1. Exercise for your brain cells
Many
studies have shown that when people engage in physical activity, the
level of brain function improves. Scientists at the Salk Institute for
Biological Studies in La Jolla, Calif., Found adult mice on the wheel
had twice as many new hippocampal cells as mice who did not want to use
the wheel. Researchers are unsure why the rodent's brain responded to
physical activity in this way, but they hypothesized that exercise
reduced stress and caused the rest of the body's functions, including
those in the brain, to work more efficiently.
2. Train your mind
Just
like exercising, activating different parts of the brain also trains
them. Professor Lawrence Katz, a neurobiologist at Duke University,
argues that finding simple ways to activate different parts of the brain
that are not normally used is beneficial in keeping neurons and
dendrites, which are short extensions protruding from nerve cells that
are their input devices. Just as a new weight-building exercise builds
muscles we rarely use, so a new worldview or recreational activity can
improve the function of parts that are less used in the brain. Try new
flavors and smells, do things with your weaker hand, take a different
route to work, or travel to new places. In short, try to do new things
that will take you out of your comfort zone, and your brain will enjoy
and grow stronger.
3. Ask 'Why?'
Our
minds are very curious, but as we grow older, many of us ignore or deny
our natural curiosity. Let yourself be curious and wonder why things
happen the way they do and ask someone who knows. The best way to
exercise our curiosity is to ask "Why?" At least 10 times a day. Your
brain will be more active and you will be amazed at the number of
opportunities and solutions that will appear in your life and at work.
4. Laugh
Scientists
say laughter is good for health because it releases endorphins and
other positive chemicals to our systems. While we don’t really need
scientists to tell us that laughter makes us feel good ... laughter is
just like the quick claim of energy to our brain.
5. Eat fish
Omega-3
fatty acids, found in walnuts, flax seeds, and fatty fish, have long
been known to be beneficial to heart activity. A recent study found that
omega-3 fatty acids are also very healthy for the brain, not only
because they improve the functioning of the circulatory system that
supplies oxygen to the brain. It turns out that these beneficial
compounds can also improve the functioning of the membranes that
surround brain cells and thus improve overall functioning.
6. Remember
Take
an old photo album or even your high school yearbook and give it a few
minutes of in-depth examination. Our brain is a memory machine, so give
it a chance to work a bit and spend some time with your memories. Browse
the photos and try to remember the names of the people, the experiences
you shared with them, and the feelings you felt toward them. After a
while, you’ll discover that the process of recalling memories happens
much faster even when you look at an old album or at all when you try to
recall something you were sure you had already forgotten.
7. Reduce your intake of bad fat
Can
"bad" fats adversely affect our brain function? When researchers at the
University of Toronto provided rats with a 40% fat diet, their mental
functioning decreased, including memory, spatial orientation, and
learning ability. The problems worsened with a diet rich in saturated
fat, found mainly in dairy products and meat. It is hypothesized that
fat may reduce blood flow to the brain, which damages the supply of
oxygen and glucose to the nerves. This does not mean that you should
stop consuming fats, you just need to know what type of fats to consume,
and how much. Monounsaturated fat, which is mainly plant-based, is very
healthy for the body and linked to health and longevity, you can get it
from fish, olive oil, nuts, avocados, and seeds.
8. Work the brain
Some
of us like puzzles, some the daily crossword, and some of us prefer
riddles - the kind does not matter. The main thing is to solve difficult
and challenging things. Solving problems in your free time is a great
way to activate your brain and keep it in excellent condition.
9. Listen to music
A
decade ago, Frances Rauscher, a psychologist at the University of
Wisconsin in the United States, and her colleagues published an amazing
discovery and found that listening to Mozart improved mathematical and
spatial thinking of the listeners, and even rats ran better and more
accurately through a maze after hearing Mozart. It seems that listening
to Mozart stimulates activity in three genes involved in transmitting
signals in the brain. And it isn’t just Mozart, music, in general, is
good for our health. Listen to the music you love when you can, it's
much more important than you thought until now!
10. Improve your skills in the things you already know how to do
Repeating
routine actions that your mind is used to doing doesn’t strain your
mind. At the same time, there is no reason why you shouldn’t upgrade or
change how you do things to create new connections between nerves in
your brain and improve your abilities.
11. Reduce your alcohol intake
Some
say that alcohol kills brain cells, but the reality is a bit more
complicated. A study of 3,500 Japanese men found that men who drank
moderately (in this case, one drink per day) had better cognitive
function than those who did not drink at all. Predictably, the worst
performance was observed among those who drank more. The results of
another study that examined the association between alcohol and brain
function revealed that rats receiving a large amount of alcohol had
fewer new cells in the hippocampus immediately after drinking and even a
month later. This indicated that the alcohol not only damaged the rat's
brain but also prevented it from correcting itself at a later stage.
Therefore, it is definitely worth reducing your alcohol consumption and
consuming it in moderate amounts.
12. Play
Find
time to play, and even make time to play. Play cards, video games,
board games or any game you love - the main thing is to play. It is good
for the general feeling and good for the brain because it is an action
that encourages thinking strategically and puts us in the face of
problems we wouldn’t normally encounter in our daily lives.
13. Sleep on it
The
recommended sleep time for an adult is 7-8 hours. Sleep is vital to our
health and even to the proper functioning of the brain. During sleep,
neurotransmitters in the brain reduce their activity, and their
threshold is reset to normal and regular levels. In addition, during
sleep, free radicals that accumulate in the brain during the day are
cleaned by special enzymes, and nerve cells regroup.
14. Focus
Concentration
can improve brain power. Learn to focus when distracted, and try to get
rid of the disturbance. For example, if you need to make an important
phone call, thinking about it can take your mind off the task at hand
and make you not think clearly. Try to make the phone call as soon as
possible so that you can concentrate again. Stop the flow of life from
time to time to ask yourself "what's on my mind?" and identify the
factors that interfere with your concentration and deal with them.
15. Learn a new word every day
There
is a strong connection between vocabulary and intelligence. When we add
new words to our vocabulary, our brain can think in new ways with more
nuances between different ideas. This is a particularly powerful way to
stimulate and improve our brain activity.