From the Founder: Brain Fitness

This topic comes at interesting time for me. This past weekend I celebrated my birthday, and as I enter another age, I am beginning to notice a few differences in myself. To speak specifically about this topic, my mental capacity seems to be overloaded.

I recall a conversation I had with few friends of mine a while ago and how we believe that a person does not necessarily forget things or has gone down on the sharpness totem pole, but that we come up short in the brain game due to the new information we receive and seek.

Just like a computer, we felt that the brain can only hold so much information in our memory. We were discussing how our brain deletes files for us that may not be as important or that we haven’t referenced in a long while to free-up space for new and more everyday information. We were also discussing how our brains have a recycle bin just like a computer and is very contextual b/c even though something has been "deleted", we are shocked how random, useless information pops up again over our best friends wedding anniversary.

Yes the memory degenerates, and cells are damaged and destroyed, but if you really think about it, your brain or consciousness has some sort of filter, mysterious storage and contextual retrieval system. However, brain fitness does seem to have some substance to it as I’ve known that Alzheimer's patients are given jigsaw and crossword puzzles to work on in their treatment.

I do believe the brain needs work-out and it is not something we need to wait to do until our twilight years. Some things I’ve heard people try with math are figuring out a gratuity, calculating the amount of materials needed for home improvements, or adding up monthly bills without a calculator. There are also CD's/mp3's that you can listen to as well to give your brain some braun.

A little brain game I like to play is trying to dial phone numbers from memory, which by the way could come in handy one day if you are ever in an emergency situation. Another brain game, which could do you some good beyond brain health, is to go through the calendar in your head and write down the birthdays and anniversaries for the people in your life and match it up to the calendar you use everyday. Try this once a week for a set amount of time until they match up perfectly. This will also put a smile on the face of a few people in your life.


What are some brain fitness techniques that work for you?