Help Yourself

        

                                Boosting Your Brain Power Can Be Pleasurable

  

    Would you like to improve your memory?  Improve your mental focus during stress inducing tasks?  Maybe think faster on your feet?  Well the good news is you don’t need a new brain or someone to do the thinking for you. Yes, earning a coveted degree at the university will sharpen your wit.  So will snacking on fresh fruit and vegetables, frolicking with your dog in the surf and snoozing soundly after making love.  Meditating with the sun on a lonely beach and idle chat over the back fence with your neighbour.  Who knew these pleasurable activities could boost your brainpower?  Research over the last few decades has shown that the belief that we have a fixed number of brain cells that lessens over time is incorrect.  Your brain is a renewable forest.  “If you stimulate your brain, it will promote cells and put out more branches like a tree,” says Remi Quiron, scientific director of the Institute of Neurosciences, Mental Health and Addiction, of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research at McGill University in Montreal.  But a forest requires the right environment or it will slowly die as it ages.  The following advice may not have you revolutionizing science, but it will have you remembering more, increase your ability to focus on complicated tasks, and reduce the effects of stress in your life, if nothing else. 

     The mind needs to breathe in fresh ideas and stretch the imagination to its limits.  So take time to chat with a neighbour, a friend or a stranger.  Conversation stimulates the mind with a rich variety of minds and ideas.  Sharpening the mind, clearing away the fog and helping to focus the intellect.  Take part in mentally and physically challenging activities through out your life.  According to Carol Greenwood, senior scientist at the Toronto- based Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care; this will increase the number of brain cell pathways because your mind will be forced to work harder.  Increasing the amount of cell connections means you have a lot more paths for signals to travel, so a few can die as you age and the effects will be less apparent.  “If you have more connections to start with, you can afford to lose some before the effects become apparent,” says Carol Greenwood.  “Even the simplest mental tasks keep your brain flexible.”  So grab that forgotten geometric puzzle off the shelf, travel to exotic and mentally stimulating places, analytical thought of any kind will help to sharpen your mind.

     Learn meditation or tai chi to help reduce the thought altering effects of stress on the mind.  Scans of the human brain during Buddhist-style meditation have indicated a quieting of the part of the brain associated with negative emotions and a boost in the feel good zone.  According to McGill neuroscientist Sonia Lupien, “Prolonged exposure to stress hormones has been shown to relate to brain shrinkage and memory problems.”  Dr. Lupien suggests, “Pick whatever stress reducing mechanism works for you.  One hour per day can work for everyone.  I walk the dog,” says Dr. Lupien. 

     Sleep for an amount of time that leaves you feeling refreshed and renewed.  The mind requires downtime to function at it’s best.  Albert Einstein took a nap before deriving one of the most famous mathematical equations in human history, energy equals mass times the square of the speed of light.  Martin Luther King woke with the phrase, “I have a dream,” repeating in his head.  “Eight hours of deep sleep each night will boost your creativity and problem solving abilities,” according to research done by German scientist Jan Born.  While you sleep your brain moves the information gathered during the day to a separate region of the brain and reorganizes it in the process.  Reorganizing the day’s information allows the mind to see things from a fresh point of view and devise new solutions.  So take a nap before designing the newest gadget or writing the next best seller and your imagination will take flight.  To improve your sleep, retire at the same time and keep your bedroom slightly cool while you slumber.  If you’re still tired after waking from a nights rest, then you may have a sleep disorder.  I suggest you visit the nearest Sleep Disorder Clinic or professional near you.

     Light the soft candles by your bed put on a treasured love song and get it on.  An active sex life can breed new brains and brain cell production.  Studies done by the University of Calgary researcher Samuel Weiss suggest that production of prolactin during mating and pregnancy leads to division of stem cells (primitive cells from which other cells evolve in the brain) in the brain.  “These stem cells mature into neurons that migrate to the brain’s smell centre and may allow the mother to recognize and care for her offspring.  We know that in humans the act of mating increases prolactin in the bloodstream.  So its possible that prolactin released during sex could stimulate the growth of new brain cells,” says Weiss.  He points out that advances in imaging technology may allow scientists to see new brain cells being created in humans in a few years.  So, until then, make a little time for loving. 

     Exercise regularly to get your body and mind into better shape.  Swim, ski, or exercise briskly to stimulate the growth of new brain cell connections that you can’t get in front of the television.  According to studies by psychologist Arthur Kramer, “Fit people do better on complex, attention-demanding tasks than their less fit counter parts.  Brain scans showed physically fit individuals have more grey matter (smart cells) and white matter (fibres that send signals through the brain) then those who exercise less.”  So, throw your heels in the air; just thirty minutes of Tango dancing three times a week for instance, helps to keep your body and mind young. 

     Feeling the blues?  Improve your mood with sunshine, play with your cat or take a prescribed anti-depressant to keep your memory sharper and your mind functioning better.  Long term research shows stress reduces the size of the hippocampus, thought to be the region of the brain associated with memory, researchers found that anti-depressants such as Prozac may reverse this effect.  “When people are treated for depression with medication or psychotherapy, their memory problems tend to decrease,” says Dr. Angela Troyer, a psychologist at the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care.  “Mood lifters range from munching on bananas to raise serotonin levels to seeking help from a qualified therapist. 

     Lowering your cholesterol level can boost your intelligence quotient.  A recent University of California study found that lowering cholesterol levels in women helps prevent cognitive impairment.  “High cholesterol levels around the membranes of nerve cells in the human brain helps to keep it from working well,” says Dr. Howard Feldman, head of the University of British Columbia’s neurology division.  “A balanced diet is good for the heart and brain.  High blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, obesity and inactivity are also risk factors for stroke, linked to cognitive impairment and dementia,” says Dr. Feldman.  So, skip foods high in sodium and saturated and trans fats, ask your health care professional or a registered dietician for advice if you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol.  

     Listening to the melodic, sweet, sounds of classical music can improve your ability to manipulate complex mental images.  A study conducted by the Irvine Study of the University of California demonstrates that musical training boosts vocabulary, learning and memory in children.  Playing, singing or listening to your favourite music will get your brain cells jumping to a livelier beat.  So start your day off with that beat that moves your soul.

     Start every day off with fresh fruit or vegetables.  Snack on fat-free yogurt and whole grain cereal or bread while you verbally spare with your partner.  Complex carbohydrates provide essential B vitamins and a steady supply of slow-release energy for the brain, while white anti-oxidants in the produce keep the brain free of corrosion.  Eggs are a rich source of memory-boosting choline.  “Its as important for adults as it is for children to eat a health breakfast,” says Carol Greenwood.  “Fad diets high in fat and protein and low in complex carbohydrates may be bad for your brain.”  Does it matter whether you get complex carbohydrates and anti-oxidants from eating peaches or broccoli rather than spinach of raspberries?  “The fruit cocktail is best.  Buy a variety of fruit and vegetables to suit your preferences,” says Greenwood.