14 Weird Brain Exercises That Help You Get Smarter

Healthy Living Giving your brain new experiences that combine physical senses—vision, smell, touch, taste, and hearing—with emotional “sense” stimulates more connections between different brain areas, causes nerve cells to produce natural brain nutrients that dramatically help memory, and makes surrounding cells stronger and more resistant to the effects of aging. Try these brain exercises during your morning routine or your down time and see if you feel the difference. istock/kupicoo Brush teeth with your non-dominant hand Research has shown that using the opposite side of your brain (as in this exercise) can result in a rapid and substantial expansion of in the parts of the cortex that control and process tactile information from the hand. Brain exercise: Brush, and don’t forget to open the tube and apply toothpaste in reverse, too. Here are more healthy habits proven to boost your brain health . istock/andresr Shower with your eyes closed Your hands will probably notice varied textures of your own body you don’t “see,” and will send messages back to your brain. Brain exercise: Try using just your tactile senses (although, use common sense to avoid burn or injury). Locate the taps solely by feel, and adjust the temperature. Then wash, shave, and so on with your eyes shut. These are the showering mistakes you didn’t know you were making. istock/Leonardo Patrizi Switch around your morning activities Brain imaging studies show that novel tasks exercise large areas of the cortex, indicating increased levels of brain activity in several distinct areas. This activity declines when the task becomes routine and automatic. Brain exercise: Get dressed after breakfast, walk the dog on a new route, or change your TV or news station. Even watching a kids’ program like Sesame Street , for example, may arouse the brain to notice how much of […]

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