[IMAGE CREDIT: ANDREW MASON, ARTICLE CREDIT: MRMAGICA]
Mental diseases can be prevented by taking a few steps throughout life to insure that the mind remains healthy and sharp. There are centenarians who live in the world that show little signs of mental decline. Genes play a small part in their mental health, but more often it's the diet that keeps them healthy.
Relaxation for Better Thinking
A stressed lifestyle puts a great strain on the thinking processes needed to make decisions. Stress triggers the release of cortisol that interferes with brain performance. The ability to solve the daily problems of life is harder under chronic stress. Just by learning to relax, anyone can function better. Getting enough sleep, meditation or listening to good music can provide the relaxation necessary to improve mental clarity. Taking ...
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Nobody's got a perfect memory – and as we get older, it sometimes seems harder to remember the small things, like where we left our keys. But new research provides some unexpected hope. Studies have unlocked some reasons why memories weaken as we age – and exciting new research suggests that the process can even be reversed.
According to a study published in the journal Nature, a large part of our memory decline is due to the chemical environment of neurons in the prefrontal cortex (PFC), an area of the frontal lobe that plays a large part in maintaining working memory - the ability to keep an idea, sound, or image "in mind" while we're not directly perceiving it in our environment.
Though neuroscientists - and plenty of other people - have known for centuries that age leads to a decline in var ...
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Fish oil is an important part of a healthy diet and is key to maintaining healthy brain function as well as overall health. Most diets today are lacking in a variety of vitamins and minerals, which many people make up for by taking a regular multi-vitamin. However, most diets today do not contain enough fish oil for optimum brain health, and fish oil is not found in a typical multi-vitamin. For this reason, a fish oil supplement may need to be taken on a regular basis if adequate fish oil is not provided in a regular diet.
In recent years, numerous studies have been conducted on the benefits of fish oil. These studies have found that people who consume the recommended amount of fish oil, whether through a part of your regular diet or through supplements, show improvement on memory tests, an ...
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When we’re hovering on the border between dreaming and wakefulness, the boundaries between imagination and reality can start to blur. Sights and sounds from our dreams can seep into the waking world, or our minds might weave a sensation of cold, or a buzzing alarm clock, into the strange plot of the dream
As it turns out, these everyday experiences help demonstrate one of the most exciting discoveries of modern neuroscience: that reality isn’t something we passively take in, but something our brains actively construct throughout every moment.
It might sound like a bizarre idea, but a growing body of scientific research is providing evidence for that very conclusion. Take, for example, a recent study by Vanderbilt University psychologists Dr. Sang Wook Hong and Dr. Min-Suk Kang, who found that visual ...
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Caffeine withdrawal causes a wide array of symptoms, including irritability, fatigue and headaches. Headaches are the most common symptom, occurring in approximately half of all people who stop consuming caffeine. The reason for this becomes clear once you understand how caffeine affects your body.
Effects of Caffeine
Caffeine, the most popular psychoactive chemical worldwide, works as a stimulant on the body's cardiovascular and central nervous system. Within the cardiovascular system, caffeine raises the heart rate and increases blood flow, respiration and metabolic rate. It is a reaction to these and other effects that causes the subsequent withdrawal headaches when caffeine intake ceases.
Caffeine in the Brain
Adenosine is a neurotransmitter that circulates throughout the body in the blood. Under no ...
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“The human condition: lost in thought.” ~Eckhart Tolle
In daily life, you tend to identify too closely with your thoughts. You tend to believe all your thoughts, even the ones that are false, limiting, and destructive. Such negative thought patterns also hinder your progress in creative pursuits such as painting, writing, music, sports, and entrepreneurship. You can protect yourself from negative thoughts simply by becoming aware when they arise. The best way to do this is by using a simple meditation technique called breath meditation.
How to practice breath meditation
“Meditation is touching your thoughts with your awareness.” ~Jon Kabat-Zinn
Sit in an upright but relaxed posture. You may either sit on a meditation cushion or in a chair. Choose a tim ...
