You know how it goes – you forget where you kept your keys a little too often and you can’t remember all the things you know you need to put on your grocery list and then you start wondering, alright what’s happening here - early symptoms of Alzheimer’s or just plain forgetfulness that comes with age? The big question of course lingers unspoken - is the great grip finally slipping? I’m a fitness junkie and have always been into physical exercise, including my late-found passion for surfing. But when my dear girlfriend Alice mischievously suggested I’d better find a way to start exercising my mind a bit more after I had lost my desk keys twice in a week, I decided to take her seriously.

I remember once reading in a pamphlet about alcohol that you’re born with all the brain cells you’re ever going to have and excessive alcohol consumption tends to kill off your limited supply of the grey matter. I don't drink much, but I decided to switch more into the health beverages – carrot smoothies and other fruity stuff. And of course there are those endless studies that show that mental exercises help the development of new neural networks in the brain that contribute towards improved memory and attention. In essence, the more you use the grey stuff, the stronger it becomes, just like any muscle in your body is strengthened with exercise.

Can you believe that those who do crossword puzzles four days a week have a 47% lower risk of dementia than subjects who did a crossword puzzle just once a week? Who would have thought of the health benefits of a humble crossword puzzle! But even at the risk of becoming a blank slate, I’m afraid I’m not a fan. I know there are people who play "mind games," taking on little thinking problems, solving Rubik’s cubes and so on.

I switched to learning chess instead – the game of strategists. I’m only a week into it and not having known anything about the game so far, have to stomach a few humiliating defeats by my teenage neice who has taken it upon herself to teach me. But I never fear - victory surely lies ahead in the not-too-far-off future and I’m just investing in building up the highway of neural networks, at the end of which, no doubt, lurk my elusive desk keys!