Each of your senses leads to a separate section in your brain. Thus your senses of vision, sound, smell, touch and taste are constantly stimulating your brain instigating nerve cells to nourish your brain with nutrients that improve memory, cognitive function, and stronger brain cells and reduce aging. However not using these or keeping your brain cells unhealthy could lead to a virtual traffic jam in your brain which leads to poor brain function. On the other hand, constantly stimulating such pathways of your brain with new stimuli or new experiences will actually improve your brain function which is why these exercises to make your brain smarter.
There is no need to perform some complex function or activity if that’s what you’re thinking because the new science of Neurobics invented by neurobiologist Lawrence Katz advocates activities that can be integrated and performed in your daily life. These are brain exercises fairly simple to perform without the need for any external support like technology. All you need is yourself.
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If you are right-handed, then brush your teeth with your left hand or vice versa. Research has proved that by using the opposite side of your brain can increase and expand parts of the cortex responsible for controlling and processing information from the hand. When you brush, open the tube with the non-dominant hand too.
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You need to shower with your eyes closed and surprisingly you may notice textures of your body that you won’t “see” which again sends back messages to your brain. The exercise here involves using your tactile sense to locate taps by feel, adjust water temperature, soap, lather and wash with your eyes shut. A bit of common sense is required here not to do things that could injure or burn you.
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Through brain imaging studies, researchers have observed that new tasks can stimulate and exercise large areas of the brain cortex. This indicates heightened levels of brain activity in several notable areas. When the tasks again became routine, the activity decreased. You can take a new route when walking your dog, listen to a new news channel, watch a kids TV show like Sesame Street. All of this activity helps your brain gain new experiences.
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When you use familiar objects, turn them upside down. For example, if you look at something the right side up, the left verbal encoding area of your brain registers it and then diverts itself elsewhere. But, when things are seen upside down, the right network area of the brain is stimulated and attempts to interpret the colors, shapes and the nature of an image that it finds puzzling. You could turn pictures and photographs upside down; you can view your table clock upside down or try and read or watch a pictorial calendar upside down.
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It’s usual for everyone in a family to have a seat of preference at the dining table but since your brain benefits from new experiences, you can change your seat or position in relation to the views of the room and items on the table such as the salt and pepper.
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Can you remember when you started associating the smell of coffee with the start of a new day?? Or a piece of music associated with a certain time of day. Even odors conjure up nostalgic memories. Have you ever wondered when such things were imprinted on your brain? If you haven’t experienced such a phenomenon, you can link your brain to odors by keeping the extract of a nice flavor such as peppermint, vanilla or citrus by your bedside and inhaling it as you wake up. Do this again when you go to bathe and then dress. This helps stimulate new neural pathways in your brain.
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The hippocampus is the area of your brain that stores memories. This is what creates that feeling of nostalgia associated with odors, sights and sounds. It helps construct a mental map of an experience. Try to identify new sounds, sights and scents on your route. By turning down your car windows, you will provide these circuits of your brain with new original material. Take a walk in the park. Research studies have shown that hiking is a great way to stimulate your brain.
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Your brain relies on visual cues to differentiate between objects. Touch is one such sense that helps identify these objects and increase activity in the cortex responsible for processing tactile information resulting in stronger brain synapses or the junction between two nerve cells. Take a cup full of coins and place it in your car drink holder. When you have stopped somewhere like a stoplight, start playing with the coins attempting to determine the denominations by feel without looking at them. You can do the same thing by placing the coins in your pocket and playing with them while stationary.
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Most profitable items in a supermarket will be placed in the front rows. When you shop you may not notice other items on the shelves. While shopping, take a good look at the shelves scanning all items. Take out an item which you don’t usually buy and read the ingredients on the can or bottle. It’s not necessary to buy it as you are giving your brain a new visual or learning experience by breaking your usual routine for a new one.
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Research has proved that depriving yourself of social interaction can negatively affect your brain function. Instead of purchasing a drink from a vending machine, buy it from a person; pay for your gas to an attendant at the counter instead of swiping your own card. You can perform similar related activities too by cutting down interaction with machines and increasing human interaction.
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Instead of reading silently to yourself, read aloud because this uses different brain circuits other than those required for silent reading. Students can improve their cognitive abilities by interchanging with studying silently or studying aloud. You can have reading sessions with a partner where both of you take turns to read aloud to each other. In this way, you’ll also be spending time together.
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You can start eating unfamiliar food although that doesn’t mean you need to make bizarre or extreme choices. Just start experimenting with new cuisines. The olfactory system can identify millions of odors through activated receptors in your nose. The reason for odors linked to memories and nostalgia is due to the direct link between olfactory receptors and the emotional center of the brain.
This also means new odors and new gastronomic experiences can evoke new feelings and make new associations that turn into new memories. Choose unfamiliar cuisines and attempt to find out the vegetables and ingredients that go into it. You can also look at new vegetables, new seasonings and packaged goods and ask for help in how to prepare dishes from them.
The science of neurobics advocate several more similar experiences. The new practice has been credited to Doctor Lawrence Katz and Ph.D. and Manning Reubin who have also co-authored the fantastic book titled “Keep your brain alive” that teaches all you want to know about exercise to make your brain smarter.
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