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Enhancing your ability to think more clearly, concentrate with more intensity, and absorb more information in a shorter span of time will do wonders for improving every area of your life. Many people believe the power of the human mind is unlimited (possibly even infinite), so striving to harness your brain's full potential is surely a noble and worthwhile goal. Below are 15 simple tips that hopefully will allow you to boost your level of intelligence and overall mental capacity a hundredfold.
1. Read as widely as possible in many different areas. (This tip is one of the most basic and obvious, but wide reading in disparate fields can significantly increase your intelligence.) Strive to choose books that contain deep ideas that really make you think. Memorize select ...
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Most of us think of brain bashers as fun riddles we would give and get from friends in grade school. Answering the riddles correctly or giving one that no one could answer would make us feel very proud of our mental abilities, but mostly we saw the process as a game. There are many scientists, however, who believe that brain bashers are much more than just “fun mind games”.
Think of just a few of those brain bashers you may have heard or read as a kid. As you sat and thought about the question and tried to uncover the answer, you were definitely using your brain in a different way than usual. There’s no question that these brain bashers forced you to think and while growing up this is greatly beneficial, but what about doing brain bashers as an adult?
While mos ...
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Parents often ask the question of “should children use memory supplements” when deciding between healthy decisions for their children. There are a lot of mixed reviews on whether memory supplements are the right choice for a child or not, but it has been suggested through several scientific studies that some supplements can help improve brain function, memory and attitude. This is especially true if the memory supplements are all natural.
Children need a proper diet and nutrition in order to grow and develop to the best of their ability. Considering that children do not always eat what they should, it can be beneficial to include memory supplements in their diet to ensure optimal brain function while they are developing.
There are a variety of memory supp ...
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Funny brain teasers are a great way to not only stimulate the brain, but entertain a person of any age. Trying to figure out these funny brain teasers and come up with the right answer can take a lot of mental energy and patience, but when the teaser is figured out properly it can be an accomplishment. After we laugh at the joke or our previous difficulty in solving the funny brain teasers, we can easily become addicted to the process and seek out more.
Thus we begin searching for funny brain teasers, starting with a few at a time and building up a massive library. These five funny brain teasers are sure to stimulate anyone’s brain and are a great place to start that library.
1. The man who makes it does not need it. The man who buys its does not use it. The man who uses it doesn't know he is. What is it?
The answer to this brain t ...
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In order for the brain to function at the best of its ability, one needs to feed it the nutrients it needs. Like the rest of the body, the brain needs vitamins in order to function at full strength. These seven vitamins for the brain offer increased brain function as well as decelerate brain degeneration. The top seven vitamins for the brain are B1, B3, B6, B12, C, D and E.
1. Vitamin B1 is considered the best of all vitamins for the brain, as it works with the brain to produce glucose to help it to not only function properly but also increase memory. Sunflower seeds and wheat bread are great ways to get important vitamins for the brain.
2. Vitamin B3 works to increase the blood flow to the brain. Eating turkey and beans can aid in adding vitamins for the brain to your diet.
3. B6 helps the brain nerve messengers functi ...
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A cognitive enhancer, loosely speaking, is any substance which can help the brain functions and memory. These can be food, drinks, drugs and natural supplements. With so many options and possible benefits, it can be very difficult to figure out which cognitive enhancer is best.
The case for food is, of course, that it is the most natural course to enhancing cognitive ability and memory function. Several foods such as blueberries, eggs, fatty fish and beans have been proven to fuel the brain and improve memory function. Studies have also shown these foods to slow or stop degenerative conditions such as Alzheimer’s. The only issue is that you must eat considerable amounts of these foods on a regular basis to get the most enhancer benefit.
There are also cognitive enhancer drinks which can help. Green tea and herbal drinks made of ginko ...
