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3 May 2006
Use travel as a mental exercise
Build your cognitive reserve
By Terry Riley
 Business travel can be frustrating, infuriating—even dangerous.
Nevertheless you do it because you know that there is no satisfactory
substitute for face-to-face meetings with potential clients, or because it
is not possible for you to otherwise audit the progress of a distant
project, or because your work, like mine, requires that you be where your
clients ask you to be.
In short, the advantages of business travel outweigh the drawbacks. There
may be another benefit to travel as well: increasing your “cognitive
reserve.”
Cognitive reserve is a term that is used by researchers who
study mental abilities to describe our capacity to compensate for changes
that may occur in our brains over time, especially
those that are associated with the onset of age-related dementia.
As you rush through an airport to catch a flight, or plead with a
rent-a-car agent to try harder to find a car in his inventory, or search
for an available hotel room in a “sold-out” city, preventing old-age
dementia may not seem like a pressing
problem. But someday—sooner than you want to believe—it may.
With
the right genes, some smart lifestyle choices and a little luck, you will
be joining the more than 5,000 Americans who, according to the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services Administration on Aging, celebrate
their 65th birthdays every day. And if you’ve stocked up your cognitive
reserve, you may have a better chance of knowing it when you get there.
Now let’s be clear about this: The evidence linking the prevention of
dementia to physical and/or mental activity is, at best, very, very
sketchy. Indeed, while the researchers in
the area of age-related dementia that I contacted for this column were forthcoming about the progress of their
research, they were hesitant to make
cause-and-effect connections.
Nevertheless, they concede there are hints
that exercise—both physical and mental—can lessen, postpone or even
prevent the effects of age-related mental degeneration. What’s more, all
agree that there seems to be little to lose and a whole lot to gain by
keeping your brain and your body active while on the road.
So how can travel help you add to your cognitive reserve? Well,
it can’t, not by
itself. But when approached in the right frame of mind, travel does
present many opportunities to exercise both your mind and body and maybe,
just maybe, forestall or slow their decline. So while the judgment from
the scientific community waits, here are some steps you can take to use
your time on the road to your cognitive
benefit.
Be active.
Take every opportunity to get in some physical activity. For instance,
take the stairs instead of the escalator. Carry your bag instead of
rolling it. Walk to nearby appointments instead of taking a taxi. Do what
you can do to get in a few extra steps every day while you are away from
home.
Confront problems.
Human error, computer glitch,
mechanical malfunction, foul weather, ill humor—you name it, snafus are the rule when you
travel. Problem solving is
a great way to build your cognitive reserve
so when predicaments occur, face them objectively. Make trade-offs
and seek compromises. Look for workable solutions that will get you closer
to where you want to go and what will meet your needs.
Cool your jets.
Don’t get caught up in an emotional tizzy; it
will do nothing but leave you frazzled and
exhausted. The is to confront
problems, not people. Locking horns with employees will generally lead to
more stress, not less, and it will not do your mental or physical health
any favors.
Learn your lesson.
Now the best part: The next time you run up against a problem similar to
one you have worked to resolve in the past, you will have a
strategy for resolving
your current situation.
Remember the past and put it to work for you. That’s what we all hope to
do once we reach 65.
© 2006 Applied Psychology
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