Minding your mind, if you don’t mind, will transform your daze days of haze to rays of enhanced amaze-ment.*
“To remain mentally sharp, you have to deal with familiar things in novel ways. But most important of all, you have to have a sense of curiosity. If interest and curiosity stop coming automatically to you, then you’re in trouble, no matter how young or old you are.” –Art Buchwald
The human brain is an absolutely fascinating thing. Until the day we die, our brains are capable of change. As a matter of fact, the brain never wears out and it only gets better the more we use it. As we age, we have fewer cells, but a greater number of connections between them. We have improved function with fewer components – this is such an awesome paradox of the brain.
If learning stops, then the brain enters a dormant stage. Those brain cells that are actively exercised will flourish and make other connections – those that do not will die off. Those circuits that are used will increase, those that aren’t will fade.
So what, you say? I like the brain… but I also like helping ya’ll out! :) Let’s see what we can do to help this 3 pound thing between our ears work as best it can. After all, a sharpened tool is a much better choice for chopping down the trees to make your life-passion log-cabin. Okay, that WAS a stretch, but you get my drift!
Love Your Brain and Feed it Right!
What you eat has a direct impact on how well your brain works. This makes sense doesn’t it? What goes in must come out… trash in, trash out… garbage down the chute makes for garbage out of the mouth… or something like that. Note well, your OUTPUT will be much greater when your INPUT is much better.
Here are some Food for Thought Ideas to Keep in Mind:
- The number of Calories consumed may be more important than the actual content of those calories – keep calorie intake low!
- Maintain a zero tolerance for trans fats in your diet
- Green leafy vegetables are great – especially those with high Vitamin E content (but not supplements)
- Drinking fruit or vegetable juice only 3 times per week was enough in some studies to substantially reduce risk of Alzheimer’s disease
- Caffeine can be great for brain function – do what you can handle, but up to 500 [mg] is recommended! (I LOVE COFFEE!)
- Two servings of fish per week (about 3 oz per serving) is good for Omega-3 fats – 3 oz of farmed salmon or 6 oz of mackerel a week reduce risk of death from heart disease by 36%. Mercury can be a concern – those over the age of 12 should be ‘okay’.
- Include walnuts and blueberries in your daily diet – walnuts inhibit the action of acetylcholinesterase (which breaks down acetylecholine – the brain’s key learning and memory-processing neurotransmitter). 1.5 [oz] of walnuts per day should be good. ½ [cp] blueberries per day is good, too.
- Red wine in moderate amounts enhances brain function
Oh and don’t forget to exercise! Walking 3 times per week for 45 minutes or so will help you have sustained levels of cerebral blood flow, improved focused attention, increased gray matter volume in frontal/temporal lobes, and some restoration of loses due to age.
And here’s a few that I need to work on myself – sleep, sleep, and more sleep! At night, the brain (like the tomato) uses its stored energy for growth, making the necessary structural changes for information storage – all of this during REM sleep! You know, the one when your eyes go all googly-moogly! Sleep-induced enhancement involves improving on stuff you’ve learned. Schedule periods of sleep between practice sessions and get a good night’s sleep in between sessions of focused learning in order to retain more of that learning you did!
A Few Brain Enhancing Exercises to Commit to Memory
Did you know that long-term memory is basically infinite? You can store as much information in it as you like over your lifetime without ever exceeding its capacity. No more telling yourself stupid things like, “Oh I’ve got no room to pick up differential equations, Dad. I need to go back to my games – sorry.”
Believe it or not but you CAN increase your intelligence by your own deliberate efforts: do all things with (1) full awareness and (2) avoidance of automated performances. By actively focusing on a task, new subject, or project, you can begin to enhance your mind, memory, and abilities to increase intelligence. The key ingredient to improvement is willingness to stretch yourself to the limit and increase control over your performance.
Here are some Brian Games to check out :
- Creative writing – work up from memory very detailed places and people to make writing more memorable
- Strengthening memory increases imagination and creativity – work up your memory by playing games like Sudoku, crossword puzzles, Scrabble, and well… MEMORY!
- Read the Rhetorica ad Herennium (the “Art of Memory”) for it’s 9 or 10 pages section on memory enhancement – you’ll be amazed
- Really and actively pay attention when meeting someone new and you’ll begin to ALWAYS commit their name/face to memory
- Try these Memory Improvement Courses: http://memory.uva.nl/memimprovement/eng/
- Poke around on this site: http://www.thememorypage.net/
- Try the Memory Gym: http://www.memorise.org/memoryGym.htm
Here’s another little bonus. Give multitasking another try. Despite its inefficiency, it has the potential to strengthen working memory as long as you make a deliberate effort to keep the multiple tasks “in mind”. This is something I continue to do even when the naysayers try to get me down!
What About Brain Training During Daily Gaining?
Everyday life brings challenges, opportunities, and life lessons that can make or break you. How you choose to deal with these chances to grow is ultimately up to you. I know you know this, but sometimes we need a reminder. Social interactions, self-defeating actions, and our choices in recreation can really bring down the brain!
It’s good to keep up with friends, the community, and people in general. We’re social creatures and your brain is ultimately strengthened and supported by anything that tells you that you are still a valuable contributor to the community. Keep on playing disc golf in the park, chess at the boardwalk, and writing blog posts about your latest garage sale findings. And don’t forget to comment and interact with the people!
When you’re actively trying to take on a new subject or get something done (if you’re not multitasking!), there is a big loss of efficiency when a 2nd task is taken on before finishing the 1st. Stay focused and drive your task home before you head on to goal # 2. However, practice only as long as you can concentrate. Returns are greatly diminshed if you aren’t working at your peak. Check out a graph of Yerkes-Dodson Law: Arousal vs. Performance is a parabola (low arousal = low performance, medium arousal = top performance, high arousal = low performance). You gotta keep it between the extremes, folks!
Keep your emotions in check, too. A sense of loss of control is the main contributor to the stress response and greatly hinders brain goodness. If you find yourself dwelling on upsetting and stressful things, change your brain activity now by stopping whatever you’re doing and go to something that doesn’t involve focusing on personal concerns. Try some exercise or a puzzle. Or make a YouTube video about lip balm.
And and for the love of all that is Holy, let it be known that more time spent watching TV was linked to 20% increased risk of cognitive impairment. Watching the ‘tube WILL, in fact, make you a boob. Go read a book. It’ll be better for you. (unless it has heaving bosoms – avoiding turning into a boob by reading about them won’t help)
Get your brain right, folks. It’s the only one you’ve got and life just gets that much better when you’re working with the best level you can attain.
Share 2 hints on brain or memory enhancement below… we’d love to know!
This post is derived from my personal notes taken while I read: Think Smart: A Neuroscientist’s Prescription for Improving Your Brain’s Performance (affiliate link)
Photo from dendroica