Mental Fitness & Nervous System
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One way to keep your brain strong is by, as researchers call it, "testing at your threshold." One large-scale project measured to see whether testing at your threshold was able to reverse and cause new growth of neurons and dendrites (the part of the neurons that catches information from neurotransmitters).
In the project, a computer was programmed to understand a subject's math ability. It then programmed a test so that each person stayed in line with his or her ability. Once the computer pushed the limit of each person's ability-testing at his or her threshold-researchers were able to see growth of neurons and dendrites (as judged by imaging scans of the subjects' brains).
But the best part? The people didn't need to get the answers right in order to reap the benefits. Simply testing themselves just slightly beyond their capability (80 percent correct and 20 percent wrong answers) was enough to cause the re-growth.
So for you, let's say you can always do Wednesday's crossword puzzle but barely get half of Sunday's answers. The best thing for your ego may be for you to continue to master Wednesday's, but the best thing for your brain is to keep taking a whack at Sunday's (as long as it's not so frustrating that there's no fun in doing it).
Just like an athlete becomes faster or stronger by training to attain goals that are just out of reach, you can train your brain to stay smarter and sharper.
YOU: The Owner's Manual, Updated and Expanded Edition: An Insider's Guide to the Body that Will Make You Healthier and Younger
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To show you the power you have to exercise your brain, look at a study measuring the brain size of London cabbies. Why cabbies? Despite the impression you've gotten from the profanities they hurl at jaywalkers, cabbies have a very neurologically taxing job. They have to memorize the complex layout of a city and be able to figure the fastest routes between thousands of different starting and finishing points. The results of the research: the cabbies with the most experience-and therefore the ones who kept innovating to get more rides-continually taxed their brains to survive in the competitive industry and actually had larger right temporal lobes. They built bigger brains because they used it so often-and in different ways every day.
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One good suggestion for improving your brain function in everyday life: Get out of that rut. At work, many people follow the same routine every day: Get coffee, sit down, check eBay, get more coffee, return e-mails, take bathroom break, do paperwork, call client, grab lunch, get yelled at by boss, and so on.
Of course, only your boss can tell you how to do your job, but I'd like to suggest that you switch up the order every once in a while.
Following the same routine every day will not stimulate your hippocampus-the part of the brain most responsible for memory. To keep your mind active, simply try to vary your routine at work or at home. Start with calls to your client, or write your report first instead of last. Whatever your normal routine is, change the order.
YOU: The Owner's Manual, Updated and Expanded Edition: An Insider's Guide to the Body that Will Make You Healthier and Younger
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The body’s wisdom is a good entry point into the hidden dimensions of life, because although completely invisible, the body’s wisdom is undeniably real – a fact that medical researchers began to accept in the mid 1980s. In a sweeping medical revolution, scientists have stepped into a hidden dimension that no one had ever suspected. Cells have been outthinking us for millions of years. Signs of intelligence have been discovered not only in the brain but also in the immune system and the digestive system. Cells have no problem fully participating in the mystery of life. Theirs is wisdom of total passion and commitment. In fact, their wisdom is more ancient than cortical wisdom. What people had been calling a “gut reaction” turned out to be a mere hint of the complete intelligence at work in a hundred thousand billion cells. We can link the qualities of bodily wisdom with the hidden dimensions we want to uncover. The body cells identify with the wisdom that we live daily; they have a higher purpose, communion, awareness, acceptance, creativity, efficiency, bonding, giving and immortality. It is undeniably real – an entry point to the hidden dimensions.
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Men and women not only differ when it comes to movie tastes and erogenous zones, but also differ when it comes to mental decline. Men usually lose their ability to solve complex problems as they age, while women often lose their ability to process information quickly. That split shows us a couple of things. One, that there's certainly a strong genetic component to memory loss. And, two, that there are specific actions you should be taking to combat that genetic disposition.
