Brain Exercise

Take Care of Your Body to Take Care of Your Mind

If you want to take care of your mind, you need to start by taking care of your body.

Research has time and time again shown that people who engage in healthy behaviours such as exercise and proper nutrition are less susceptible to the cognitive declines associated with the aging process.

Studies from 2006 even suggest that exercise can make you smarter and protect your brain from shrinkage as it ages.³ Research on mice in 2013 has even revealed that exercise can increase neurogenesis, or the formation of new brain cells, in the brain’s hippocampus.⁴

One study published in 2013 looked at healthy behaviours in nearly 2,300 men over the course of thirty years. Researchers looked at the participants’ behaviours and cognitive abilities starting in middle age tracked their progress throughout old age.⁵

The researchers found that men who practiced certain healthy behaviours were around 60 percent less likely to experience cognitive impairment and dementia as they age. These healthy behaviours included not smoking, maintaining a healthy BMI, regularly exercising, consuming lots of vegetables and fruits and consuming a low to moderate amount of alcohol.⁵

So, if you want to build a better mind, start by working on your physical health first. Go for a walk, start incorporating more fresh fruits and vegetables into your diet and try to give up any bad habits like excessive alcohol consumption or tobacco use. Some of these might be more difficult than others, but your brain will thank you for years to come.

While you might know that you need to exercise your body, did you know that it might also be important to exercise your mind? You’ve probably heard the old adage “use it or lose it.” Many researchers do believe that this maxim applies to your brain health.

Brain training is all the rage these days, often touted as a way to sharpen your mind and even boost intelligence. While many cognitive scientists suggest that the claims surrounding brain training are both exaggerated and misleading, there is an abundance of research suggesting that certain types of activities can be beneficial for your brain’s health.¹

The brain’s plasticity allows it to adapt and change, even as you grow older. As you learn new things, you can create and strengthen neural pathways and networks. This helps make your brain stronger, but it can also help make it more flexible and adaptable to change.

These benefits can be particularly useful for keeping your mind sharp as you get older.

One extensive study involved more than 2,800 participants over the age of 65 who each engaged in one of three different forms of cognitive training. Types of training used included speed of processing training, memory training, and reasoning training.²

Now let’s tackle some brain exercises that you can do at home. While these brain games are not designed to make you more intelligent, you might find that you feel mentally sharper and cognitively stronger if you practice them regularly.

One of the best ways to strengthen your mind takes a bit of commitment, but it is also one of the most effective and rewarding. Find out what you need to do to get that brain of yours in tip-top shape.

Draw a map of your town from memory

While you might feel like you can navigate the streets of your neighbourhood with your eyes closed, try challenging your brain by actually drawing a map of your town or neighbourhood from memory. No cheating! Try to include major streets, major side streets, and local landmarks.

Once you are done, compare your memory map to a real map of the area. How did you do? Are you surprised by some of the things that you missed? If you found this activity too easy, try drawing a less familiar area from memory, such as a map of the entire United States or Europe, and try to label every state or country.

 Learn a new skill

Learning a new skill is not only fun and interesting, but it may also help strengthen the connections in your brain.

Research from 2014Trusted Source also shows that learning a new skill can help improve memory function in older adults.

Is there something you’ve always wanted to learn how to do? Perhaps you’d like to know how to repair your car, use a particular software program, or ride a horse? You now have one more good reason to learn that new skill.

Teach a new skill to someone else

One of the best ways to expand your learning is to teach a skill to another person.

After you learn a new skill, you need to practice it. Teaching it to someone else requires you to explain the concept and correct any mistakes you make. For example, learn to swing a golf club, then teach the steps to a friend.

Navigating your way to the supermarket or doctor’s office might seem simple and almost automatic when you are behind the wheel of your car. However, forcing yourself to remember the layout of your neighbourhood as well as draw and label it helps activate a variety of areas of your brain.

Listen to or play music

Do you want an easy way to increase your creative brain power? The answer may lie in turning on some music.

According to a 2017 studyTrusted Source, listening to happy tunes helps generate more innovative solutions compared to being in silence. Which means, cranking up some feel-good music can help boost your creative thinking and brain power.

And if you want to learn how to play music, now is a great time to start because your brain is capable of learning new skills at any point in your life. That’s why you’re never too old to start playing an instrument like the piano, guitar, or even the drums.