Because there are so many recommended ways to improve your health, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. One reaction - especially when confronted with broccoli or a treadmill - is to simply be delinquent about it, choosing the television over hard work.
A practical approach is to focus on the things you would like to do anyways. We compiled a list of fun things you can do, which generally seem to be good for the brain. Remember that this is not comprehensive - there are other components critical to a healthy lifestyle - but these are some pain-free ways to brain gain.
1. Take a vacation – Stress adds up over time, eventually weakening the immune system and impairing learning and memory. When hormones released during stress are elevated for extended periods of time they can be destructive to neurons. So escape from work, to-do lists, and anything else bringing you down to refresh your brain before it takes too much abuse.
2. Party! – Socializing and staying close with friends and family is good for your health, longevity, and brain function. People with close relationships have a stronger support network that helps them deal with emotional distress, prolonging brain health. One study found that married men live nearly 10 years longer than single men.
3. Sleep like it’s Sunday - Most of us don’t get enough shut-eye, which hurts cognitive performance and health. When tired, we think slower, have more difficulty concentrating, and are worse at remembering things. Forget your guilt about hitting the snooze button – it’s there to make you smarter.
4. Play hard - Aerobic exercise is one of the best things you can do for your body and brain. The brain relies on a strong heart to supply it with enough blood to function at full speed, and a good blood supply helps the brain withstand the abuses of age and disease. In addition, running might actually increase the production of new brain cells. If the treadmill’s not your friend find something you enjoy (skiing, hiking, Frisbee, surfing, speed golf, ping pong). You’ll do it more often and more intensively if you’re playing instead of exercising.
5. Buy your brain a drink – A little bit of alcohol seems to actually be good for your brain. Moderate consumption (1-2 glasses/day) of alcohol increases HDL cholesterol (the good kind) and lowers blood pressure, both of which benefit the brain. Red wine also contains resveratrol and flavanoids, which may help protect neurons from damage.
6. Eat chocolate - Cocoa beans contain the flavanol epicatechin and antioxidants, each of which seems to be good for your brain. Animal research suggests that chocolate can even improve memory. You’ll still need a well-balanced diet (including vegetables, fruits, and omega-3 fatty acids commonly found in fish), but a piece of dark chocolate is perhaps the sweetest step to a healthier brain.
7. Don’t get hit in the head – Boxing and too many soccer headers bang up your brain, potentially leading to drooling and incoherent stories from the glory days. Repeated impacts and brain jostling increase your chances of developing dementia. Finally, an excuse give up the fistfights and head butting.
8. Play Games – Tasks that tax your brain can help keep it sharp, and challenging games are one good way to do it. Some games are better than others, and a few, such as Lumosity, were developed specifically for building cognitive performance.
31 Comments
How can I find out what a good score is for a particular excercise?
You can use the Brain Performance Index (BPI) to measure how well you’re doing on each exercise. An explanation of BPI is here: http://www.lumosity.com/trainer/faq#12
You mention that jostling of the brain increases chances of dimentia. Do you think jumping on a trampoline would be included in this category?
Brain Blogging Nineteenth Edition
Welcome to the nineteenth edition of Brain Blogging a semi-monthly blog carnival that aims to review posts related to the brain and mind that go beyond the basic sciences into a more human and multidimensional perspective.
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Nick, I think your biggest risk with a trampoline is an errant jump, rather than the jostling. With each jump your head changes direction over several feet, so the acceleration is probably not severe enough to hurt your brain. That’s just my guess, though; to my knowledge nobody’s actually tested this.
Thanks for including me in your 8 fun steps to a better brain. I’m glad you enjoyed reading the article. These point some pain-free ways to brain gain.
I hang upside down and let my head fill with blood. Is this ok, i mean as a exercise.
I’m not aware of any evidence for or against hanging upside down, at least in terms of brain health. I doubt that draining blood to your head would be all that good (or bad) for it, though.
can be hard work with brain injury, but fun at the same time. Thankyou.
I have terrible trouble remembering names, all kinds of names of famous people and people I meet in the street, is there a particular exercise that can help me with that or game?
We have a few memory exercises that might be helpful, but we’re in the process of making one that is specifically designed to help with remembering names. Would you like to be part of a group that tests this exercise during development?
Well, I completed the course and it was a lot of fun! I did enjoy doing the exercises, however I cannot say with any degree of certainty that I sense any specific improvement in anything. My only disappointment was in the Birdwatching. Try as I might I could not break a BPI of 1000 although I got close. I have Keratoconus in both eyes and wear special scleral lenses that cover the entire surface of each eye and I wonder if my lenses and/or messed up corneas might have led to some distortion of my perception as to where the bird appeared. There were many times I would have sworn the bird was at a certain spot and it was not…very frustrating. Forced choice…pick something that may be truly better…I guess I would say my decision or cogntive reaction time may be faster than usual. Also, I was truly surprised at my performance on Raindrops. I had no idea I would do as well as I did on that although there were times I just couldn’t seem to move ahead to the next level. I never thought I was good at doing computations in my head on the fly so fast. I was impressed with myself for that! I didn’t hit 1000 on Migration, but with a little more practice I know I could have. Its harder than it looks. Same with Monstor Garden…it was my least fav. to do as I really had to work on that. That sort of memory (working memory) has never been my strong point, yet I was pleased I did as well as I did and with more work I know I could break 1000. I didn’t work on MG much as it just wasn’t fun for me like the other exercises were.
