Daily habits to slow aging, from a Harvard brain expert

Washington: Long before brain health became a buzzword, Rudolph E Tanzi was rewriting the science behind it. The Harvard neurology professor and co...

Washington: Long before “brain health” became a buzzword, Rudolph E Tanzi was rewriting the science behind it. The Harvard neurology professor and co-director of the Henry and Allison McCance Center for Brain Health at Massachusetts General Hospital is known for discovering three key Alzheimer’s genes.

Tanzi is also the architect of a lifestyle intervention plan for brain health known as SHIELD that emphasizes the importance of sleep, handling stress, interaction with others, exercise, eating well and learning.

Now 67, Tanzi credits his research with helping him stay mentally sharp, physically active and deeply engaged with his work. Here’s what SHIELD is, what it looks like in Tanzi’s daily life and his tips for continuing to age well.

Sleep: Aim for 7-8 hours of high-quality sleep each night. Adequate rest is essential for brain function and memory.

“When you sleep, you not only consolidate memories, but you drain toxins out of your brain,” Tanzi said. “You actually clean amyloid toxins - that’s the sticky material that triggers Alzheimer’s disease, and it usually does so two decades in advance of symptoms. … Every time you go into a deep sleep, it’s a rinse cycle for your brain.” Tanzi doesn’t have a fixed bedtime, but he calculates backward from when he has to wake up to make sure he gets a minimum of seven hours of sleep. An hour before he needs to sleep, he turns off the TV and stops scrolling through Reels on his phone. People often ask him for advice about what to do if they only got five or six hours of sleep, and he recommends power naps. “Even a short one in the office that results in a little drool on your desk - that’s good.”