Improve Your Brain Power

Develop Your Memory To Improve Your Brain Power

2010-05-21T06:53:00.000-07:00

Having a is important. The more information you can take in and recall, the better off you will be all round. Whether you are young or old, you depend on your memory but is it always reliable? If you notice that your memory is not all that it should be, there are a number of things you can do to prevent it from breaking down further. In fact there are plenty of things you can do to build up your memory and increase your brain power simultaneously.

Tip 1: Take A Look At Your Daily Life

What you do with your life can have an effect on your memory. If you make no effort to take care of or improve your memory it will gradually breakdown. Excessive alcohol consumption and smoking have direct and long term negative effects on your memory so eliminate them if you can. These bad habits will hurt your brain cells.

Unhealthy eating habits and the quality of the foods you eat will also effect the proficiency of your brain. A great deal is written on this question that it scarcely needs to be stated that a clear brain feeds on a healthy diet.

Pressure weakens the entire body and the immune system and also damages your mental processes. It is difficult to protect against stress these days so it is very important to find ways to relax and to sleep well regularly.. Consider as a minimum some gentle exercising if you do not do so already and meditating. It.

Tip 2: Think About Your Diet

You are what you eat which determines who you are. If you want to increase your brain power, you should be sure that you include in your diet what is often called the brain foods. Most are foods that contain choline and proteins which help in the growth of the brain.

Tuna, salmon and other fish are considered particularly beneficial for your grey matter. Other brain foods include soya, tofu, milk, peanuts and white meats which are fruit and vegetables in proteins. Fresh vegetables and fruits also help by keeping your body strong and in good health. Young children really should be encouraged to eat lots of these brain foods .

Tip 3. Exercising Your Mind

The main reason the brain slows down is because it is not exercised as often as it might be. Watching movies on TV for example does not typically present a challenge to your brain. There are a considerable amount of scientific studies that support this. You must have stronger and more interesting challenges. Listen to what Dr. Cynthia Green, author of Total Memory Workout has to say.

People who are active, have hobbies and interests suffer the least. Those who resolve crossword puzzles, play strategic games and work even when they are old are less likely to develop memory difficulties. Working with the brain is actually a preventive measure for the onset of forgetfulness during later years.

Tip 4. Teach Yourself Memory Techniques

If you want to increase your memory, there are numerous memory skills that will help. The use of mnemonics is one memory trick - "Every good boy deserves favour" symbolizes the lines of the treble cleft in music: E, G, B, D, F, for example. You can very easily make up your own to fit your purposes.

Word association and linking are another two commonly used techniques that will help to develop your memory in both the short and longer term. The association method allows you to hook up information with a specific thing that you are already acquainted with. Linking however is where you use your creativity to link the items you want to remember, often in an unusual way. There are of course, many other techniques you can use.

These tips are not new yet they will serve to remind you that you can develop your memory if you really decide to try. The beauty is there is no expense involved and all it requires is a little thought to get under way.
In due course it will become a good habit and one thing to look forward to. The health benefits to you will be numerous not least of which can be you will increase your brain power!

Here are some more steps you can take to keep your memory sharp.

Total Memory Workout

2010-05-21T03:23:00.000-07:00

Does everybody's memory fade as they get older? Not necessarily, according to psychologist Dr. Cynthia Green, author of Total Memory Workout. Cynthia R. Green, Ph.D. is a nationally recognized expert on memory fitness and brain health. Dr. Green has served on the faculty of the Mount Sinai School of Medicine and the Mount Sinai Medical Center since 1990.

Read More About How To Improve Your Brain Power

Improve Your Brain Power By Breathing

2010-05-20T07:54:00.001-07:00

We all get stressed and strained from time to time even though if we do not like to admit it. The fact is, no one functions well under stress. You cannot think straight, can you? So here is the good news. Simple breathing exersices and meditation calms you down gently and helps improve your .brain power.

Through mediation, your concentration will be strengthened so you can fully focus on any mental activity that you are working on. You can learn to control your mind and use it efficiently for your own goals Do this by starting with breath techniques then move on to simple meditation. In this way you will improve your brain power over time.

Step 1: Find a quiet place:

Find a spot where you can sit and relax comfortably. Since you are only a beginner, you may want to find a quiet place where you can meditate without being disturbed. Basically, you just have to clear your mind for a moment and have a quiet time on your own. As you become more expert in meditation, you will notice that you can already meditate anywhere you want to.

