning.