Someone’s name is on the tip of your tongue but you can’t remember…
You’re in the kitchen but you have no idea why you’re there…
Are you experiencing moments like this more often than before?
We know that memory weakens over time.
But it is possible to slow it down with various exercises.
Here are some suggestions to strengthen your brain:
1. Exercise makes your brain bigger
Exercise increases the number of nerve junctions, thus creating more connection points in the brain and contributing to the formation of new cells.
Additionally, good cardiovascular health means more oxygen reaches your brain and harmful toxins are eliminated more quickly.
By the way, it is more beneficial to do exercise outdoors because this way you will also get vitamin D.
Recommendation: Exercising by seeing a new place or brainstorming with someone else increases the likelihood that the new cells in your brain will form robust circuits.
Let’s say you like gardening. If possible, try doing it with your neighbors, family members, or friends.
If possible, walk in groups or in pairs instead of going for a walk alone.
Most importantly, make sure you do the exercise in a way that you enjoy.
2. Memorization technique on the go
This is a technique that has been proven by research and used by actors for many years.
If you try to memorize a text while on the move, the information can be much more permanent in your mind.
Recommendation: Let’s say you need to make a presentation, prepare for an exam, or visualize the work you’re going to do.
Try thinking about this while walking or dancing.
3. Consuming fat is important
Approximately one fifth of what we eat is sugar.
Glucose plays an important role in brain functioning because the energy from food goes directly to the brain.
Additionally, when you eat things you love, the reward region of the brain releases a chemical called dopamine, which makes you feel pleasure.
Of course, while you should eat things that will please the reward areas of your brain, you should also eat foods that will keep your gut healthy.
The human gut contains more than a hundred trillion brain-related microbes, the balance of which is vital to brain health.
That’s why the gut is often called the “second brain.” When you eat a variety of healthy foods, these microbes are balanced and your brain is healthy, too.
Recommendation: The building block of brain cells is fat. That’s why it’s very important for your diet to contain some fat.
The fat in nuts, seeds, avocados, and fish are healthy fats.
Additionally, rosemary and turmeric are known to be beneficial for brain health.
Enjoying food and sharing the joy of eating in social environments also increases the benefits of what you eat for the brain.
4. Lower the switch
Some stress is necessary to maintain one’s reflexes to respond to emergencies.
Stress also triggers the release of the hormone cortisol. In small amounts, cortisol gives us energy and helps us focus.
But prolonged worry and high levels of stress have the opposite effect on the brain.
That’s why it’s so important to turn off the switch and give this part of the brain a rest from time to time.
When you do this, you are actually working a different part of the brain.
There is a network in our brain that we can call “self-working networks.”
Thanks to this function, we can daydream during the day.
When we cut off our mental connection with the outside world, we enable this function of the brain to take over and carry out the work, which strengthens the memory.
So the next time you’re caught daydreaming at work, you can defend yourself by saying that you’re exercising some very vital areas of your brain!
Recommendation: If you have a hard time relaxing and switching off, you can try reducing your stress levels by trying meditation or mindfulness-based techniques.
5. Try new things
You can develop your brain by directing it towards doing or learning new things.
Taking a course in an art field or learning a new language will increase the flexibility of your brain.
Recommendation: Find a game to compete with your friends or family.
This will benefit your brain and competing with others will contribute to the development of the brain.
6. Music is food for the brain
There are findings that indicate that music has a very special effect on the brain.
When you look at the brain of someone listening to or making music, you see that almost the entire brain is active.
Music can generally have a comprehension enhancing effect.
Additionally, music is often the last piece of information lost in brain diseases such as dementia.
Recommendation: Join a choir or get tickets to your favorite band’s concert now.
7. Critical moments before bed
When you learn something new during the day, connections are made between the nerve cells in your brain.
When you sleep, this connection gets stronger and what you learn becomes part of your memory.
Therefore, sleep is really important for the continuity of memory.
For example, give one person a list to memorize in the morning and another one just before going to sleep.
The person who memorized just before going to sleep will remember the information much better when asked the next day.
Recommendation: If you are preparing for an exam, study the answers to possible questions one last time before going to sleep and then sleep on them.
If you have experienced a trauma or have a bad memory, try not to think about it right before you go to sleep. If you do, the memory of the bad event and the negative emotions it caused will leave a deeper mark on your memory.
For the same reason, avoid watching horror movies at night!
Instead, try to go to sleep thinking about the positive things you learned or experienced that day.
8. How you wake up also matters
We all know how important sleep is.
If you sleep less than five hours, your mental faculties will weaken, and if you sleep more than 10 hours, you will feel dizzy.
But how you wake up is as important as the duration of your sleep.
The ideal thing to do is to sleep in a dark room and wake up with the light gradually increasing.
This light seeps through your closed eyelids and prepares your brain for the morning, which allows you to secrete more cortisol in a controlled manner.
The amount of cortisol hormone in your body when you wake up also determines how your brain works that day.
Recommendation: Get a light that gradually increases in brightness, like sunrise, to help you wake up naturally.
Of course, it may be beneficial for heavy sleepers to use a loud alarm as well as light to avoid being late for work!
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2024-09-04 15:38:30