BOOST BRAIN POWER
From watching a chat show to baking a cake and playing bingo eight easy ways to boost your brain power
The right food is vital for fuelling our brains and keeping minds healthy
GETTING your heart rate up can also keep brain power boosted.
Research found people performed better in memory and thinking tests after moderate or vigorous exercise.
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Easily accessible workouts, such as brisk walking or taking the stairs, can be beneficial, with increased brain performance still showing 24 hours later.
But being active is not the only tactic to help your noggin.
What you eat, the games you play and the way you move can also improve cognitive function.
Laura Stott looks at eight other ways to train your brain.
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EAT KIDNEY BEANS
THE right food is vital for fuelling our brains and keeping minds healthy.
Enjoying a diet that is rich in Omega-3 essential fatty acids has been proven to help improve memory, increase concentration levels and boost blood flow to the brain.
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Omega-3s are especially important for grey matter development and function because they are the only fatty acid found in cell membranes in this area in significant amounts.
You will find lots of it in fish such as salmon, mackerel, tuna, trout and sardines, as well as walnuts and flaxseed.
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But one cheap and plentiful source is a can of the cupboard staple kidney beans.
Tuck into a yummy chilli con carne, tip a tin into a sausage hot pot or add to a stew or sauce to get smarter while you scoff.
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PLAY ONLINE GAMES
WHETHER it is Candy Crush on your phone or Minecraft, Fifa and Fortnite on the console, the good news for male and female gamers is that playing regularly really can improve your brain function.
By enhancing skills such as concentration, memory, strategic thinking and problem solving, one study showed people who played video games for five or more hours weekly had the cognitive capabilities on average of someone 13 years younger than their actual age.
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Results have also found that gamers perform better in memory, attention and reasoning skills tests compared to those who did not play.
Playing against other people also aids brainpower by adding social interaction to the mind mix.
KEEEEP DANCING
COPYING routines from Strictly could be the key to increasing your intellect, as numerous studies have shown dancing is a great way to boost your brain.
Learning moves requires focus, concentration and co-ordination that can increase cerebral processing speeds and enhance memory.
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Taking to the floor can also greatly increase the area of the brain called the hippocampus, which plays an important role in learning, memory and navigation.
Deploying motor skills and focusing on rhythm also synchronises areas that can nurture creativity.
It does not have to be ballroom, though.
Busting any moves will work wonders on your noodle, from salsa to line dancing or anything in between.
BAKE A CAKE
BAKING a delicious Victoria sponge or batch of biscuits will not just result in some delicious treats to eat.
Using all your senses in the kitchen may also help strengthen the grey cells.
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Whipping up a cake or other homemade goodies from scratch is a great way to deploy the five human senses of smelling, touching, tasting, seeing and hearing simultaneously, which is recognised as a way to enhance brain power.
Following a recipe will aid recall and sharpen up decision-making skills, too.
And if you do not have a sweet tooth, you do not have to lose out as it does not need to be cake you make.
Cooking anything new, from a roast dinner to a curry, which employs your senses together, will be as effective for fine-tuning your cognitive functioning.
CHANGE YOUR ROUTE
REPEATING the same routines and tasks daily can result in our brain power becoming stagnant and flipping into autopilot.
Help to keep your mind fresh and focus sharp by mixing things up a little.
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One easy way to do this is by using a different route to get to work or on the school run from Monday to Friday.
Or opt for a different mode of transport, such as walking or taking the bus instead of the car.
Small deviations from stale, familiar routines, even if it is just going via the scenic route instead of the usual main road, can exercise the brain as it forces us to concentrate, focus and stimulate thinking.
WATCH A CHAT SHOW
PASS the remote control if you want to help boost your intelligence.
Research has found that relaxing on the sofa and enjoying an episode or two of a boxset or some favourite celebrity chat like BBC’s Graham Norton Show could help make you smarter.
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Switching off and zoning out can aid cognitive faculties by exercising the brain area that allows us to daydream, which is particularly important for consolidating our memory.
One study by experts at Reading University discovered that just 30 minutes spent watching a teatime chat show improved people’s mental powers, even more than listening to classical music or doing a crossword for the same amount of time.
WALK THE DOG
A HALF-HOUR walk in the park may boost your memory power for 24 hours, according to the findings of a new study published this week.
Experts at University College London discovered that people aged 50 to 83 who did 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity, such as walking or dancing, performed better in memory tests a day later.
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These mind-health improvements applied to both short-term memory and longer-term recollections, while the findings also revealed that less time spent sitting down improved the staying power of cognitive function.
PLAY BINGO
IT is a full house for your frontal lobes as regular visits to the bingo hall are proven to sharpen up your grey matter.
Research has shown the memory and cognitive skills required when remembering and searching for numbers, then quickly marking your card, positively affects the way the brain processes information, helping players think more swiftly, stay alert, concentrate harder and strengthen focus.
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Studies have shown that out-performed non-players on tests measuring mental speed, the ability to scan for information and memory.
They discovered that older players even out-performed younger non-players, suggesting that bingo’s brain-boosting impact could contribute to keeping people’s minds sharper for longer periods.
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