Exercises to boost the brain

WHEN it comes to your grey matter, it’s a case of use it or lose it, according to psychologist and cognitive neuroscientist Dr Sabina Brennan – and staying sharp up top is vital when it comes to staving off Alzheimer’s disease.

“Your brain will atrophy [shrink] as you age and neurons left out of action through lack of use become damaged and die,” she said.

“But you can counteract this by engaging in activities that promote neurogenesis [the growth of new neurons] and neuroplasticity – the ability of the brain to adapt, change and reorganise neural pathways in response to experience.

“Stretching your brain – by giving it new things to do and new, unfamiliar, ways to think – is one way to do this. Challenging your brain promotes neuroplasticity.”

Dr Brennan, author of 100 Days to a Younger Brain (Orion, Spring) reckons doing things beyond your comfort zone will change your brain chemistry, impacting positively on brain function.

“Novelty is also a critical element of neuroplasticity,” she said. “Introducing new things into your life will help to form new brain connections.

“The increased cognitive activity that’s associated with challenging your brain like this may help preserve the volume of your whole brain and particularly that of the hippocampus – a part involved in memory and learning that’s particularly vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease.

“The larger your adult brain is, the longer you can resist the impact of damage or disease.”

Try these tips to stretch your brain, take it to new places – and help make it more resistant to brain disease and ageing... Read a section of this paper that you’d usually skip… Or listen to a podcast on a topic you know nothing about. “As we age we tend to do things we’ve always done, but routine activities don’t challenge the brain,” said Dr Brennan. “Your brain benefits from dealing with something it hasn’t encountered before – it doesn’t matter what the activity is as long as it challenges you and involves learning something new.”

So if you’re clueless about science, tune into a lecture on quantum biology or space exploration. The Royal Institution (rigb.org) has some great recordings on everything from alien life to consciousness and particle physics to ecology.

And if the FTSE index leaves you mystified, make an effort to read the money page of the newspaper for a change. Become an “expert” in something new every day. Join a book club This will force you away from your reading comfort zone by encouraging you to try books you may not normally be drawn to – or would purposely avoid.

“You’ll also be reading in a more active, challenging way, critiquing, comparing and contrasting books to other books,” said Dr Brennan. Formulating your thoughts and discussing a book are also mentally stimulating Taking your grey matter outside its comfort zone and making it think in new ways could help protect you from Alzheimer’s Disease, says activities which may promote neurogenesis.”

Another bonus? “Your brain will benefit from the social stimulation,” said Dr Brennan. “When we live a life that’s socially integrated and engaged, we experience slower cognitive decline and are less likely to get Alzheimer’s disease.” Play lateral thinking games Solve this: A man in a 20-storey tower block jumps out of his window but lands on the

Routine things don’t challenge the brain. It benefits from dealing with something it’s never encountered

ground unhurt. How is this possible?

Answer: He lived on the ground floor so his window was just a few feet from the ground.

Tackling lateral thinking puzzles encourages you to alter your normal perceptions and challenge assumptions your brain normally makes on autopilot.

You can buy books or card games featuring these puzzles. Try them out with friends and get some thought-provoking discussions going.

Try an active exercise that requires learning a new skill

Dr Brennan said: “Physical exercise has been linked to increased total brain and hippocampal volume. It helps release hormones that create a nourishing environment for new brain cells to grow and stimulates the growth of new connections promoting neuroplasticity.”

And if you take up an activity that calls for acquiring a new skill – such as learning to dance, ski or play tennis – the challenge you’re giving your brain will promote neuroplasticity and neurogenesis too.

Do it with your eyes closed

“Engaging all of your senses is a great way to enhance memory function,” said Dr Brennan. Next time you take a shower, do it with your eyes closed. Concentrate on the scent of the soap, the sensation of the warm water on your skin, the sound of the suds of shampoo as you work them into your hair. Do the same as you eat a meal. Try to single out the different tastes – sweet, sour, salty and bitter, or any subtle herbs or spices. “Our brain has the capacity to remember information through any of our five senses – the memories for each of these senses activate different areas of it,” said Dr Brennan.

Do it differently

Walking the dog? Driving to school or work? Go a different route to the one you would normally take.

“When we always take the same route we can do it on autopilot,” said Dr Brennan. “Routine doesn’t challenge the brain, so new connections or new neurons are unlikely to develop.”

Try mixing up other routine things you do, too.

Sit in a different chair to normal when you watch the TV or eat dinner – and use your non-dominant hand to do everyday things such as brushing your teeth, eating with a knife and fork in opposite hands or pruning the garden.

By breaking the norm that your brain is used to, you’ll be encouraging new neural connections.

Make hobbies more difficult for yourself

Dr Brennan said: “For example if you like crosswords, word searches or sudoku try pushing yourself to the next level or aim to complete the puzzle in a time limit or to finish it more quickly than you did yesterday.” Your brain may feel baffled and confused – but that’s what encourages it to stretch and make new neural connections. Stick to doing something that’s easy for you and doesn’t challenge you enough and your brain won’t expand. “Also try increasing the speed or distance at which you walk or run, or strive to improve a particular technique or skill in your chosen sport or hobby,” added Dr Brennan.

Read and write backwards

Hold the page of a book over a mirror and try to read it backwards. Or have a go at writing out a sentence on a page backwards and in the “wrong” direction so that it reads normally when reflected in a mirror. Pick out several words from a page, close your eyes and spell them backwards in your head. All this helps your brain make new connections as it tries to make sense of the unfamiliar – and boosts concentration skills too, if you keep at it.

Using your other hand to brush teeth or swapping knife and fork can help encourage new neural connections