Boosting brain power

[Bernard]

I found an interesting article on the web:

Scientists were asked to come up with 11 methods to boost brain power that did not involve traditional education. Among the recommendations were high protein food, a good night's sleep and physical and mental workouts, as well as music, medicine and even puzzles such as Sudoku.

But the stimuli have to be the correct sort according to the geneticists, mathematicians and other experts consulted by the journal New Scientist, reports Scottish daily Scotsman.

...

"It doesn't matter how brainy you are or how much education you've had - there are still ways to boost your mental faculties. This is New Scientist's guide to getting smarter," a spokesman said.

The 11 steps to getting smarter included bionic brains - using electrodes to send small currents to boost the brain and neurofeedback - a type of thought control.

Card games such as rain man memory - where a whole pack of 52 playing cards are individually associated with a character and a story is devised including all the characters in order - and even walking sedately for half an hour three times a week can improve learning, concentration and reasoning by up to 15 percent, particularly for older people.

http*//www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IE320050529031856&Page=3&Title=Fe atures+-+Health+%26+Science&Topic=-162 (Eggs + classical music = High IQ)

Looks like I will have to stop skipping breakfast!

[lindy]

I should be a genius then!

[howdydave]

Howdy!

OK if I consider my vegus nerve stimulator as a super-charger?

I don't know about boosting power, but is boosting current close enough?

[Bernard]

Somehow, I don't think the VNS was included in their list of "bionic brains".

[RachelR]

Thanks guys, thats useful for me as I am currently revising for resits and hate having to cram a few days before.

I'll ensure I get a good nights sleep before, eat a high protein breakfast and dinner and listen to some chillout music and play games on my mobile.

[Bernard]

Looks like the 'newindpress' link above has been archived. However, here is a direct link to the referenced New Scientist article: 11 steps to a better brain

[Bernard]

There seems to be a new twist on games that require intense concentration. It seems that they can induce seizures: Mahjong seizures

[POSITIVEPERSON]

How nice card readers now have the advantage of healthy brians. LOL the pple in Oregon should be super healthy ,alot of vitamin users, alot of card readers, eating organic , big on hiking and cycling, big coffee drinkers.

I knew I moved here for a good reason. lol

Riva

[brain]

Thanks Bernard for the additional Links
bookmarked it! I've pretty much abide
by those rules.


But it doesn't state anything about those
who have birth defects or genetic disorders
though.

[RobinN]

There was a fascinating article in Life Magazine years ago (now did that just date me?) It was about using your brain in ways that you normally wouldn't and how this was improving chances of not getting Alzheimers. They suggested activities like learning to play the piano, or painting. It was suggested doing activities that involved the opposite side of your brain that you were use to using. There was a group of nuns that they were following, and who aged with high mental clarity, and the research that followed was that these nuns played a lot of card and board type games often. They also showed how after a stroke by doing such activities you could grow new neurons around any damaged areas.
Not sure if this article can be found, but I remember it is something that made quite an impression on me.

[Bernard]

They also showed how after a stroke by doing such activities you could grow new neurons around any damaged areas.

A book on neurofeedback that I was reading made a similar claim. It went further in describing an experiment done with mice/rats where one group was put in a dimly lit environment with no stimulation and another group put in a multi-level, brightly lit environment with running wheels, maze puzzles and other stimulating toys/things. After the mice/rats died, the examined the brains and found the mice/rats that had been in the stimulating environment had larger brains! The had the same number of neurons, but the neurons were larger and had more connections. A stimulating environment causes the brain to grow much like exercise causes muscles to grow.