Improving Your Brain

Contributed by: Dennis Fortier, President, Medical Care Corporation
________________________________________________

A great post today in the Productivity501 blog, describes 7 Ways to Upgrade Your Brain.  Given all of the commercial activity hyping computerized brain games, I thought the suggestions in this well written article were refreshingly natural.

I encourage you to click through and read the article as each of the suggestions is thoughtfully supported with excellent examples.  At the top level, the "7 Ways" are:

1. Read
2. Get a degree
3. Seek out new experiences
4. Think
5. Practice
6. Write
7. Do things that are hard

One fantastic activity for exercising the brain that is not mentioned here, but is validated with a growing body of scientific evidence, is socialization.  Particularly, socialization in and among groups, where new relationships will be formed and cultivated.

Apparently, the social accounting required to assess a person's trustworthiness and value as a friend, demands a high level of thought, memory, and alternative scenario imagination.  All of these activities engage the brain across many regions and realms of cognition.  Had the author of the "7 Ways" post covered this topic, his examples might have included joining groups, clubs, or volunteer organizations where the activities require teamwork and communication with the other members.