Brain training

Challenge your grey matter to prevent cognitive decline…

✢ make a fist want to memorise a shopping list? ball up your right hand and squeeze. to recall the information later, clench the left hand. researchers think the movements activate brain regions key for recalling of memories.

✢ Jog on a Cambridge university study revealed that jogging twice a week causes new brain cells to grow that are linked to the recollection of memories. ✢ switch sides try brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand. this stimulates interaction between the two sides of the brain, forming new neural pathways.

✢ watch the booze a study in the British Medical Journal showed even moderate drinking (7-14 units a week) is linked to pathological changes in the brain. according to the Chief medical officer in england, there is no safe drinking level but limiting alcohol to less than seven units a week may lower the risk of health problems.

✢ Learn a second language this requires a specific type of brain training, which enables us to alternate between the two languages. It may delay the onset of dementia by four and a half years. In a study by the university of edinburgh, the over-56s performed better than the 18-30s in cognitive tests after attending language lessons for four weeks.

w&h ✢ Be a Bookworm reading keeps your brain young. with every page, our brain works to store and retain more information. researchers from emory University, Us, discovered heightened connectivity in the left temporal cortex (in charge of memory storage) after participants read a book over nine days.