Can you really boost your brain?

Forgetting birthdays, people’s names or your passwords? Here’s what the latest research says about making your synapses snappier and your neural connections stronger.

Forgetting passwords, birthdays or people’s names will be a thing of the past after you’ve tried these strategies.

Foranyone who’s had to search their mind for a name or a detail (that’s all of us!), it may be a surprise to hear that, according to brain health experts, memory isn’t everything. So why is it the first or only thing you worry about? “People don’t really care about performing better on some mental test,” says psychiatrist and behavioural health physician Dr Gary Small, author of The Memory Bible. “They want to remember their grocery list. When they see someone they know, they want to remember that person’s name so they don’t have to say, ‘Hi, um, how are you?’ and can instead say, ‘Hi, Jenny, how are you doing?’”

But memory is much more complicated than plucking a name from your brain or knowing you’re running low on milk. Recalling a friend’s name, for example, is also tied to your brain’s processing speed, your ability to focus and a host of other factors you can improve. But you’ll have to put in some effort. “In general, people have unrealistic expectations around memory,” says neuropsychologist Dr Sherrie All, author of The Neuroscience of Memory. And, as she points out, it’s not all about age: “People over 40 forget that they forgot things when they were in their 20s, too.”

A fair amount of misinformation is out there that can make you feel bad about your brain.

For instance, your brain doesn’t stop growing as soon as you graduate high school or university. A reassuring scientific concept called neuroplasticity means your brain has the ability to modify its structure and function throughout your life. New cells can be produced in your brain even when you’re considered to be in old age. This means that if you’re wishing you could make your brain stronger, you absolutely can. “You can’t boost your IQ, but with brain training, you can improve your concentration, expand your working memory and more,” explains Dr All.

The science of boosting memory

The same strategies that are used to rehabilitate people who have had a stroke or a brain injury can work for the rest of us as well. These include work-arounds that help you complete tasks, the way a crutch might help you walk if you had a broken leg. Think of that song you sang to memorise your multiplication tables, or when you recited the phrase ‘every good boy deserves fruit’ so you’d remember the notes EGBDF on a music staff. Methods also include simple habits such as always putting your car keys on a hook by the door or, when meeting a new person, repeating their name regularly to solidify the memory.

These compensatory strategies make up the majority of what you can do to build up your brain. But there’s also a small number of brain-rehab strategies that are restorative, meaning they’re actually repairing or improving brain function. Think about, for example, how a person who’s had a stroke may have to re-learn to walk or speak. “And there are other brain health behaviours you can adopt, such as getting enough sleep and eating well, to focus your memory, improve your recall and comprehension and more,” says Dr All.

What should you expect when you’re looking to make brain gains? “What’s realistic depends on what people are willing to do,” says Dr Small. Brain training, also called cognitive training, isn’t all fun and games (although, admittedly, some of it is!). To some degree, as with diet and exercise, you get out of it what you put into it.

Of course, it’s important to note that what happens in a lab doesn’t always translate to the outside world. (You’re probably not able to spend three months on a meditation retreat, for example.) Regardless, experts told us that the five main strategies we outline here are worth your time and energy, and have been shown to improve the way people process, focus on, store and recall information. See how many mind-modifying habits you can regularly work into your life.

1 MOVE

YOUR BODY

There’s no debate:

Working out does the body and brain good. “We have really strong evidence that exercise can help you grow more brain cells, increase the number of connections and pathways in your brain and create more nerve growth factors – they’re like fertiliser for your brain cells,” says Dr All. While there’s no one specific type of workout that’s said to be best, studies have looked at the brain-building benefits of everything from riding a bike to doing yoga.

One study showed that high-intensity interval training in adults resulted in an increase of up to 30 per cent in memory performance. The research focused on high-interference memory, which helps you do things like distinguish one car from another that’s the same make and model. In a US scientific review, MRI images were used to demonstrate one benefit of yoga: Regular yoga practice brought about increased volume in the hippocampus (a part of the brain involved in memory) and a larger prefrontal cortex (which is essential to planning). Bottom line: Pick a fitness path you enjoy – and stay on it.