Step 2: Check Your Breathing

Once you are comfortable, relax and pay close attention to your breathing for a few seconds. How does it feel? Now take a few longer breaths. Breathe in slowly and exhale slowly. Repeat this five times and then relax. Your breathing will return to its habitual rate yet over time, as you practice breathing exercises, your normal rate will slow down.

Step 3: Make Yourself Comfortable

Find a positon where you can be perfectly still. Some peole find that simply lying flat is best which is fine as long as you do not fall asleep! Many people of course adopt the usual crossed leg position and find it comfortable as their meditation position. Either of these aor anything in between is fine as long as you can be perfectly still and comfortable and not asleep.

Step 4: Ease Out The Tension

When you are comfortable concentrate on which part of your body is most tensed. Now tense up those muscles, hold and then release. You may experience the release as the tension begins to be drained from your body. Repeat the process, slowly, slowly and you will later on learn how to relax easily.

Step 5: Remember to Breathe

Strangly, while gently exercising muscles, many people forget to breathe properly. Concentrate on breathing properly through your nose. In doing so, the air can easily pass through your lungs. You may notice that your diaphragm, abdomen and chest expand more when you breathe through your nose. Remember to breathe and simply combine muscle exercise and the breathing exercises.

Step 6: Enjoy the Feeling

Once you have practiced the steps above think about how you feel. Do you feel a little light-headed? Some people feel awkward even starting to breathe properly yet once they do they enjoy the feeling. As you practice more and more each day, you will probably want to perform it for a longer time. Try it starting today and you will experience it for yourself.

Step 7: Repeat the Process.

Once you start to breathe and meditate you will realize that these meditations can really help you clear your mind and improve your brain power. Your whole being starts to feel better and consequently your brain performs better. All you need to do is repeat the steps outlined above and repeat the process daily.

Following the steps above will make you feel better and your brain will start to relax a little. Begin with these exercises as they are the simplest relaxation techniques that anyone can do almost anywhere and feel an immediate benefit. Try to perform these simple breathing and meditation exercises for at least five minutes each day and if you really want to improve your brain power just do it. Do it and do it today.

Learn Juggling and Increase Brain Power

2010-05-18T15:14:00.000-07:00

Researchers at Oxford University have found that complicated tasks, like if you learn juggling, produces significant changes to the structure of the brain.

The work, appearing in the journal Nature Neuroscience, finds a 5% increase in white matter, the so-called cabling of the brain. Earlier work has shown changes due to experience in our grey matter, where processing and computation happens; enhancements in the white matter of the healthy adult brain haven't been demonstrated, until now.

The subjects in this study were taught a complex visual/motor task, juggling three balls, and had brain scans at both the beginning and end of the study period.

The participants were a group of 24 healthy adults, none of whom knew how to juggle before the research began. The subjects were divided into two groups - one of the groups had weekly training in juggling, and were instructed to practice an additional 30 minutes each day. The other group was told to do nothing out of the ordinary.

After the six weeks, the 12 jugglers could do at least two continuous cycles of a three ball juggling routine. Of course, their skill levels varied quite a bit.

For the brain scans, the team used a diffusion MRI that measures the movement of water molecules in the brain tissues. At the 6-week point, a 5% increase in white matter was found in the rear area of the brain known as the intraparietal sulcus in the jugglers.

This part of the brain has been shown to have nerves that react to reaching and grasping for objects in our peripheral vision. Even though some subjects were better jugglers than others, all of them showed the changes in white matter.

The researchers speculate that the time spent training and practicing is the key, rather than the level of skill the subjects had. Lead researcher Dr Heidi Johansen-Berg said, "MRI is an indirect way to measure brain structure and so we cannot be sure exactly what is changing when these people learn. Future work should test whether these results reflect changes in the shape or number of nerve fibres, or growth of the insulating myelin sheath surrounding the fibres."

The clinical applications of this research are, admittedly, quite a long way off. But they may hold promise for neurological diseases like multiple sclerosis, where these white matter areas become degraded. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic, disabling neurodegenerative disease that appears in early adulthood, often between the ages of 20 to 40, and is believed to affect as many as 4 women to every man.

The symptoms are highly variable, and no one can predict precisely how your condition will progress. The good news is that there are strategies to help manage symptoms and improve function. Still much about MS is not clear - the cause being one of the most important areas where medicine needs to learn more and research continues.

"It's extremely exciting to see evidence that training changes human white matter connections," adds professor Cathy Price of the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging. This latest finding compliments earlier work about changes in grey matter that come with training, and has scientists wondering about the cellular mechanisms that may be at work.

In the meantime, learning something new, complex and mentally challenging, might be just the thing to ensure a healthy, powerful brain. So, head into town and grab some balls and learn juggling to boost your brain.

