Ways to Improve Brain Power

To improve brain power, we must have a general understanding of how our brains work. Our brains are built for novelty. Learning new skills and information is actually fun for our brains. But once the novelty of a certain stimulus becomes familiar, we tend to become bored and treat we begin to treat that a certain stimulus as a routine. This can be explained by a learning pattern that we humans learned long ago through habituation. For our complex minds, once a certain activity becomes a regiment, it simply isn’t fun anymore.

When learning new tasks, our brain rewards us for a job well done by releasing endorphins. The release of these chemicals gives us a sense of well being. Simply put, endorphins are the chemicals that our brains produce to make us happy. Endorphins are released when we are exercising. This means that taking up a new sport will not only be good for you physically, it is also good for you mentally. For us to improve brain power, our minds have to be clear so that we are able to process information better, and endorphins bring about this clarity by relaxing us. Games and sports serve not only as a stimulus for the body, but for the mind as well, because most of these activities require strategy and thinking.

As with most of our bodily functions, if we fail to utilize it, they deteriorate and go into atrophy. Same goes with our minds. If you don’t use it, you lose it. One such sport that requires a great deal from both mind and body is surfing. It not only tones your body and strengthens your muscles it forces you to react to the right things at the right time. If you fail to do so, crashing into the water will help you remember. But the thrill of riding a wave releases loads of endorphins, which makes the hundreds of hours of effort physically and mentally, all worthwhile.

If being a sporty person doesn’t fit your personality, there’s no need to worry.

By simply doing an activity that requires your intellect, you are already giving your brain a workout. Basically all activities affect your brain, one way or another. It is important to know which ones are beneficial, and which ones are not. Solving puzzles and reading books are some of the things that involve our brains actively. It is important for our brains to be continually challenged, otherwise we start to become dull-witted, passive thinkers.

An example of a passive activity is watching television. Although watching TV will not decrease your intellectual capacity, the things that we learn from it come in the form of information bombardment. You only retain certain types of information when watching TV. Presently, most television programs are for entertainment purposes only. You’ll still learn something, but waste a great deal of time in the process. To improve brain power, is much like the same for almost any other skill. We need lots of time and effort in order for us to become better at it.

Video: Brain Power

Directed by @tiffanyshlain “BRAIN POWER: From Neurons to Networks” is the third cloud film in the “Let it Ripple: Mobile Films for Global Change” series. All films in the series are available…