While I cannot point to any one thing that seems definitely better, I have been feeling very good about myself and I feel cognitively sharp, perhaps more so now that I’ve completed the course. I do intend to continue to work with the program.
Bill
any games like this you can recommend for children? my son has loved watching me do my lumosity workout in the morning!
Bill,
Thanks for writing about your progress. It is possible that the Keratoconus is interfering with Birdwatching. This exercise does not improve your eyes, but instead it trains your brain to be better at using visual information (which of course your eyes have transmitted to your brain). Not sure if you intended to post this on the blog — if you intended to email us instead I can take it down.
Sarah,
How old is your son? We don’t have exercises specifically made for children, but some kids as young as 9 enjoy Lumosity. Some of the exercises are too difficult for young children, but they can handle others well. For grade-schoolers, Raindrops is a fun way to get ahead in math class.
i love lumosity and am really starting to notice the differance- too bad you have to pay for it though!
i love playing lumosity, but i hate that you have to pay for, i’m just trying the free trial so i think after that i’m gonna become a member
I have only recently got the free trial of lumosity and so far i think its great. great little games to get the brain working!
I think Lumosity is long overdue. My 10 year son has a break down in processing speed. He is incredibly bright but the break down gets in his way sometime. I have had him tested by a Pyschiatrist extensively and he recommended a few of the learning centers out there but when I called they told me that they didn’t work on processing speed. Anyhow, I have personally tried your program for myself and found it to be excellent therefore, I did instantly sign up for the year. I will have my son start the program soon and even if he only goes thru each exercise two times each day, I know it will be helpful. I can feel the difference myself. Thank you.
YES; “specifically designed to help with remembering names. Would you like to be part of a group that tests this exercise during development?”
Thanks.
PS: My scores go down after about 4pm..
Do I have company?
This thing is awesome, i felt it working from the very first session…. i think i’m going to make this a part of my everyday routene
I would like to be included in your “name recognition” project. I find remembering people’s names very difficult. I’m enjoying my free trial, and the fact that I’m getting better every time I do an exercise. This is a wonderful gift to the public!
…Pretty Useful and Wel-Designed Site.I just joined today and I am already Addicted to it. But, I know this one is one of the best addiction I ( or for that matter anyone else ) could, ever have !!! Keep up the Good Work!!
Thanks,
- R Patel
This website is great, although I haven’t really noticed much of a difference even after completing 11 sessions in one day, I suppose I should make this a regular thing.
Bpi as follows:
Birdwatching 926
Memory Match 650
Monster Garden 800
Spatial Speed Match 913
Speed Match 1150
Color Match 1240
Raindrops 1060
Lost In Migration 860
Please note that even if you train all day, you’re not likely to experience real improvements in just 1 day. The best approach is to train a little each day (1 or 2 sessions) for many days. After about a month you can hope to see a difference outside of the games.
Great fun - Second day & I feel my brain growing - my spelling has always let me down - big time - any tips ? - keep up the good work - I will
hey all - i love this site!
being too young to seek medical attention for things like alzheimers, but too old to complain to a concerned teacher of a suspected learning disorder- i was at a loss to (& was too shy) to ask for help with my memory!
this is revolutionary to be able to test my cognitive skills in the comfort of my own study ! & i am so glad i finally found something that is actually, scientifically, going to help!!
have fun everyone - i’m already a high roller heehee =D
Zen, Australia
I’m very glad with the programme. It is fun and interesting. I just started to do the exercises last night and I got results that I didnt expect to get, I even thought that I was a “slow person” but after see my results I could have an average result standard to compare my results. I lie became addcited playing those games. Some of them are really difficult however more you play, more you find it easier . AT the beginning, I thought that some of the games like the colours match was impossible to unlock therefore after a few minutes training on it, it finally became easier and easier. I’m in the 13rd session.
my results are the followings:
starting Bpi actual
Birdwatching 320 1020
Memory Match 600 973
Monster Garden 560 1040
Raindrops 953 1080
Speed Match 540 1030
Spatial … 540 1200
Color Match 800 1140
Lost in Migration 740 1070
The thing that I most liked in the website was to acess my results graphed and then to compare them with the average.
I’m 16 years-old, and actually I’m on sectin 13 of this cool exercises.
When I complete my whole jorney in this game i will present my results to all of you see how much this game can be usefull to us and how it can improves and make our daily life better. Thanks Rodrigo ( LONDON - UK )
Hey there!
I recently started using lumosity and it’s been great so far. Thanks for such a fabulous site. I’ve been doing pretty well and hit BPI of 1000+ in a few games. While I could do the raindrops exercise fairly easily, other processing speed exercises such as speed match weren’t as easy, I’m still wallowing in the 600s despite several attempts. Is it just a cap set by how a brain is rigged? I feel like I’m losing control if I try to go any faster. I’d appreciate any input from you regarding this. I couldn’t find your mail address easily, please do mail back to the address provided.
Also, I’d definitely be interested in participating in any trials that lumos plans, specifically the name memory one that is being discussed above.
Cheers.
Tangent -
Your brain isn’t “capped” in this manner. You should be able to improve your bpi in Speed Match if you continue to play. It’s common for your performance to plateau for a while before seeing more improvement.
I have an overall BPI of over 1500, and I’m only 14!
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