- To reduce unhealthy stress levels, take up yoga, meditate, laugh, exercise, or care for a pet.
- The easiest way to challenge your brain is to choose a “word of the day” and then work the word into a conversation. Improving vocabulary is a great way to challenge your brain daily.
- Ten minutes of focusing on the positive and visualizing the future each day can change the way you look at life, opening your mind to new possibilities.
- Take advantage of your natural learning booster by believing something is important. If we try to learn without feeling interested, very little of that information will be saved in our memories. When we tell ourselves that what we’re learning is important, our brains join in, triggering our learning circuits.
- Try making a list of ten things you are thankful for – just doing this daily can make a big difference in your everyday attitude and help manage stress. There is a definite connection between healthy living and having a positive outlook on life.
Attention is the most basic and necessary function of the brain. The brain can attend to information from five sensory pathways. While a deeper level of processing is not necessary for attention to occur, it is also true that a deeper level of information processing cannot occur without normal attention. The brain stem and frontal lobe are thought to be important for basic attentional processing. The entire Cortex is likely involved to a degree with basic attention.
The savory scent of rosemary can perk you up and boost your memory, and it also adds flavor to just about any marinade. Marinating meat will not only help keep your meat moist, it also significantly decreases the amount of carcinogenic heterocyclic amines (HCAs) produced when meat is cooked at high temperatures. In fact, rosemary is full of the antioxidant carnosol, which might have some specific anti-cancer properties as well. Making a marinade with rosemary sounds like a win-win situation.
Listen carefully and you’ll hear the same refrain at a rising number of hospitals. From Massachusetts General to the Mayo Clinic, patients are hearing the first strains of a harmonious movement — the infusion and inclusion of music in the treatment of ailments, from brain disorders to cancer. This goes beyond the psychological smile favorite songs can induce.
Doctors are increasingly studying — and employing — the physiological dance music does with the body’s neurons and blood-carrying cells.
A healthy lifestyle is key to reducing the risk of illness and chronic disease. By reducing excess intake of calories, saturated fat, sodium and simple sugars and increasing intake of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, low-fat dairy and lean meats, baby boomers may help reduce their risk of developing heart disease, certain cancers, type 2 diabetes and osteoporosis.
A diet low in saturated fat is among the top recommendations from health professionals to promote heart health and reduce the risk of cancer. Registered dietitian and baby boomer Susie Langley recognizes the challenge of keeping active and eating well, but argues that with just a little more effort boomers could be better off in the long run.
The Brain Lifestyle Quiz is designed to help you learn more about your own brain health! The quiz uses research-based information to propose a healthy brain lifestyle relevant to your life. We recommend you repeat this survey every three months to see your progress.
Your brain health profile is comprised of five major areas:
- Mental Stimulation
- Physical Activity
In the trial, 52 healthy men and women had their brains scanned, were interviewed and had their exercise data collected.
Brain volume in key areas – including the temporal lobe which is involved in language, memory and emotion – were significantly lower in those who did the least exercise, say the American researchers.
It’s thought exercise boosts the growth and development of brain cells.
Read more about Excercise and Brain Health