How to Stay Mentally Sharp Into Your 80s and Beyond

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Vernon L. Smith, 97, is a very busy man. The economist at Chapman University just finished writing a book about Adam Smith and works about eight hours a day, seven days a week in his home office in Colorado Springs, Colo.

He enjoys chatting with friends on Facebook and attending concerts with his daughter. “I still have a lot of stuff to do. I want to keep at it," said Smith, who won the Nobel Prize in economics in 2002.

Recent memory flubs by President Biden, 81, and former President Donald Trump, 77, have kindled debate about how to stay mentally sharp into your 80s and beyond. There isn’t a silver bullet to maintaining mental acuity or warding off dementia, scientists of aging say. But a combination of genetics, healthy lifestyle habits and factors such as cleaner air and good education have been linked to prolonged mental agility.

Three of Smith’s grandparents lived into their 90s, and an ancestor on his mother’s side lived to 105. But genetics are a small piece of the puzzle, scientists say. Smith has never smoked, eats healthy food, and is physically active and socially engaged—all behaviors linked to longevity and maintaining mental sharpness into later life.

“The healthier you are in the whole body, the better your brain responds to the aging process," said Dr. David Wolk, a neurologist at the University of Pennsylvania. Cognitive performance peaks in healthy adults in their 20s and 30s, Wolk said.

Over time, the brain shrinks, its outer layer thins, deeper regions become scarred, and communication between neurons can become less efficient. These brain changes can cause memory, reasoning and other cognitive skills to erode. But some people can stave off cognitive decline better than others, said Yaakov Stern, a