Mental Workout

always photobomb his pictures

Giving your brain new experiences will keep it healthier. Try these mini mental workout exercises to prevent memory loss and sharpen your mind.

Number 1: Art activates the nonverbal and emotional parts of the cerebral cortex. When you create art, you draw on parts of your brain interested in forms, colors, and textures, as well as thought processes very different from the logical, linear thinking that occupies most of your day.

Take little breaks in between

Number 2: Because our brains regularly rely on visual cues to distinguish between objects, using touch to identify subtly different things increases activation in cortical areas that process tactile information and leads to stronger synapses. (Similarly, adults who lose their sight learn to distinguish Braille letters because their brain devotes more pathways to processing fine touch.) Brain exercise: Place a cup full of coins in your car’s drink holder. While at a stoplight, trying to determine the denominations by feel alone. You can also put coins in your pocket, and identify them when you stop at a corner.

I think he was visualizing 

Number 3: Stores are designed to have the most profitable items at eye level, and when you shop you don’t really see everything there. Brain exercise: Stop in any aisle and look at the shelves, top to bottom. If there’s something you’ve never seen before, pick it up, read the ingredients, and think about it. You don’t have to buy it to benefit; you’ve broken your routine and experienced something new.

Number 4: When you are ready to go to sleep, go over what you did that day from the time you got up until you get into bed. Start with the time you awoke, got out of bed, follow your entire day step by step until the time you went back to bed. Try to recall as much detail as possible, visualizing in your mind each and every step from beginning to end.

In the beginning, you probably won't remember much detail, and you’ll probably move rapidly from task to task or think of the day in large periods of time.  However, try to slow down and remember as much as you can to take in as much detail as you can. With time and practice, you will notice a significant improvement in your recall of events and details throughout the day.