Freaky Friday Extra!: Brain Fitness

August 21st, 2010 by Richard

by Richard

Hey, look, dude! It’s another list. This time we’re talking about building up your thinkin’ muscles.

10: Eat dark chocolate. For some reason, eating dark chocolate prompts your brain to release dopamine, a neurotransmitter that helps to improve overall brain function. And it tastes great.

9: Get enough sleep each night. We’re talking 8 hours for most folks. Resting your brain actually lets it work better.

8: Eat fish, especially fish like salmon. Most piscine dishes contain Omega 3 fatty acids which are not only brain-helpful but are good for your heart and overall cardiovascular health.

7: Have a ball. Throwing a ball up in the air and catching it can not only be a bit of fun, but it also improves hand-eye coordination.

6: Swap hobbies. Try something new or, if you already have a hobby you like, make it more difficult. By adjusting the difficulty level, you make your brain work even more to learn and excel at the new work.

5: Go to a museum or some other similar place, take the guided tour or read all the little info tags. Then, when you get home, try to transcribe all the details you remember about each piece. It helps improve your memory and your attention to detail.

4: Get musical. Learning a musical instrument, even something as relatively simple as a recorder or harmonica, will provide exercise to a number of different areas of your brain. Plus it’s fun.

3: Take a long walk down a rocky road. Strangely, walking on an uneven surface is thought to help you increase your ability to balance and can give the vestibular bits in your ear (which are responsible for balance) a nice bit of work.

2: Readin’, Writin’, ‘Rithmatic. Start to work on crossword puzzles, word games or Sudoku puzzles. We’re talking major brain sweat here.

1: Finally, use your non-dominant hand more. Try something difficult like brushing with your off hand. It’s not as easy as it sounds. Whenever I try to do it, I find that I’m moving my head more than my hand. Because of that, I usually try using my off hand to write. Just take it slow.