How to Get the Most out of your Brain
10 Interesting Ways to Get Most out of Your Brain
How to Get the Most out of your Brain
1. Make
sure you get plenty of exercise: For example, “Scientists at
the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif., found that adult
mice who ran on an exercise wheel whenever they felt like it gained twice as
many new cells in the hippocampus, an area of the brain involved in learning
and memory, than mice who sat around all day discussing Lord of the Rings in
Internet chat rooms.”
2.
Expose yourself to novel experiences: This forms new connections in
the brain, and gets underused areas working again. The benefit to you is an
active, alert brain.
3. Be
curious and ask “why?”: The brain is designed to question and to
think. Thus, you build new neural pathways when you search for new solutions.
4.
Laugh more: This releases endorphins – the body’s feel good
hormones – and shakes up our thinking, and disrupts habitual patterns.
5. Eat
more fish: Fish contains essential nutrients that nourish the brain.
This is especially important for the young children, and the elderly as it
builds new connections, and staves off dementia.
6.
Reduce your consumption of saturated fats: “When researchers at
the University of Toronto put rats on a 40-percent-fat diet, the rats lost
ground in several areas of mental function, including memory, spatial awareness
and rule learning. The problems became worse with a diet high in saturated fats
… Also, fat can reduce the flow of oxygen-rich blood to your brain, and it may
also slow down the metabolism of glucose, the form of sugar the brain utilizes
as food.”
7. Get
plenty of sleep: Sleeping on problems, and on new information,
can improve our understanding and assist with retention.
8. Do
important tasks when your brain is most awake: Every
90 minutes, we cycle through period of peak and low consciousness. To master
key tasks, do them when you’re most alert, and not when you’re drowsy, or about
to fall asleep.
9.
Develop concentration: We need to learn to focus and to fully
concentrate to develop our thinking and increase our brain’s connections. But
being constantly distracted interrupts this crucial process.
10.
Make time to play: Play encourages us to be more creative in our
thinking, to develop better strategies, and think outside the box.
Source: http://ririanproject.com/2006/11/03/22-ways-to-overclok-your-brain/
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