While there are some places where you're naturally going to decline because of your sex, there are other areas where you're going to have an advantage. That means your job isn't only to try to rebuild the area that's breaking down but to preserve the areas that excel. But across the board, both genders lose competency in the areas in which they are weak to begin with. So women lose spatial cognition, and men suffer verbal losses. Though it's certainly not true for everyone, it may give you clues as to what areas of your brain to concentrate on as you age— or it may help you play to your strengths. (Those with poor memory recall can use organizational skills to compensate, for example.)
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I know what your ideal picture of retirement looks like: one hammock, one baby-blue ocean, four naps a day. That's great and all, but one of the best ways to insure that your mind doesn't liquidate into the consistency of a piña colada is to continue to give it a reason to function. Work it. Challenge it. Teach it new things. Just take a look at a massive study done on a population of more than 3,000 nuns.
Researchers measured the daily mental and physical activities of living nuns and autopsied those who died during the study. They found that 37 percent of the nuns who died had confirmed Alzheimer's disease—at least according to what was happening pathologically in their brains. The nuns who fared the best were the ones who were better educated. The nuns with Alzheimer's were, as young adults, less mentally and physically active outside their jobs than those without the disease. That's important because Alzheimer's disease takes decades to develop. The amazing part was that even if the nuns showed pathological signs of Alzheimer's, they had no clinical symptoms.
The point: Although these neurological tangles may be genetic, your ability to resist the effects of them is not. When you increase your learning during life, you decrease the risk of developing memory-related problems. That means your brain has a fighting chance if you keep it active and engaged, if you keep challenging it with new lessons, if you learn a new game or new hobby or new vocation.
You have to challenge your mind—even making it a little uncomfortable by pushing yourself to learn tasks that may not come naturally. Doing tough tasks reinforces the neural connections that are important to preserving memory. Like a clutch athlete, your mind has a way of rising to the occasion. Challenge it, and it will reward you.
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It's no surprise that exercise is good for your heart, but it's also an elixir for your mind. It seems that more intense exercise preserves neurocognitive function by decreasing the expression of the Apo-E4 gene to help clear the beta-amyloid plaque that gunks up your power lines. Exercise has also been correlated with increased telomere length.
My suggestion for a brain-boosting workout: Once or twice a week, choose an exercise that requires not only your body to work but also your mind, such as Bikram yoga or a game of singles tennis. The sports or exercises that engage you in the moment can really help clear your mind at the same time.
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One way to strengthen your mind is by flexing parts that you don't use often— like perhaps those associated with imagination. So try this trick from my friend psychologist Tony Buzan the next time you're feeling overwhelmed by a task. Map out your to-do list rather than actually listing it. That is, draw a picture of your issue in the middle of a piece of paper, then branch out from that centerpiece with smaller subsections and keywords related to that issue.
For example, if you want to lose 25 pounds, draw a picture of yourself on a scale in the middle. Instead of making a list of ways to do it, draw lines from the center to things like food, exercise, pitfalls, supports, and other broad categories that will help you. Then branch out from there with subcategories (food may include such branches as "Eat breakfast," "Eat five small meals a day," and "No more doughnuts").
Why is this helpful? For one thing, starting in the center gives your brain freedom to spread out in different directions; for another, a picture flexes your imagination muscles and also keeps you focused and able to concentrate better. And the branches work because your brain works by association. Connect the branches, and you will understand, remember, and act on the problem much more easily.
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Thinking is an involuntary reflex; while you can often control what you think about, thinking is as natural as an ocean's ecosystem—stuff just kinda floats around and goes where it wants to go. Now, try this when you're doing a simple activity, like waking up: Instead of just rolling out of bed, splashing water on your face, and dreading your 8 a.m. meeting, think about your surroundings. Listen for birds, notice the drips of water beading down your leg in the shower, savor the sips from your OJ, think about every tooth you're brushing. It doesn't take any more time; it just helps train your brain. I'm not trying to go all philosophical on you; thinking about the thought process is really about awareness and is one of the tools you can use to strengthen your neural connections.
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Get support for stressors. You may love your ailing family member, but the chronic stress of facing the situation alone can shrink your brain's memory center. Interacting with others activates many parts of the brain — and learning new ways of coping forms new neural connections.
