Exercises that sharpens the brain 2 :- move your fingers to improve your brain

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Many people marvel that Asian
children seem so intelligent. It
could be because they use their
fingers more frequently. They
eat with chopsticks and at one
time most compute with an
abacus in school and in fact
some studies have been done
with children who use an abacus
daily, and findings shows that
engaging the fingers stimulates
nerve ending that go directly
to the brain, and increase
circulation.take advantage of
this by practicing activities that
use finger tips,like crocheting,
knitting and other arts and
craft where you are
manipulating small parts you
could try playing piano or a
string instrument.
Here is an exercise you can do
for yourself, and anywhere at
anytime. Put a finger on top of
the next to it,then try to
stack the next finger on top of
that or hold a pencil or pen
between your index finger and
middle finger,roll it over until its
balanced between the middle
finger,then again in between
the ring finger and pinky,this
exercise has a beneficial impact
on brain health for anyone at
any age, but especially for
people in their 40s,50s and
beyond when signs of brain
ageing starts to set in.
Why does this work?
A map of the brain shows that
the nerve ending on your
fingertips correspond to more
areas of the brain than any
other part of the body area,
except perhaps the tongue and
lips. Therefore exercise and
movement can be useful in
stimulating the neurons in the
brain. The national institute of
mental health conducted
experiments that showed finger
exercise enlarged the capacity
of the participant
brain,increased connection
between neurons, forged new
neural pathways, and increased
circulation to the brain... The
researches concluded that
finger exercise contributes
significantly to brain plasticity...
Increased oxygen and nutrient
for the brain cells and
decreased waste products that
clog up the brain.

EXERCISES THAT SHARPENS THE BRAIN 1 :- Brain Stimulation

We've all heard that drugs and
alcohol can kill brain cells. But
when we find our hair dryer in
the refrigerator and misplace
our car keys for the fifth time
in a week, what we really want
to know is, "How do we make
brain cells grow back?"
The truth is, it's not the brain
cells you want to increase, it's
the connections between them.
These "synapses" carry
information between brain cells,
and the more connections you
have, the more processing
power you have. That means
faster thinking and learning. And
contrary to what you may have
heard — such as "your IQ can't
change" — enhancing your brain
is possible through new,
repetitive, high-intensity input.
"The root of learning — and
brain stimulation — is about
improving your cognitive skills,"
explains Tanya Mitchell, Director
of Training for LearningRx, a
national 'brain training'
franchise. "Things like auditory
and visual processing, memory,
processing speed,
comprehension, short- and
long-term memory, logic and
reasoning, and attention are
the underlying tools that enable
us to successfully focus, think,
prioritize, plan, understand,
visualize, remember and create
useful associations, and solve
problems. Part of the reason
that something like tutoring
often doesn't work on people
with learning disabilities is
because it doesn't do anything
to improve their cognitive skills.
It's simple rehashing old
material, not retraining their
brains to make new
connections."
And retraining brains to make
new connections, or "brain
training," is now taking the
world by storm. A recent study
published in the Journal of the
American Medical Association
proved that mental exercises
improve the brain much like
physical exercises improve the
body. The study only solidified
what many — especially Baby
Boomers — already believed, as
is apparent by the recent
surge of "brain training" video
game sales for aging adults.
(The best news of all? The AMA
study was done using senior
citizens. Now if your PARENTS
can improve their brains with
mental exercises, there's
certainly hope for you!)
Perhaps the most compelling
example of how brain training
works was from a study done
on the brains of "good readers"
vs. dyslexic readers. Using
Functional Magnetic Resonance
Imaging (fMRIs) to review the
patterns of both groups,
scientists found that while good
readers utilize pathways mostly
located in the back of the brain
with limited activity in the
front, dyslexics show
underactivation in the back and
overactivation in the front. And
here's the kicker: when
dyslexics underwent intense,
effective training in reading
(called "cognitive skills therapy"),
there was actually a transfer
of brain activity to the more
efficient automatic processing
centers naturally used by good
readers! The key was to
increase the connections in the
part of the brain that is most
effective at automatically
decoding and deciphering based
on stored and fully processed
sound/word/meaning
associations.
So how exactly do you increase
the number of connections in
your brain? Just like you work
any other muscle: repetitive
exercises. Here are a few to
get your started:
1. ¿Habla español? Learning a new
language requires that you
analyze new sounds, which not
only improves auditory
processing skills, but also
memory. Most local libraries
have foreign language CDs or
videos that you can check out,
or you can sign up for a class
at your local community college.
2. Count on it. The Sudoku has
taken the world by storm. You
can't stand in line at the
grocery store without seeing a
pocket-size booklet. The
numbers (but not math) game
can help increase your logic and
reasoning skills, as well as
memory. And because logic and
reasoning are skills that can (to
a certain extent) be taught,
there are now strategy books
for the game. Look for Sudoku
booklets that offer gradient
difficulties (easy, medium and
difficult) so you can work your
way up.
3. Lose the list. Using mnemonics
(triggers to aid memory using
visual imagery or sounds, such
as rhyming) is a great way to
boost your brain while
developing a system to
remember things when you just
can't get to a piece of paper.
Here's one example of a number
system: 1=tree (think of the
one trunk), 2=legs (think two
legs), 3=stool (three legs),
4=truck (4 tires) and 5=glove (5
fingers). Link the items that you
need to remember to your
memory objects. If you're
upstairs and realize you need
to buy toilet paper, envision
yourself wrapping a tree in
toilet paper. While you're
emptying your trash, you run
out of bags, so you visualize
yourself hopping around on two
legs in the garbage bag. You
just ate the last of the yogurt,
so picture yourself pouring
yogurt all over the stool. When
you get to the grocery store,
just remember your number
system and what you linked to
them.
4. Get in the game. Play board
games like chess or Scrabble, or
surf the Web for free brain-
boosting games, like those
found at www.eons.com. Trivia
games can boost memory,
jigsaw puzzles can help visual
and spatial skills and Mah Jong
can help executive function (the
capacity to control and apply
your mental skills). Although
cliché, scientists are proving
that when it comes to your
brain, "use it or lose it" is an
old adage worth heeding. Look
for ways to stimulate your mind
on a daily basis and you'll likely
not only remember where you
put your keys, but someday,
you might be able to recall the
names of your great-great-
grandchildren.