Brain Fitness Tips Keep Your Mind Sharp Excerpted from Get Your Brain in the Fast Lane, published in 2007 by McGraw-Hill. Copyright © 2007 by Scientific Brain Training (SBT).

Mental stimulation, brain games, or learning tools can do wonders for your memory & other cognitive functions. To be able to read & understand an article in a magazine, write a note with a pen, recognize a friend in a crowded shop, remember the first or last name of your family or friend. The list is endless!

All these activities & knowledge require your brain to be in good shape. The basis of a fit brain are mental capacities also known as cognitive functions (the process of knowing, perceiving, having ideas).

The main cognitive functions are:

1. attention,
2. memory,
3. language,
4. logical reasoning, and
5. visual and spatial acuity.

What is good for your body is also good for your brain. For instance, a balanced diet is absolutely necessary for optimal brain functioning, as the brain requires glucose, vitamins, & unsaturated fatty acids. Regular exercise is necessary for blood flow that carries oxygen to the brain, & a good night’s sleep enables you to learn new things & process daily tasks. Tobacco use, excessive alcohol, & too much stress not only prevent our bodies from performing well, they also impair our brain functioning.

When we take care of our bodies by eating well, getting enough sleep & exercise, as well as, avoiding harmful behavior patterns, we also take care of our brains. Brain games or learning tools boost mental stimulation. When it comes to the brain, the one factor we often neglect is mental stimulation. We are all creatures of habit & tend to participate in the same activities & behavior patterns.

Often these routine activities do not stimulate or benefit the brain. In fact, the brain “prefers” novelty & unexpected events. As humans, our cognitive functions thrive & improve when we are faced with new ideas, events, & challenges. When we mentally challenge ourselves on a regular basis, we can maintain good intellectual voltage as well as reduce our risk for age-related memory loss such as dementia.

How To Maintain Your Cognitive Functions As we age, our ability to concentrate decreases, or if we acquire a brain injury, we aren’t able to conduct basic mental operations as quickly as we did. We may also have difficulty remembering recently acquired words. Cognitive aging is usually attributed to the progressive loss of neurons (the cells that conduct nerve impulses), but neuron loss is less important than it was thought to be a few years ago. We’re discovering that more important than the number of neurons is the intensity of their connections-intensity that can be strengthened through mental stimulation. #

----------------------------------------------------------

How To Be Good to Your Brain

• Strive to Eat Healthy Foods. They contain potassium, two minerals & calcium that are important for the nervous system.
• Get a lot of brain stimulation--mental & physical, lots of laughter, lots of playtime, & lots of exercise.
• Wear a helmet when you ride a bike or play sports that require any head protection.
• Don't drink alcohol, take drugs, or use tobacco. Use your brain to do challenging & lively activities, such as puzzles, reading, listening or playing music, making art, or anything else that gives your brain a workout! #

------------------------------------------

Games--

“If you don’t use it, you lose it!” ---http://www.prevention.com/braingames The computer with internet access is not just an expensive gadget for young people. If used negatively, the internet can be used to gossip or to seek attention in a negative, harmful way. Yet, many who have brain injury or the caregivers of someone with brain injury have found the computer to be part of a life saving tool to journal thoughts, correspond with doctors, communicate with their medical team, or a place to get support from others who deal with or are associated with brain injury.

Questions or research information can be found at website like: http://www.medmd.com/, http://www.wikepedia.com/, or http://www.about.com/. A computer with internet access could have the potential to actually improve health for someone with brain injury. Go to the internet & play the following for fun, interactive games that are actually learning tools from the computer company, Happy Neuron. The sites below are scientifically developed to strengthen your brain & give it a work-out.

1.) Entangled Figures---Catch the falling words & place them into the right file. This fast-paced learning tool will help sharpen your ability to organize, group words or ideas, improve memory, & attention!

2.)The Right Word---Identify the three objects that make up the figure before you. This visual-spatial learning tool can sharpen your concentration!

3.)The Right Word---Match a word to its definition in this increasingly challenging learning tool. This can expand your vocabulary & hone your recall skills!

4.)The Squeaking Mouse---Match the call of the wild to the animal. This learning tool can strengthen long-term visual memory, auditory memory, concentration & deductive reasoning skills!

5.)Split Words---See how many words you can form from the fragments as you race against the clock. This learning tool can work to improve your vocabulary and recall skills! (end)

-----------------------------------------------