Train your brain

The following is taken from the book “Training Your Brain” (Teach Yourself Books) by Simon Wootton and Terry Horne. Here’s how to sharpen your mind and increase your brainpower – without having to take exams or buy the bumper book of Sudoku!

1. Ban carbs until 5pm. True, they’re a great source of energy, but they also give you a slug of serotonin, which calms the mind – not very helpful when you need to be alert. And saving carbs for later in the day has an additional bonus: it helps you relax and get a good night’s sleep.
2. Use your other hand. Write you name, holding you pen with the hand you don’t normally use. Now take two pens and write it with both hands at once. You’ll stimulate the right frontal cortex of your brain and kick-start your creativity.
3. Take a break from EastEnders or Current Affair. Bombarding your brain with too much tragedy undermines your thinking, say Horne. If negative thoughts crowd into your mind, they limit the attention you can give to other things.
4. Practise speed-reading. Try scanning a newspaper rather than reading every work, so you absorb the information twice as fast. Consciously speeding up your thoughts can make you more creative, according to research at Harvard University.
5. Rub your hands together. Do it vigorously whenever you need to focus on something. It slows your brainpower, which enhances creativity, says Horne.
6. Straighten up. ‘Brain chemicals travel up your spine via the nerve cells and, if your posture is poor, these neurons can become twisted,’ says Horns. One study has found that memory and understanding improve by 25% when posture is corrected. So don’t hunch over your desk. Sit with your feet on the ground and your lower spine and bottom against the back of the chair.
7. Beat brain bottlenecks. Though women are naturals at multitasking, we’d be better off concentrating on one thing at a time, according to research published in New Scientist. It’s not that you can’t do two things at once – you can – you just can’t do either of them very well.
8. Brush your hair – it wakes your brain cells. Better still, give yourself a DIY head massage. ‘It’s like electrifying the brain,’ says Horne. Simply press lightly on your head so the friction stimulates your scalp. Start with your fingertips either side of your nose, letting your head drop forwards between your hands until your fingers touch behind you. Repeat, placing your fingers in front.
9. Use that gym membership. Moving your muscles produces proteins that play a pivotal role in your thought processes, say Dr John J Ratey, professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Exercises increase the flow of oxygen to the brain, improves flexible thinking and may even help to generate new nerve cells.
10. Have more sex. A triple burst of hormones recharges your brain – no wonder it feels so good! During sex, oxytocin, which encourages problem-solving, is produced, followed by prolactin, released at orgasm, which boosts brain cell production. Finally, post-coital serotonin boosts logic, creativity – and sleep.
11. Take folic acid. It improves memory and speeds up information processing. Find it in the supplements or dark green leafy vegetables such as cabbage, broccoli and spinach.

Do something you’re rubbish at. Learning a new skill – the harder the better – helps forge new connections in the brain, says neuropsychologist Paul Nussbaum from the University of Pittsburgh. So maybe there’s a place for that Sudoku book after all!