KEEPING BRAIN-FIT
According to Institutes such as Johns Hopkins, brain
function is intact almost until the end of life. New brain cells and their connections are
generated all the time. Keeping brain-fit
to access your Personal Retrieval System is vital in order to continue to learn,
grow and make contributions to society throughout your life.
Just as the work by Erik and Joan Erikson’s forecasted longevity
filled with continuing achievements and contributions by the older population,
today’s scientific research backs up their predictions.
But in order to reap the benefits of longevity, you have to
practice being brain-fit in order to maintain healthy and on-going brain
function. Experts now believe that the
more cognitive reserves you create, the better your chances are of having a
healthy brain. It’s the old saying, “Use
It or Lose It.” As important cardio and
weight baring exercises are for your overall health - improving, exercising and
recalling your memory is vital to healthy brain function.
Research demonstrates that continuing participation in a
range of mentally stimulating activities such as chess and bridge or learning a
new language or musical instrument are wonderful ways in which you can contribute
toward your brain’s health. The more you
engage in challenging your brain, the more new cells and pathways you
form.
Joining a community drum circle is excellent activity for
staying brain fit and more, as is, playing board games with children, (of
course, the more complex the games are, the
better). Other ideas for keeping
brain-fit include using your non-dominant hand whenever possible. By doing so, you could possibly strengthen
pathways in the opposite side of your brain.
According to the work done by the late Dr. Katz, keeping your eyes
closed while eating might help with forming new cells and pathways devoted to
the processing of sensory input.
Besides engaging in new and dynamic ways throughout your
life to contribute toward brain health, it is important to socialize, reduce
stress, sleep, maintain a healthy heart, be at the right weight for your body
type, exercise, (especially walking which improves blood flow), eat healthy, and
be aware of which medications block the brain chemical, acetylcholine, which is
imperative to memory. (Check with your
doctor to find medications which do not affect your memory.)
If the concept of having a healthy brain is new to you, the
idea of having to change many things in your life to improve your brain health,
might be overwhelming. But if you break
everything down into manageable steps, and take one thing at a time, (perhaps
start with walking every day), you’ll be contributing toward being more brain
fit. And that’s exciting!
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