Just like your muscles need exercise, your brain needs mental workouts to stay in shape. Your gray matter gets so good at doing your daily routine that it barely has to work at it. So, you have to go above and beyond your everyday activities to stimulate it. Here are 12 ways to keep your brain fit.
1. Get exercise
Both cardio and weight-bearing have positive effects on the brain, for learning and memory. It can even help your brain create new cells.
2. Eat brain-healthy foods
Foods that contain nutrients like antioxidants and omega-3 fatty acids have been shown to boost memory and alertness and have other benefits for brain health. Dark chocolate and red wine make this list!
3. Stay socially engaged
Interacting face-to-face with other people engages all senses and requires attentiveness to both visual and auditory cues. Recent studies show that active social lives lead to lower risk of dementia. Dialogue is often unpredictable and requires active listening and response.
4. Exercise your peripheral vision
Actively challenging your peripheral vision improves brain performance and helps you navigate the world safely. Recent studies shows that drivers stay on the road longer and have fewer accidents after actively training their useful field of view.
5. Memorize a song
Developing better habits of careful listening will help you in your understanding, thinking, and remembering. Reconstructing a song requires close attentional focus and an active memory. When you focus, you release brain chemicals such as the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which enables plasticity and vivifies memory.
6. Learn to play a new musical instrument
Playing an instrument helps you exercise many interrelated dimensions of brain function, including listening, control of refined movements, and translation of written notes (sight) to music (movement and sound).
7. Don’t rely solely on crossword puzzles or sudoku
Heavy crossword players show the same rate of cognitive decline as people who do few crossword puzzles.
8. Turn down the volume on your television
Think of this: You can’t get rid of radio static by turning up the volume. Many people raise the volume because their listening has become “detuned” — a little fuzzy. Matching TV volume to a conversational level can help you catch every word when talking with others.
9. Reacquaint yourself with the ball
Practice throwing a ball in the air and catching it. If you’re good at it, take up juggling. People who master these kinds of sensory-guided movement activities can hone their brains’ visual, tactile, and hand-eye coordination responses, with widespread positive impact on the brain. This type of activity has been shown in MRI studies to thicken parts of the brain’s cortex.
10. Learn to use your other hand
If you’re right-handed, use your left hand (or vice versa) for daily activities such as brushing your teeth and eating. Doing such activities can drive your brain to make positive changes. Think of millions of neurons learning new tricks as you finally establish better control of that other hand.
11. Choose bumpy surfaces
Walking on bumpy surfaces, such as cobblestones, improves the vestibular system of the inner ear, which plays a central role in balance and equilibrium. Cobblestone-walking challenges the vestibular system in ways that improve its function, which translates into better balance — the key to preventing serious injuries.
12. Get a good night’s sleep
If you have trouble falling asleep, make sure your bedroom is quiet and dark, learn some deep relaxation techniques, and avoid alcohol and caffeine after 7 p.m. Scientists believe that our brains consolidate learning and memories during sleep. Studies have shown that people who don’t sleep enough have more trouble learning new information, while sleeping well after learning something new helps the brain effectively put that information into long-term memory.
Posit Science helps people be at their best throughout their lives by providing brain-training exercises clinically proven to improve cognitive performance. Our team of experts designs, tests, and refines the online exercises that are collected in the company’s flagship product, BrainHQ.
