Staying socially connected is the most efficient way to build and grow your brain as these human connections activate all parts of the brain. For instance, when you engage in a deep, meaningful conversation you are pushing the frontal lobe to grow because it has to think and process the information and interpret it. 

Meanwhile, the temporal lobe grows as one listens and encodes information and tries to maintain the information to use at a later time in the conversation. In addition, creativity is invoked when one creates new meaning and content to keep the conversation going and that builds the parietal lobe. When you visually process your environment and interpret people’s facial expressions and gestures, you are flexing the occipital lobe.

Moreover, being emotionally invested in the relationship and conversation grows the limbic emotional part of the brain. And if you are having an animated discussion (eg: waving your hands and arms), you are also mobilising the motor cortex and the cerebellum for more refined movement and coordination. Besides engaging in meaningful discussions and conversations, playing challenging games together like scrabble, bridge or monopoly are also great ways for brain-building and brain

preservation.

Source – Dr Sherzai (Team Sherzai – neurologists)