On Thursday, September 3, 2026, I had the opportunity to attend the DuPage County Fall Senior Expo at Drury Lane Theatre & Events in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois. The event, hosted by Senior Expo USA, brought together older adults, families, and organizations from throughout the Chicagoland area to share information about health, aging, community resources, and quality of life.
For me, however, the day became about something even more important: brain health and the value of understanding your cognitive baseline before a problem develops.
As the Clinical Director of Chicagoland Neuropsychology, much of my work centers on helping people better understand how their brains work, identifying areas of strength and difficulty, and using that information to guide meaningful next steps. The Senior Expo reminded me why that work matters so much.
Connecting With Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center
I was also excited to connect with representatives associated with the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center and learn more about the ongoing work being done at Rush University Medical Center.
Rush has been a major contributor to our understanding of Alzheimer’s disease, cognitive aging, and dementia prevention. Its clinical programs emphasize comprehensive evaluation of memory and cognitive concerns, while its research programs continue to investigate risk factors and potential strategies for maintaining brain health.
For someone working in neuropsychology in the Chicagoland area, it was especially meaningful to connect with organizations doing this kind of work right here in our community.
What the MIND Diet Can Teach Us About Brain Health
Another topic that caught my attention was nutrition and its potential role in cognitive aging.
The MIND diet, developed through research led by the late Martha Clare Morris, ScD, at Rush University Medical Center and colleagues, combines elements of the Mediterranean and DASH dietary patterns while emphasizing foods associated with brain health.
Earlier Rush research found that greater adherence to the MIND diet was associated with slower cognitive decline. In one study involving 960 participants, individuals with the highest MIND diet scores experienced rates of cognitive decline that were equivalent to being approximately 7.5 years younger than those with the lowest scores.
Another study found that higher MIND diet adherence was associated with a lower incidence of Alzheimer’s disease.
More recent research has added another interesting layer. A 2026 Rush report from the MIND trial found that participants with higher levels of certain Alzheimer’s-related blood biomarkers appeared more likely to benefit from the MIND diet intervention. The original three-year randomized trial, however, did not find a statistically significant overall difference in cognitive outcomes between the MIND-diet and control groups.
That distinction is important. Brain health research rarely produces one simple answer. Instead, it helps us understand the many factors that may contribute to healthy cognitive aging.
Brain Health Is About More Than Memory
The Senior Expo also reminded me that brain health is not just about memory. It involves cardiovascular health, sleep, physical activity, mental health, social engagement, and staying connected to your community. Even looking around at the home health companies, the insurance booths, the cleaning services, and even moving services designed for seniors was a reminder that aging is more complicated than ever. Simple things like getting leaf guards to encourage older folks to not get up on a ladder and risk falling were ideas I had yet to think about for myself or the elders in my life.
Most of all, this all reminded me that paying attention to others is so key, and that also means paying attention when something begins to change.
A person who notices increasing difficulty managing finances, remembering appointments, finding words, following conversations, navigating familiar places, or completing tasks that once felt routine may benefit from talking with a healthcare professional.
Sometimes the concern turns out to be something other than dementia. Medication effects, sleep problems, depression or anxiety, hearing loss, medical conditions, and other factors can affect cognitive performance.
That is precisely why a comprehensive evaluation can be so helpful.
Why Establishing a Baseline Can Matter
One of my biggest takeaways from the Senior Expo was surprisingly simple:
Many people do not know what their cognitive baseline is until something changes—and by then, it can be much harder to understand what has happened.
Throughout the day, I heard stories from people who had watched loved ones experience memory changes, confusion, or other cognitive difficulties. Some families described long waits for evaluations. Others shared experiences with assessments that did not fully answer their questions or provide the information they needed to move forward.
These experiences reinforced something I have seen throughout my career: a good cognitive evaluation is not simply about determining whether someone has dementia.
At Chicagoland Neuropsychology, our goal is not simply to give someone a number or a diagnosis. It is to help people get an accurate diagnosis and clear direction.
A comprehensive evaluation can help identify cognitive strengths and weaknesses, clarify concerns, establish a baseline, and provide recommendations for next steps. When appropriate, future testing can then be compared with that earlier assessment to help determine whether meaningful changes have occurred.
For families, that information can be incredibly valuable.
It can help guide medical conversations. It can inform treatment and support decisions.
It can help identify appropriate accommodations. And, when cognitive changes occur, having previous testing can provide an important reference point.
My Most Personal Takeaway
Perhaps the most meaningful part of the day for me was realizing how closely the conversations at the Expo connected to my own family experience. I was reminded of my grandmother.
When we were trying to get Grandma Rosie into a dedicated memory care setting, we encountered a difficult problem: there was not a clear baseline cognitive report demonstrating how much she had declined. That made an already painful situation even more difficult.
We knew she had changed. We knew something was wrong. But without a clear picture of where she had started, it was harder to demonstrate the extent and progression of those changes.
That experience has stayed with me. It is one reason I believe so strongly that baseline cognitive testing can be valuable even before there is a major problem.
A baseline evaluation does not predict the future. It does not guarantee that someone will never experience cognitive decline. And it certainly does not mean that every healthy older adult needs extensive testing.
But for some individuals, establishing a clear picture of current cognitive functioning can provide valuable information for the future.
Taking a Proactive Approach to Brain Health
I left the DuPage County Fall Senior Expo feeling grateful for the opportunity to connect with so many organizations and individuals committed to helping older adults and their families.
But more than anything, I left with a renewed sense of purpose. We should not wait until a crisis to start paying attention to brain health. Learning about your cognitive strengths today can help you recognize meaningful changes tomorrow. Addressing hearing concerns, paying attention to nutrition and overall health, staying socially and physically active, and seeking appropriate evaluation when concerns arise are all ways of taking a more proactive approach to healthy aging.
I keep coming back to my grandma Rosie. That will never leave my heart and mind, because it showed me how difficult it can be when you don’t have the information needed to get help.
At Chicagoland Neuropsychology, we believe that understanding your brain is an important part of understanding yourself—and that knowledge can be the first step toward a healthier, more informed, and happier life. If you or someone you love has concerns about memory, attention, thinking, or changes in cognitive functioning, consider talking with a qualified healthcare professional about whether a neuropsychological evaluation or cognitive baseline assessment may be appropriate.
Your future self—and your family—may be grateful that you did.
