Contents
What to do to get smarter
What rules must be followed to keep the brain’s cognitive functions at a high level?
The more actively the brain works, the slower we age. With age, only the rate decreases, but not the possibilities of cognition themselves. Therefore, it is so important to constantly maintain brain activity, train the cognitive functions of the brain (for which, by the way, 90% of this brain itself is responsible and only 10% for everything else – vision, hearing, etc.). However, all functions of the human body must be constantly trained. Even walking, because the child learns this in the process of development. To figure out what needs to be done to maintain a high level of brain activity, we were helped by the candidate of medical sciences, neurologist Natalya Vakhnina.
1. Work well, but don’t forget to rest
It is necessary to normalize the mode of work and rest, in other words, to manage stress. A person, of course, should receive both positive and negative emotions. But the negative ones are moderate! Studies show that if only positive emotions are present, then life expectancy decreases. Moderate amounts of stress are needed. It stimulates the activity of the cognitive functions of the brain. And the obligatory relaxation – the brain must rest. Allocate an hour of time only for yourself in the evening: read a book, watch your favorite movie, do what is interesting to you.
2. Control your blood pressure
Measure your blood pressure daily. And as soon as you notice that for several days in a row it stays above 130 to 80, go to the doctor and start taking medications on an ongoing basis. Regardless of age! A person may not feel physiologically increased pressure, and in the meantime, blood vessels are damaged and brain diseases develop. With chronic cerebral circulatory insufficiency, a stroke occurs.
It is important to keep fit. American scientists conducted a study in which one group of subjects walked more than 3 km per day, and another less than 500 m. The results showed that the first group had a two-fold lower risk of dementia (acquired dementia). In general, aerobic exercise is one of the main mechanisms in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases.
Your diet should definitely contain fish, nuts, avocados, as well as long carbohydrates – cereals, durum wheat pasta. For the prevention of cardiovascular diseases, the Mediterranean diet is good (olive oil, red wine, herbs, colorful vegetables). It is rich in antioxidants. Vitamin B12 plays a key role in cognitive activity (liver, rabbit meat, cheese, etc.). Considered by many to be one of the most common brain-boosting foods, chocolate is just a quick way to relieve headaches and fatigue. It will help when you need to urgently mobilize cognitive functions (for example, before a meeting). That is, it is SOS help. And one more important point: overeating reduces the cognitive process – there is an outflow of blood from the head to the stomach.
Constant mental stress is essential. You can learn something (for example, learn a language) at any age, because only the pace, the speed of thinking slows down, but the abilities themselves remain. It is a physiological process like sight and smell. Yes, new things are assimilated more slowly, but they are assimilated – this is important. In addition, a person already has life experience with which he can operate. And remember, training your mind (games, tasks, quests, etc.) is better than just memorizing.
How to load the brain? Reading, organizing intellectual trainings, learning foreign languages, solving puzzles, and for grandparents, the ideal option is to do school homework with grandchildren. As for crosswords, they are good for dynamic disorders – problems with attention, disorientation, vascular disease, postoperative recovery, and even if you drink too much. But in principle, any brain stimulation is good here (memory is impaired by the “knew but forgot” type). If you have someone in your family with Alzheimer’s, then doing crossword puzzles is not recommended for them. In this case, this is not an effective method, since such patients suffer from episodic memory, they cannot remember the words and become nervous.
If necessary, you can take medications that will increase cerebral circulation and, accordingly, improve cognitive functions. We are talking about stressful situations – exams, important speeches, interviews, etc. For example, 30 minutes before the exam, you can take adrenergic blockers (anaprilin, validol) – the heart will calm down, thinking will work. If the performance is due in a couple of weeks or a tense, nervous week awaits you, then during this mental activity you can drink nootropics (cavinton, nootropil, phenotropil).