By the time you retire, there's no doubt about it, your brain isn't what it used to be. By 65, 01 people will start to notice the signs: you forget people's names and the teapot occasionally turns 02 in the fridge.There is a good reason 03 our memories start to let us down. At this stage of life, we are steadily losing brain cells in critical areas. This is not too 04 of a problem at first; even in old age, the brain is flexible 05 to compensate. At some point, though, the losses start to make 06 felt.Clearly, not everyone ages in the same way, so what's the difference 07 a happy, intelligent old person and a forgetful, bad-tempered granny? And can we improve our chances of becoming the 08?Exercise can certainly help. Numerous studies have shown that gentle exercise three 09 a week can improve concentration and abstract reasoning in older people, perhaps 10 encouraging the growth of new brain cells. Exercise also helps 11 our blood sugar. As we age, our blood sugar control 12, which causes a large increase in blood sugar levels. This can affect an area that helps form memories. Since physical activity helps control blood sugar, getting out and about could reduce these 13 and, potentially, improve your memory.Coordination training could also help. Studies have shown 14 specifically targeting motor control and balance improves learning function in 60 to 80-year-olds.“Brain training" was once considered strange, 15 a study concludes that computerised brain exercises can improve memory and attention in the over 65s. 16, these changes were large enough that participants reported significant improvements in everyday activities, such 17 remembering names or following conversations in noisy restaurants.Avoiding the complaints is even easier. 18 fact, your brain is doing all it can to ensure a contented retirement. By 65, we are 19 better at increasing the experience of positive emotion, says Florin Dolcos, a neurobiologist at the University of Alberta in Canada. In experiments, he found that people over the age of 60 tended to remember 20 emotionally negative photographs compared with positive ones than younger people.