Reducing dementia risk may be as simple as putting down the phone and taking a nap

BOSTON - Want to reduce your risk of dementia? Try turning off your devices and taking a nap.

In a new book, a Canadian expert on artificial intelligence says that to nurture our minds and reduce the risk of dementia, we should focus on real intelligence rather than artificial intelligence. 

In other words, we should put down our smartphones and instead take an afternoon nap to refresh our memories and rejuvenate our bodies. Instead of relying on Google for quick answers, we should be playing "brain games," doing memory exercises, and engaging in activities that use all of our senses.

He says artificial intelligence can't hold a candle to the human brain in terms of capacity, storage, longevity, and efficiency, but we need to nurture our greatest asset through healthy lifestyle choices and daily brain stimulation.

In:
• Health
• Dementia

Mallika Marshall, MD

Mallika Marshall, MD is an Emmy-award-winning journalist and physician who has served as the HealthWatch Reporter for CBS Boston/WBZ-TV for over 20 years. A practicing physician Board Certified in both Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, Dr. Marshall serves on staff at Harvard Medical School and practices at Massachusetts General Hospital at the MGH Chelsea Urgent Care and the MGH Revere Health Center, where she is currently working on the frontlines caring for patients with COVID-19. She is also a host and contributing editor for Harvard Health Publications (HHP), the publishing division of Harvard Medical School.

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