2 CHALLENGE YOURSELF TO LEARN NEW THINGS

You may have heard this and thought it meant you had to learn to play the guitar or take up Mandarin. Sure, those things would definitely sharpen your brain (learning a new language boosts the part of the brain tied to memory and attention, for example), but you might give up by the third lesson if you’re overwhelmed. “The idea is to train your brain, not strain your brain,” says Dr Small. “Each of us needs to find that entry point so the new activities we choose are engaging and we’re motivated to do better at them.”

That might mean bringing variety into your favourite activity by, say, switching out your daily crossword for a sudoku puzzle a few days a week. Or, if you like painting, trying a freehand drawing class. You’re easing yourself into something new by building on something you enjoy. Experts say that introducing a challenge helps your brain create new pathways instead of repeatedly activating the old ones. “If you’re committed to working on any kind of mental task, you’ll get better and faster at it over time,” says Dr Small. “We all have the capacity to improve. It’s just a matter of practice.”

Snooze for a better brain

Getting a full, uninterrupted seven to eight hours of sleep per night can help your brain. Research shows that the effects of a lost night of sleep are similar to that of being drunk. During sleep, your body goes through a brain-care cycle. “Deep sleep happens early in the night and allows your brain to flush out toxins, including Alzheimer’s-causing beta-amyloid plaques,” explains Dr All. “REM sleep happens between hours four and eight and consolidates long-term memories into really long-term memories. If you’re awake for more than 30 minutes during the night, you may not get all the REM you need.” Having trouble getting a solid night’s rest?

Dr All recommends talking to your GP about making modifications to your diet and lifestyle to help you get the zzzs your brain needs.

3 DO SOMETHING MEDITATIVE AND MINDFUL

You’ll never remember the name of the person you just met or the five things your partner asked you to buy at the supermarket if you can’t focus on those things.Thankfully, a 2400-year-old practice can help sharpen your attention in less time than you probably spend looking for something you’ve misplaced.Yes, research has shown that even brief bouts of mindfulness meditation can have instant benefits. In one study, novices to the practice spent 10 minutes listening to an audio-guided mindfulness meditation and saw an immediate increase in their attention, accuracy and reaction times in a task performed afterwards, compared with a control group. Another long-term study looked at the impact of a three-month meditation retreat on a group of 60 experienced practitioners. Few of us have that kind of time, but, interestingly, some of the gains in attention the participants achieved immediately after the retreat stayed with them seven years later, though they had reduced their practice to about an hour a day.

Focus is a good place to, well, focus your brain-building desires. Attention, it seems, is the function that people are most able to improve. “Meditation is a good strategy for strengthening your brain – even if you’re just focusing on your breath during those minutes,” says Dr All.Why so? Because when people meditate, not only does their memory and focus get better, but their fear detector, the amygdala, likely shrinks, too.That last part is key, because you can’t focus as well when you’re in a state of panic or stress.“Cortisol is toxic to brain cells,” notes Dr All.“You can’t get rid of all your anxiety, but you can let meditation help you get out of fight-or-flight mode.”

4 GET MORE SOCIAL

“Once we’ve moved beyond the financial and physical impact of the pandemic, the longestlasting negative consequence will be its mental health impact,” says neuroscientist Dr Adam Gazzaley. “The data is quite convincing that isolation can impact not only how long you live but also how well you live.”

Socialising is very good for your brain because it’s another way to learn new things. “When you’re having conversations with other people, you’re working your brain,” says Dr Small. Just 10 minutes of conversation can increase working memory and the ability to suppress distractions, according to one study.

5 PLAY GAMES

Brain-training games are a multibilliondollar industry that has skyrocketed in recent years, but do they work? Maybe. As it stands now, there isn’t a lot of definitive research on the benefits of commercially available brain games. However, the likelihood of them hurting you is low, and it’s possible that they’ll help, so do a little research on their claims before you download them to your device. Some good ones to try include Elevate, Lumosity and Peak – Brain Training (all are available on both iOS and Android).

It may seem overwhelming at first to adopt all of these new behaviours, but here’s one key to bringing ease to the process: Look at expanding your mind less as a chore and more as enjoyment. Whether it’s going for a bike ride, doing a crossword or finding 10 minutes to meditate and de-stress, let the brain-boosting elements of these habits be icing on your cerebral cake, because the process itself is, well, mentally good fun.