Cognition is beyond memory alone, although memory is a large part of the brain’s cognitive abilities. Memory specifically refers to all that you remember as well as your capacity for remembering. Cognition also includes abstract thinking, reasoning, attention, imagination, insight and even appreciation of beauty.
You can be many years younger than your chronological age by making certain lifestyle choices, including those that tax or challenge the brain. Although we once thought that the adult brain did not grow new brain cells (neurons), scientists now know that the brain keeps making new cells and connections throughout life – referred to as “plasticity”