Brain activity – the path to longevity

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For health and longevity, brain activity is needed no less than motor activity and physical activity. But, for some reason, in the paradigm of a healthy lifestyle, a place for mental activity has never been given. A mindset that includes active and positive brain activity is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle and active longevity.

Nature is predetermined so that from inaction comes atrophy. Aging affects the organ that works the most the least. This applies to all human organs, including the brain. By making the brain work harder, you can slow down aging. Therefore smart people live longer!

The older a person becomes, the more he needs the development of the brain, because with age, development becomes dull and people begin to use the stereotyped thinking developed in the past. Habit makes thinking stereotyped and dries out the human brain. To keep it in good shape, new experiences are needed. And we need a life that is not just long, but certainly interesting, fruitful and creative.

Templates and stereotypes hinder the development of man and the progress of mankind as a whole. It was a flexible mind, a non-standard view of things, a non-standard approach and disagreement with the ingrained opinion that a piece of iron cannot swim and fly, that steamboats and airplanes were able to create. We are young while we are flexible. This applies to both the body and the brain. The flexibility of the mind and active brain activity is the path to longevity.

Any activity that requires the participation of the brain improves its functions. The brain is the command post of the whole organism, its general headquarters, where decisions are made and orders are given.

Brain activity – the path to longevity

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The brain needs activity, just as the body needs constant exercise to maintain physical health throughout life. The cessation of the development of the intellect inevitably leads to degradation. The first signal of insufficient brain activity is memory impairment.

The brain cannot be trained by methods that are applicable to pumping muscles, but intense brain activity makes the nervous system more functional, stable and flexible. New neural connections are formed. The formation of these new connections between brain cells is its unique ability to reorganize itself. It depends on them how intellectually developed a person is. The higher the brain activity, the better the cerebral circulation and the brain tissues are better supplied with oxygen.

Academician Natalya Bekhtereva, scientific director of the Institute of the Human Brain, who has been researching the human brain for many years, says that active brain activity can prolong life and smart people live longer.

Here is a quote from one of her articles:

“The structures of the brain, which are additionally activated when solving a creative task, are directly related to various aspects of the memory of behavior and speech, orientation in time and space, manifestations of personality (personality). At the same time, they also affect the physiological processes that provide important functions. The capabilities of a number of these structures include the provision of emotions, the regulation of the autonomic nervous system, respiration, heart rate, etc.

I believe that it is the involvement of a person in the creative process with all the restructuring of the brain and body that accompanies it that leads to a statistically justified, perhaps surprising situation, when smart people live longer. The brain revives, the body revives. Existing connections between cells and brain structures become more active, new connections are formed and, most likely, new cells, neurons.

Without denying the great benefits and the need for physical training, proper nutrition, I consider it important today, given the trends of the modern world, to emphasize the expediency of directed activation of the creative potential of the brain"...

... "Of course, neither super-tasks nor creativity promise physical immortality, but active longevity, other things being equal, is real."

Brain activity – the path to longevity

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According to the British Council for Medical Research, the mortality rate of people who have been engaged in mental work throughout their lives was 4 times lower compared to those whose brain did not experience such a load.

One can recall many examples of active creative longevity. So, Sergei Mikhalkov lived for 97 years, Ilya Repin painted his last paintings at 86, Goethe finished Faust at the age of 83, Sophocles lived for 90 years, creating his works when he was under 80.

Just like the physical condition of the body, the general condition of the brain can be improved through stimulating activities. Different types of mental activity develop different functions and areas of the brain.

American neuroscientist Professor Lawrence Katz says that thinking and analyzing the world around us can improve the functioning of dormant parts of the brain. He is the author of Neurobics.

Neurobics is aerobics for the brain. It forces various departments and areas of the brain to work quickly and harmoniously. Its main principle is to do the usual in some unusual way.

For example, brushing your teeth or writing with your left hand in right-handed people and with your right hand in left-handers connects another hemisphere of the brain, which is inactive in everyday life, to activity. It is unusual and inconvenient, but very useful! The brain adapts to such shifts and transforms the structure of relationships.

To turn everyday activities into neurobic exercises, you can change the way you do things, as well as do things that you have never done before or rarely did. You need to step back from the patterns that are embedded in you. The main thing is to experience new sensations from ordinary activities.

Look at yourself from the outside, what do we do every day? We go to work by the same route. We buy the same food, in the same stores, cook it in the same way. Do you think this all contributes to the development of brain activity?

Brain activity – the path to longevity

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Our brain is built on the creation of associations, on the connection of the new with the already existing. Therefore, one should strive to create new connections to improve mental health. It can turn life into an exciting game and benefit the brain.

Let's play! Surely you can come up with a bunch of exciting activities for yourself!

  • Have you greeted before with the form "Hello"? Diversify vocabulary! You can use: "Good afternoon", "Greetings", "Hello".
  • Try new dishes, new flavors
  • Operate the computer mouse with the other hand.
  • Change your route to work or the store.
  • Climb up the stairs with your eyes closed.
  • Change your perfume, try a new fragrance.
  • Buy a new thing, diversify your wardrobe.
  • Love to read books? Try listening to audiobooks now.
  • Are you used to drinking coffee in the morning? Drink tea or compote, even better – through a straw, etc., etc.

Traveling, meeting new people, playing games, watching movies – all this will allow you to use new chains of neurons. The brain needs a load. It can be logic puzzles or a game of chess. Chess, by the way, requires planning several moves ahead, while developing the frontal lobes. Learning by heart trains memory – associative thinking is turned on. Make your brain work hard if you don't want it to rust!

Brain activity – the path to longevity

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Mental exercise increases the level of neurogenesis (the formation and integration of neurons into a neural network). Both physical activity and brain activity increase the secretion of neuronal growth factor, which helps them grow and stay healthy.

It is useful to keep records. You can, for example, keep a personal diary. This is good brain stimulation. Keeping records allows you to expand the possibilities of your brain.

Find ways to write so that other people can read you. It can be, for example, your blog on the Internet. Share your thoughts. By teaching others, you are teaching yourself.

We must always engage in self-education and not be afraid to take on something new. As we acquire new information and learn how to use it, we develop.

Brain activity – the path to longevity

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Music has been scientifically proven to prevent brain aging. The neurons involved in the transmission and processing of sound work in older musicians as quickly and accurately as the nerve cells of ordinary young people who do not play music.

For the normal physical condition of a person and his intellectual development, it is important to monitor sleep, its quantity and quality. Sleep deprivation impairs memory. Creativity and the ability to cope with problems depend on the quality of sleep.

Alcohol, drugs and toxins are the main enemies of brain neurons. Under their action, neurons are destroyed, mental abilities are damaged.

There is an opinion that in old age a person's memory deteriorates and he becomes stupid. This happens because of the prevailing stereotype that in old age the meaning of life disappears and therefore there is no development. If the brain is not used, then it really stops functioning, processing and remembering information, generating ideas.

A person whose brain is constantly busy with something always has something new in life, has goals, plans for the future, and it is interesting for him to live. This is your personal choice of who to be in old age – a helpless old man or a sane old man. Don't forget smart people live longer!