A number of studies have found that regular physical exercise can help prevent declines in both memory and thinking as we age. But most of these studies have looked at the effects of aerobic exercises such as jogging and swimming, rather than “mind-body” exercises such as yoga and tai chi. These exercises differ from aerobic exercises in two ways. They’re generally slower and gentler. And to do them, you have to carefully concentrate on moving your body in very precise ways.
New Research in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society
To compare the effects of aerobic and mind-body exercises on aspects of memory-including learning, retaining, and retrieving information-researchers in Hong Kong studied 140 adults, aged 56 to 78. None had dementia.
The researchers asked each to fill out a questionnaire asking what kinds of exercises he or she did, for how long, and how often. The researchers also gave the adults standardized memory tests to determine how well they learned, retained, and retrieved information.
Adults who got regular mind-body exercise did as well on the tests as those who got regular aerobic exercise. And both groups did better than those who didn’t exercise, the researchers found. But adults who got mind-body and aerobic exercise on a regular basis did the best on the memory tests.
“Practicing both (aerobic and mind-body) exercises appears to have a combined effect that might help to preserve memory in older adults,” the researchers conclude. “In addition, mind-body exercises may be considered as an alternative training for older adults who cannot practice strenuous physical exercise” because of disabilities or other health problems.
Which form of Yoga, Tai Chi or Qi Gong are you performing today? Share your experience with us! Read the rest of this entry »
As a treatment for physical ailments, marijuana has been shown to be effective at relieving pain, stimulating the appetite, and controlling cancer-related nausea and vomiting. These uses underlie the movement to legalize marijuana for medical use in the United States. As a treatment for psychiatric disorders, though, the risks of marijuana use exceed the benefits according to Harvard Health publications
Regular use of marijuana can lead to addiction and other mental health problems, especially in people who are genetically vulnerable, notes Dr. Michael Miller, editor in chief of the Harvard Mental Health Letter. Read more about marijuana risks
In a 2003 University of Chicago study, 12 volunteers were asked to listen to words played through a voice synthesiser, and they also saw them printed on a piece of paper. The audio was intentionally difficult to understand.
Later, the volunteers were asked to recall the words based on the distorted audio alone. Many found their ability to remember suffered as the day wore on.
The next day, the volunteers were asked to listen to the words again. After a full night’s sleep, they were able to recall words they had forgotten the day before.
In a paper published in the journal Nature, the scientists concluded that sleep allows the brain to consolidate new memories and even repair memories that have been damaged.
A brain fitness training program for your brain can improve thinking and concentration. There are a growing number of activities, from crossword puzzles to Sudoku, promoted as ways to keep our minds young.
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center study suggest that attention training can change brain activity so older adults can block out distractions and improve concentration. The Brain Fitness in Older Adults (B-fit) study is designed to determine if eight hours of brain exercise can improve healthy older adults’ (ages 65 to 75 years) ability to filter out unwanted sights and sounds.
Older women are less likely to do strength exercises, even though it can improve their overall health. A new study suggest that by working out one or two hours weekly, women can get smarter after 65.
How to develop your unborn baby’s intelligence
Many parents wish that they get intelligent babies and this can be developed already with unborn child. This is because the unborn baby respond to outside stimuli and this can help their brain development. There are many studies regarding prenatal awareness and learning. Most of the research done into prenatal learning has dealt with auditory learning.
There are a lot of noise that reaches a fetus even though their ears are filled with fluid. But rather much noise is transmitted to their inner ears through vibrations in their skulls. As a result, the mother’s voice tends to be the most dominant and recurring sound in the womb. Read more about getting intelligent babies
The summer most challenging brain movie that will give your mind a puzzling sensation. With Inception, the writer-director Christopher Nolan’s head games continue. Imagination has made Chris Nolan, one of the most powerful directors in Hollywood, and most of his movies, including his mega-blockbusters Batman Begins (2005) and The Dark Knight, deal with troubled psyches and questions about the line between fantasy and reality. His other films, Following (1998), Memento, Insomnia (2002) and The Prestige (2006), also share this thread.
We recommend this movie to all of you, that like to challenge your mind. Other mind benders movies that we like are Memento , The Matrix, Vanilla Sky, The Game and Total Recalls.
This brain training game is made by Namco and had a famous scientist name behind it, Dr Kawashima. The name of the game is Brain Exercise with Dr. Kawashima. With these two information before testing the game we had pretty high expectations on this game. Unfortunatly this was a big disapointment. The graphic is old and not very pretty and the user interface is not intuitive.
By learning a new and complex task such as to learn juggling could help the brain development. Jan Scholz and his colleagues at the University of Oxford have discovered that juggling changes white matter. White matter describes all areas of the brain that contain mostly of axons – outgrowths of nerve cells that connect different cells.
For six weeks 24 young men and women received a training packs for juggling and had them practice for half an hour a day. Their brain were scanned along with 24 other who did not do any juggling. Read more on how to learn juggling
Multi-tasking is increasingly common habit among our world with many tools and gadgets to help us get more efficient. People often think of the ability to multitask as a positive attribute, to the degree that they will proudly tout their ability to multitask. However, new research shows that multi-tasking affects the brain’s learning systems, and as a result, we do not learn as well when we are distracted.
Russell Poldrack, UCLA associate professor of psychology and co-author of the research. “Even if you learn while multi-tasking, that learning is less flexible and more specialized, so you cannot retrieve the information as easily. Our study shows that to the degree you can learn while multi-tasking, you will use different brain systems.
“The best thing you can do to improve your memory is to pay attention to the things you want to remember,” Poldrack added. Read more on multi-tasking
A number of studies have found that regular physical exercise can help prevent declines in both memory and thinking as we age. But most of these studies have looked at the effects of aerobic exercises such as jogging and swimming, rather than “mind-body” exercises such as yoga and tai chi. These exercises differ from aerobic exercises in two ways. They’re generally slower and gentler. And to do them, you have to carefully concentrate on moving your body in very precise ways.
