15 Brain Hacks - Gym and Spa for Your Brain

(”Handstand”; courtesy of kelco)

Have you heard the term “brain plasticity”? Brain plasticity, or neuro-plasticity, refers to the ability of the brain to change and adapt, and even rewire itself. A mounting body of evidence suggests that our brains contain more plasticity than previously thought, and that there are things we can do to strengthen our brain regardless of our age. Below you will find 15 tips and resources you can use to take your brain for a visit to the gym and spa.

1. For brain health, eat two or three servings of fish weekly. Fish is rich in omega 3 fatty acids which are essential for brain function and development. These healthy fats have amazing brain power: higher dietary omega 3 fatty acids are linked to lower dementia and stroke risks; slower mental decline; and may play a vital role in enhancing memory, especially as we get older. For more information on the benefits of eating fish, go here.

2. Learn to Juggle. Brain researchers at the University of Regensburg in Germany have found that learning to juggle can change brain structure.

Researchers conducted a study in which they divided 24 people into two groups: 12 people were taught to juggle and the other 12 were not. Magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure the size of different areas within the brains of the subjects. Brain scans were taken before anyone practiced juggling, three months after the jugglers practiced and three months after the jugglers stopped practicing.

At the first brain scan, there were no differences in the brains of the study participants. However, at the second brain scan, a significant expansion was found in two areas of the brains of the 12 jugglers, areas that are important for processing information related to moving objects. No changes were seen in the brains of non-jugglers at the second scan. At brain scan #3, after the jugglers stopped juggling, the brain expansion seen earlier was reduced.

Don’t know how to juggle? Try the book Juggling for the Complete Klutz.

3. Make blueberry pancakes for breakfast. Research in animals shows that blueberries help protect the brain from oxidative stress and may reduce the effects of age-related conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease or dementia. Studies also show that diets rich in blueberries significantly improved both the learning capacity and motor skills of aging rats, making them mentally equivalent to much younger rats.

4. Challenge your brain. There are many brain-boosting games now on the market, perhaps the best known of which is Brain Age 2. The brain, just like the body, needs to be kept in shape to perform at its optimum level. Your brain is like a muscle: the more you use it, the stronger it will get.

For some great free games to exercise your brain visit the “Brain Metrix” site. This one is lot’s of fun and stimulates your creativity: “silver ball”.

In addition, there are web sites you can subscribe to that provide brain training, such as Luminosity, which costs $9.95 a month.

5. Get enough sleep. Without adequate rest, the brain’s ability to function quickly deteriorates: concentration levels drop and memory becomes impaired. In addition, the brain’s ability to problem solve is greatly impaired. Decision-making abilities are compromised, and the brain falls into rigid thought patterns that make it difficult to generate new problem-solving ideas. Go here for more information.

6. Do lateral thinking puzzles. The brain becomes complacent if you stop stimulating it. Lateral thinking puzzles demand a creative approach, an open mind, and an ability to construct a variety of possible answers before settling on the right one. Players have to ask lots of questions, use their imagination, piece together the subtlest clues, and come at the problem from a variety of perspectives. This helps keep the brain on its toes. You can try any of the following:

• Outstanding Lateral Thinking Puzzles
• Cunning Lateral Thinking Puzzles
• Colorful Lateral Thinking Puzzles

7. Exercise. Recent studies have linked exercise to brain cell growth. In one study, published in the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, the brain cells in the hippocampus doubled in adult rats that exercised on running wheels.

8. Drink water. Carla Hannaford, Ph.D., author of Smart Moves: Why Learning Is Not All in Your Head, explains that the brain is between 75 and 90% water.  In addition, as a major component of blood, water is vital for transporting oxygen to the brain. Drinking water throughout the day improves concentration and focus.  Many of us have a habit of choosing soft drinks, carbonated beverages, and juices over water. Start replacing these drinks with water.

9. Relax.  Neuroscientists have found that continuous or intense stress can harm brain cells, brain structure and brain function, causing such side effects as memory problems or depression. In one study reported by the Society for Neuroscience, when researchers stressed rats by restraining them, cells in the hippocampus—a brain area important for memory—withered. Therefore, reducing stress is vital to maintain a healthy brain.  For tips on how to reduce stress read my post, Stress Management: 25 Ways to Relieve Stress.

10. Make guacamole. Every organ in the body depends on blood flow, especially the heart and brain. Eating fruits like avocados–yes, avocados are fruit–can enhance blood flow, offering a simple, tasty way to fire up brain cells.

11. Put together jigsaw puzzles. Jigsaw puzzles quiet the mind and induce a state of creative meditation. They tap into our creativity and rewire our brains to make “connections”.

Putting together jigsaw puzzles stimulates both hemispheres of the brain. The left brain hemisphere, our linear, analytical side, sees all of the separate pieces and attempts to sort them out logically. The right brain hemisphere, our creative side, sees the “big picture” and works intuitively. In exercising both sides of the brain at the same time, we create actual “connections” between the left and right sides. These connections increase our ability to learn, to comprehend, and to remember. In addition, completing a puzzle, or even just the successful placement one piece, encourages the production of dopamine, a brain chemical that increases learning and memory.

Try to make it challenging: choose puzzles with 500 pieces or more.

12. Eat chocolate.  Dark chocolate has powerful antioxidant properties, and contains natural stimulants like caffeine, which can enhance focus and concentration.

13. Go out and socialize. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health used data gathered from 1998 to 2004 from the Health and Retirement Study, a large, nationally representative population of American adults ages 50 and older to study the effects of social isolation on mental decline. Their findings suggest that strong social ties, through friends, family and community groups, can preserve our brain health as we age and that social isolation may be an important risk factor for cognitive decline in the elderly.

14. Do things differently. The brain loves novelty. When you challenge your own assumptions, look at things from many different perspectives, change your routines, break your habits, and so on, you actually open new pathways in the brain and nervous system.

15. Learn something new. Challenging a specific part of the brain encourages it to grow. There are numerous studies showing that challenging a specific part of the brain encourages that region to grow and develop, as in the well-publicized example of the London taxi drivers, who develop a larger hippocampus - the part of the brain responsible for spatial memory - as they learn their way around the city. For more information on the study, go here.

Did you enjoy this article? Subscribe by RSS or e-mail and you’ll always know when I publish something new. If you’d like information on how RSS works, go here.

You can also follow me on Twitter.

Tagged as: brain hacks, strengthen your brain