FREE Bonus Secret Health Reports - For a limited time you can grab 5 FREE essential health reports from Daily Health Bulletin and click the link now to discover other benefits from simple exercises that stimulate the brain in a similar way that it does when we learn juggling.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kirsten_Whittaker

Increasing Your Brain Power With Food

2010-05-18T13:21:00.001-07:00

Some people have trouble concentrating or may not be able to give their full attention to a task or test that may have to take. These people may want to find a natural way to increase their brain power. Some are finding this is quite possible by adding brain power foods to their diets.

Some medical professionals say there are some foods that will increase the processes of the brain and maintains its health. These foods may help you to build your brain power and get your focusing better.

It is recommended that you tray eating a cup of blueberries everyday, which has an anti aging quality that helps to increase both cognitive and learning abilities as well as helping to keep people from getting Alzheimer's. Another food, known as one of nature's super foods is the avocado. It is good at curing a person's circulation, lowering a person's blood pressure, and helps to increase their reasoning ability. Because avocados have a high fat content, which means you may only want to eat about a quarter of it.

Some people may also eat whole grains and beans as a way of raising their mental abilities. Whole grains improve their cardiovascular health and it improves the bloods circulation as well as improving the brain's function and memory. Beans regulate a person's glucose levels which is one of the needs of the brain, thus beans are a necessity to maintain proper glucose levels.

Another food that is highly effective to increasing a person focus, improving their mood and memory and overall brain power is Green Tea, by drinking a few glasses on a daily basis you will increase your memory and be ready to go to school and ace that test, or go to work and be fabulous on that big project. These foods give your brain the boost it needs to ensure you have full mental abilities.

To get more help with increasing your brain power just click here.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Trevor_Johnson

How To Improve Your Brain Power

2010-05-17T14:04:00.001-07:00

You may have personally experienced, or just heard from other people, of the mental boost that they get from smoking. Perhaps, for a short period of time such boost may be true, however in the long run, the effect of the tobacco consumption may be more dangerous to your brain than what you have expected. If you want to better your brain’s well-being, you have to worry about what affects your IQ.

An Addiction Research Center conducted a research regarding the long-term effects of alcohol on an alcoholic’s brain functioning. As expected, alcohol was found to be associated with mental problems and lower IQ scores. And as an addition to their findings, they also found out that long-term smoking has an effect on decreased brain power.

The results showed that alcohol has more severe effects on the thinking skills of alcoholic men who have been smoking for quite some time already. It has an adverse effect on memory, problem-solving skills and even the IQ of these men.

Among these alcoholic subjects, cigarette smoking was seen to be related to reduced mental functioning. However, even though the cause and effect relationship between smoking and the decreased mental performance was not clearly established, there are still some things which point out to the fact that cigarettes are the cause to such effect. In order to prove this point, more studies will have to be conducted.

Aside from these bad vices, there are still other things which may cause the reduction of your brain power.

Other Short-term Causes for Poor Thinking Performance

According to some more studies, foods which include artificial food coloring and sweeteners may be bad for the brain, more especially if they are consumed in large quantities. Usually, the children are the ones more affected negatively by these artificial flavorings and colorings. Examples of these kinds of foods are colas, white bread and hydrogenated oils.

The hydrogenated oils may cause the clogging of the arteries, and thus may result to heart diseases. Because of the clogs, it would be harder for the blood to flow to the brain. Artificially sweetened foods are unhealthy as well because they can cause fluctuations in blood sugar levels. These fluctuations may cause short-term brain fogging and even diabetes. Thus, it would be wiser for you to stay away from excessive sugar products.

Aside from these foods, other intangible things are believed to cause decrease of brain power. Personal problems such as egotism may be a factor. Because of egotism, a person may limit his ideas into just one view, which is his own. Because of egotism, he becomes settled with just his original thought and he would think that since his thoughts are more important than others then there is no more need to look at the ideas that come from others.

As you may have noticed, the effects of the bad eating habits as well as the personal problems may just be temporary. Thus, if you stop eating all those junk foods and start eating healthy; and likewise stop being so egocentric, then your brain functioning may just return to its normal performance. Fortunately, these factors affect the brain efficiency temporarily; unlike with alcoholism and smoking wherein the effects really do affect the IQ.

However, despite the effects’ permanence, the fact still remains that you should take care of your brain. You should keep it healthy all the time by doing things beneficial to your mental health. Whether or not the efficiency of your brain is affected temporarily or permanently, the truth is that it is still harmed for a certain period of time. You should know better, your brain performance should always be at its prime.