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Longevity is only 5% physical activity, 15% nutrition, and 80% intelligence, as researchers at Harvard University recently found. Do you want to “push back old age”? Train your brain!
1. Learn foreign languages
The more you know them, the better. The ability to quickly switch from one task to another and maintain attention is called intellectual lability. This indicator of brain activity decreases with age. People who speak two or more languages adapt much better to rapidly changing environmental conditions, better concentrate on a task compared to those who speak one language – their native language. As a result, they have more opportunities to maintain the sharpness of brain reactions in old age.
2. Learn a new profession
If a person changes their occupation at the age of 40, new connections are created between brain cells, as happened in childhood, when the brain grew and developed. The cortex and hippocampus begin to work better. Of course, not everyone needs to retrain from a lawyer to a doctor or from a doctor to an accountant, you can simply master new equipment or computer programs.
3. Rejoice
The brain loves positive emotions and is great at processing positive information. Communicate more with pleasant and interesting people, children. If it seems that there is nothing to be happy about, take an interest: try to constantly learn something new, read, go to exhibitions and museums, travel. Scientists from Seattle and Baltimore, who have been observing the aging of 35 residents of these cities for 6 years, are convinced that mental decline is inevitable if a person leads a “gray” lifestyle and experiences dissatisfaction.
4. Practice neuroscience
The work of the brain is improved by unusual loads for it – scientists call it neurobics. Add novelty to familiar, automatic actions. Try taking a shower with your eyes closed. If you are right-handed, write a few lines a day with your left hand (if you are left-handed, with your right hand). Try to get to the store the other way or determine the face value of the coin with your eyes closed. You can try to be silent all day and communicate with loved ones only with the help of facial expressions and gestures.
5. Keep physical activity
Many people spend their lives sitting. We sit in the office at the computer all day, then we move into a car seat, and at home we fall apart on the couch in front of the TV. By the second hour of sitting, the brain begins to experience oxygen starvation. Try taking the stairs, walking, or doing some light exercise. Any, even the most minimal, physical activity is useful. Yoga is well suited – it strengthens the immune system and improves psychological state. By constantly practicing it, you can improve brain function and open up new possibilities.