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Nootropil, commonly known as Piracetam, is a cognitive enhancer which works by stimulating the nervous system and improving communication between all parts of the brain. It is capable of providing enhanced clarity, focus, motor skills, energy and memory without the use of chemicals or harmful additives. It does the works of pounds of “brain food” with just a couple of pills.
Nootropil was first released in the 1970s. Since then, many studies have been done to test the effectiveness of the supplement as well as the safety. Thus far, clinical studies have shown some improvements in brain functioning, particularly in those with cognitive disorders. No serious side effects have been reported in over 40 years of use and study.
Cognitive ailments which might see the best benefit from Nootropil are Alzheimer’s, stroke vict ...
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Nootropics is a very widely used term for any drug, supplement or food which enhances cognitive function. These are also commonly referred to as cognitive enhancers or smart drugs. They work in different ways, depending on the particular enhancer used.
Some nootropics work by increase the oxygen flow to the brain. When the blood that is delivered to the brain is more oxygen-rich, it has higher ability to function, learn and remember. The way the brain distributes oxygen is to the life-supporting areas and functions first, then to “extra” functions like memory. This means that when it is getting plenty of oxygen, it has plenty to give to the higher functions. When it is deprived in any way, the higher functions will be shut down to a bare minimum operation.
Other nootropics work by increasing the neurochem ...
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Brain gym exercises were originally created by Paul E. Dennison, Ph.D. and Gail E. Dennison based off of studies and work done by Dr. Carla Hannaford, Ph.D. The information produced by Dr. Hannaford centers around the fact that learning does not only take part in our brain. Our entire body has a hand in every learning experience. From this, brain gym exercises were created to increase our perception, learning ability and retention. Here are 4 brain gym activities anyone can do.
Lazy Eights
For these brain gym exercises, sit or stand comfortably and look at a point at eye level. With a raised arm, use your finger to draw one circle starting from that point at eye level and working out clockwise. When you come back around to the point, continue to another circle working out counter clockwise. Move your eyes and head slightly to follow your finger dra ...
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Piracetam is a Nootropic, or compound used to improve cognitive function and ability. Nootropics have been used in the treatment many mental disorders, such as ADHD, Alzheimer’s, Dyslexia and Amnesia, and Piracetam has shown in multiple studies on animals and humans alike to improve these conditions.
Those who do not necessarily have a mental disorder can also benefit from regular Piracetam use. For general cognitive improvement, Piracetam has been shown to improve a “healthy person’s” image recall, mental quickness and ability to retain new information. What this means for you is the ability to remember more, be more alert and learn more quickly and easily.
The way Piracetam works is by stimulating the communication the left and right hemisphere of the brain. Communication between the differe ...
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Many times the question has been asked “which cognitive enhancers actually work, if any?” The collective answer, of course, is all of them. The problem is, what do you want the cognitive enhancers to actually do? If you expect them to miraculously cure post-stroke symptoms you may be disappointed. But if you have a more realistic expectation of them aiding memory and information retention, therefore alleviating many neural symptoms then you are in luck.
Another point of the argument to consider is how cognitive enhancers work. Some cognitive enhancers are stimulants, providing lots of benefit while they are in your system, but sometimes leaving you feel drained and sluggish once the dose has run out. Some are relaxants which may have negative side effects for weeks. Other cognitive enhancers, called brain bo ...
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Brain training has been a term used for decades to describe exercises and techniques used to stimulate the brain and give it a workout. It’s true that the brain is just like every other part of the body and only gets stronger with use. Here are 6 brain training activities you can – and should – do every day to strengthen your brain.
Multitasking
Multitasking is one of the best brain training techniques to keep your brain busy without getting exhausted. By having the brain switch from one task or problem to another, it is stimulated in multiple areas. The more often you multitask, the more efficient you will be at it. Be careful that you don’t take too much on, though, especially as you start out.
Word Puzzles
Word searches are a good way to mildly stimulate brain activity. Other options are crossword puzzles, anagrams and ...
