A workout on your brain

Can an exercise routine really help keep your brain “muscles” in fine condition?

Meditation or tai chi can increase the brain's ability to modify between different tasks.

Photo: Michael Carroll Photography/Thinkstock

The fear of losing your memory and pondering skills is one in all the most important concerns of aging. That could also be behind the growing variety of clinics offering mental fitness programs. “Brain training” is just not a typical exercise program. It includes a wide range of activities and lifestyle changes to assist boost brain function.

What is involved?

A typical mental fitness program includes the next:

• Physical exercise. “Exercise increases activity in parts of the brain associated with executive function and memory and promotes the growth of new brain cells. But most of us don't work hard enough to feel the benefit.” You should push yourself, and that you want to exercise and wear a monitor to get your heart rate as much as a certain zone, it's a special heart rate for everybody, and we monitor it,” says Dr. Pascual-Leon.
• Academic training. It's an exercise on your pondering skills that uses computer or video games and forces you to sharpen your response times and focus. Does it work? It's hard to prove that computer training works. Studies have been mixed. It is difficult to indicate that areas of improvement in sport translate to on a regular basis activities. Computer training alone doesn't work.
• Nutrition. The weight-reduction plan with probably the most evidence for promoting mental health and reducing the chance of developing memory problems is the Mediterranean weight-reduction plan. This includes whole grains, vegatables and fruits, and healthy fats from fish, nuts, and oils. Tailoring calorie intake can be included. Dr. Pascual says, “A large amount of research shows that not eating enough food is bad for the body and mind, but eating too much is bad, too. So it seems that maintaining a healthy weight is important.” Eating enough coffee will help with cognition,” says Dr. Pascual. – Leon.
• Better sleep. Poor sleep can impair cognition. May help restore sleep. Mental health programs normally search for the underlying causes of sleep apnea, comparable to a side effect of medication, sleep apnea (when your airways stop respiration periodically during sleep, etc.) has) or an overactive bladder that interrupts sleep for trips to the lavatory.
• Meditation. “Exercises like meditation or tai chi increase something called cognitive reserve,” says Dr. Pascal Lewin. It is the brain's ability to modify between different tasks, allocate resources, and handle unexpected stress in a way that allows us to raised address on a regular basis life.

Finding a program

Hospitals and research facilities offer mental fitness programs, as do private practices. “Ideally you want people who have been doing this for a long time and who offer a multidisciplinary approach with a neurologist, psychologist, social worker, physical therapist, and dietician,” says Dr. Pascal Lewin. “

Be wary of treatment guarantees, and don't assume that doing well on a pc game means you're recuperating. “If you do one thing often, you'll get better at that one thing. But you want to get better at everyday activities, not just in the clinic,” warns Dr. Pasquale Levin.

Look for programs that measure the biological effects of coaching, and experts who will explain the outcomes and the way the knowledge will aid you.

Quick memory boosters You don't must go to a special clinic to spice up your memory. Try these tricks to recollect: name When you meet someone for the primary time, match their name with an image. Then use the person's name within the conversation. Where you place things. Always keep go-to items, comparable to keys and glasses, in a single place. For others, say out loud where you place them. The things people inform you. Ask the person to talk slowly, so you may focus higher. Repeat to yourself what the person said, and take into consideration what it means.