10 AT-HOME TIPS TO BOOST YOUR BRAIN
1 EAT ‘BRAIN FOOD’
What we eat can have a massive effect on how well our brains perform. Foods such as blueberries, tomatoes, eggs and broccoli have all been linked to improving our cognitive functions. However, sources of omega-3 fat-rich foods, like salmon or flaxseed, have been at the forefront of brain-boosting foods for some years. Their high essential fatty acid levels are thought to promote healthier brain cells and are used in the construction of cell membranes. Also, low levels of a fatty acid called docosahexaenoic acid, found in oily fish and algae, have been linked to the increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. However, what powers our brains on a day-to-day basis is a form of sugar called glucose, which is released into the bloodstream after the stomach breaks down carbohydrate-rich foods.
2 LET YOURSELF DAYDREAM
It might seem counterintuitive that drifting off into a daydream would be related to intellectual ability. However, research has shown that letting your mind wander could be a sign of a high brain capacity. A 2017 study from the Georgia Institute of Technology found that those that frequently daydream scored higher on intellectual and creative tests than those who didn’t. Researchers also scanned the brains of the participants using Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) to evaluate their brain efficiency or capacity to think and found that daydreamers had more efficient brain systems. The next time you find yourself aimlessly gazing through a window, don’t fight it and let your mind wander – it could be helpful in the future.
“It’s important to remain social, not only for fun, but for your brain”
3 BELIEVE YOU CAN AND YOU WILL
Self-belief is a great way to not only boost your confidence but also improve your smarts, a study has shown. When told it was possible to get smarter, it was found that students retained 85 per cent of what they had been taught in class. However, the second group of students were informed it was not possible, resulting in only 54 per cent of them retaining the information. It’s thought that belief plays a role in the ease of brain neurons to cooperate.
4 STAY SOCIAL
In a time where face-to-face social interaction is at its lowest, it’s important to remain social, not only for fun, but for your brain. Whether it’s having a household games night or catching up with friends on a video chat, being social has been shown to improve and help preserve memory functions. Conducted between 1998 and 2004, subjects who were more ‘socially integrated’ showed higher scores on memory tests conducted every two years.
5 PRACTISE MINDFULNESS
Our ability to make the right decisions is tied to our fluid intelligence and how well we can rationally consider information and make the right choices. Mindfulness, the act of paying attention to the present moment and understanding ourselves, has been found to improve mental health, but also help to better decision-making. Researchers have shown that a brief period of mindfulness, as little as 15 minutes per day, resulted in people making more rational decisions based on available information in the present moment, leading to positive outcomes.
6 STAY ACTIVE
Keeping up with regular exercise can keep your mind sharp as well as helping you stay fit. Studies have found that those that regularly exercise have bigger thinking and memory regions of their brains. Regular exercise has also been found to reduce the body’s level of insulin resistance, stress and inflammation, along with promoting the release of chemicals that promote the growth of new blood vessels in the brain. However, one of the most immediate ways exercise can help the brain is by reducing stress. This is achieved by regulating your body’s stress hormone, called cortisol. High levels of cortisol in the body have been found to negatively impact the way we think and our memory.
7 PLAY SOME VIDEO GAMES
It was commonly believed that playing video games did the opposite of improving the way our brains work. However, plugging in your console and spending the afternoon in a virtual world might have some cognitive benefits. Researchers have found that playing action-oriented video games increases our ability to analyse situations and make quick decisions, along with improving our ability to perceive shapes and colour.
8 GET LOST IN FICTION
Burying your head in a textbook will help grow your crystalline intelligence and gain knowledge. However, poking your nose into a work of fiction is believed to improve your emotional intelligence. Immersing yourself in books filled with detail, allusion and metaphors activates the same regions of the brain that would be simulated in real-life situations. Reading moral dilemmas in fiction, for example, is known to exercise the brain and increase our capacity for empathy.
9 LEARN TO PLAY AN INSTRUMENT
It might be time to dust off that guitar that’s tucked away in the attic or pick up that recorder for the first time since school to help improve your cognitive function. Other than acquiring a new skill, learning to play an instrument has been found to engage almost all parts of the brain and improves language and cognitive skills.
10 DRINK GREEN TEA
How much difference can a cup of green tea make to the brain? Well, a long-term study published in the science journal Experimental Gerontology has found that a chemical compound found in green tea called catechin might be able to reduce cerebral atrophy – loss of brain cells – and function. The study used mouse subjects over 12 months and discovered that green tea catechin effectively suppressed atrophy, along with improving brain function in the brains of older mice subjects.