Brain health scorecard: six habit levers, honestly banded

1.How often do you move briskly enough to raise your heart rate: a fast walk, a swim, cycling, sport?
Rarely: most days are sedentary
One or two sessions a week
Most days of the week
2.On a typical day, how long do you sit in one stretch without standing up?
Hours at a time, often the whole evening
An hour or two before I move
I break sitting up regularly through the day
3.How much sleep do you actually get most nights?
Under 6 hours
6 to 7 hours
7 hours or more
4.How do you usually feel through the morning?
Dragging: I fight sleepiness most days
Mixed: some sharp mornings, some foggy
Mostly rested and clear
5.How often do you spend real time with people whose company you enjoy: family, friends, community, faith groups?
Rarely: weeks can pass
Once or twice a week
Most days include real connection
6.Do you have someone you could talk to about something genuinely difficult?
Not really
Maybe one person, at a stretch
Yes, one or more
7.When did you last have your hearing checked, or act on a hearing aid recommendation?
Untreated hearing loss is one of the largest modifiable dementia risk factors in the Lancet Commission analysis.
Never, though people say I turn the TV up or ask them to repeat
Never, but I have no signs of trouble
Checked when needed, and I use aids if prescribed
8.How do you treat loud environments: power tools, loud music, headphones at high volume?
No protection, volume high, often
Sometimes careful, sometimes not
I protect my ears and keep volumes sensible
9.Where do you stand with smoking?
I smoke currently
I quit (any time ago)
Never smoked
10.How would you describe your drinking across a normal week?
Heavy or binge drinking most weeks
Moderate: regular but restrained
Light or none
11.When did you last deliberately learn something genuinely new: a language, an instrument, a skill, a course?
Cannot remember: routine runs my weeks
Within the last year, on and off
I am learning something right now
12.How much of your typical day asks your brain to strain a little: puzzles, reading, planning, problem solving?
Very little: mostly passive scrolling and TV
Some most days
A real stretch most days

0 of 12 answered

Sources

Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing Commission The Lancet (Livingston G et al), 2024The modifiable risk factor framework behind the six domains.
Risk reduction of cognitive decline and dementia: WHO guidelines World Health Organization, 2019

Last reviewed: 2026-07-16

Keep the brain busy

The learning domain is the fun one to train. Warm up with our reaction game, stretch your working memory, and if sleep was your weak band, our sister site sleep.mu has an entire toolkit for it.

Reaction time game Sequence memory game Sleep toolkit at sleep.mu

Sources

Why bands and never a percentage