To improve brain function, you don’t need to take any stimulants or spend time on apps that promise to make users smarter. Renowned neurosurgeon Rahul Jandial urges you to turn to proven methods instead. In his book Neurofitness, he gives many simple tips to help keep your brain healthy. Here are a few of them.
Learn
By processing, organizing and remembering new information, the brain increases the number of neurons and the connections between them. This builds cognitive reserve and allows you to delay age-related intellectual decline.
You can learn new language fast through online courses and it is beneficial for your brain. According to studies, people who know and use at least one foreign language in everyday life face cognitive decline an average of four years later.
Communicate
When we talk to others, the brain is forced to instantly analyze a huge amount of information. Such regular exercise is essential for maintaining cognitive function. According to scientists, a large amount of active social contact in old age reduces the risk of developing senile dementia by 25-50%.
It’s more effective to communicate in person. But there are benefits to social media, too. So, if you have online friends with whom you talk about 22Bet or your hobbies, keep doing this. Older people who actively use them have a higher density of neurons in the parts of the brain responsible for speech and memory.
Exercise
Another important condition for maintaining cognitive ability is regular physical activity that combines aerobics and strength training. They provide your brain with oxygen and keep your heart and blood vessels toned. And most importantly – provide a high content of growth factor in the brain fluid. It’s necessary for the nourishment of neurons.
Moreover, cardio workouts, Jandial notes, are less beneficial for the elderly brain than resistance exercises. Another type of exercise that has shown its effect on the brain is tai chi gymnastics.
Use the Map on Your Smartphone Less Often
A special group of neurons, the grid cells, help people navigate in space. In Alzheimer’s disease, the brain begins to lose them among the first.
It’s almost impossible to stop this process, but it’s possible to delay it. To do this, you need to increase the number of grid cells during your life. For example, regularly force the brain to use them, making their own routes.
Be Outdoors
During walking the brain receives a huge amount of new stimuli. This activates its creative abilities. In one experiment, volunteers were asked to take a creativity test. And those who had hiked for days before that did better.
It’s unnecessary to go to the backwoods to spur creativity. A good walk around your home or work will also give your brain plenty of stimulation.
Give the Brain a Task for the Night
If you need to solve a difficult problem or to think of something unusual, study the information necessary for it in the evening. And go to sleep sooner. In the short period between wakefulness and sleep, the so-called network of passive brain work is activated – it will automatically try to find connections that previously eluded you. And if you’re lucky, you’ll have a couple of fresh ideas in the morning.
Jandial uses this method regularly. When he is faced with a difficult surgery, before going to bed, he studies pictures of the patient: it helps him to remember the features of his brain better and avoid mistakes.
Breathe
Take a deep and slow abdominal breath, counting to four, hold your breath for the same amount of time, exhale slowly, also counting to four. In the process, focus on how the flow of air moves inside your body. Repeat five times.
Experiments have shown that if you do this exercise regularly, you can change the way your brain works. By activating the frontal lobe and anterior cingulate cortex, he begins to better control negative emotions. It also calms and relaxes the brain by stimulating the vagus nerve.
Switch to the MIND Diet
It was developed to prevent dementia: one study showed that this diet cuts the risk of developing the disease in half.
The principle of the MIND diet is to limit the consumption of deep-processed foods with large amounts of added sugar and animal fats. They are suggested to be replaced by cereals, fruits and vegetables, poultry and home-cooked fish, legumes and olive oil.