10 little tricks that will make you smarter

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Non-obvious things that will make the brain work more efficiently.

1. Use a bright light

Simply replacing the light bulb in your fixture with a brighter one will help you become smarter.

The University of Michigan conducted an experiment on rodents. With a lack of light in animals, the activity of the hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for learning and memory, decreased.

At the same time, in bright light, the rodents solved their problems better: they memorized the route in the maze and found a way out of it. What's more, the study showed that those individuals who first lived in the dark and then were placed in the light improved cognitive functions.

This principle also works in humans, so do not save on electricity when studying or working.

2. Go to nature

If you are reproached for looking out the window instead of working on a project, feel free to answer that you are pumping your creativity. Contemplating nature, especially when traveling to a forest, field or coast, is a magic pill that can improve creativity by 50%.

Being in nature restores attention and concentration, improves strategic planning and critical thinking.

3. Exercise

According to research, even one workout can cause neurochemical changes that positively affect brain function.

Scientists believe that a positive effect is observed due to the flow of oxygen to the tissues of the body, including the contents of the skull.

4. Have sex

Dopamine and oxytocin, which are produced during intimacy, have a positive effect on brain function. Studies show that older adults who had weekly sex performed better on tests of verbal fluency and visual-spatial ability.

5. Go out into the sun

Adequate vitamin D can help improve cognitive performance. Animal studies show that its intake into the body provides a quick positive effect on memory and learning problems.

The easiest way to get your dose of vitamin D3 is to go out in the sun. It is synthesized in the body under the influence of ultraviolet radiation.

6. Go to bed early

Researchers at the University of Rochester have found that during sleep, the intercellular fluid in the brain flushes out toxic protein waste that is produced during waking hours.

Therefore, it is recommended not to neglect the norms of healthy sleep and to spend at least seven hours in bed. In return, you will get higher concentration, the ability to solve problems effectively and think faster.

7. Write by hand

Tablets and laptops are literally glued to the hands of modern people, but scientists advise to put down gadgets more often and write notes in the old fashioned way, with a pen on paper.

According to research by scientists from Princeton, this forces information to be processed in the process of fixing it. You write slower than you type, so you only have to select important data. However, if you still do not want to part with the achievements of technological progress, just use the stylus, not the keyboard.

8. Concentrate on one thing

You can proudly write about multitasking on your resume, but that doesn't necessarily mean superpowers. Attempting to focus on multiple projects at the same time reduces the overall cognitive capacity of the brain and causes fatigue.

The loss of productivity is not only caused by switching from one work task to another. Scientists from Stanford have found that even smartphone notifications can disrupt concentration and negatively affect attention, memory and productivity.

nine. Heat food in glassware

Plastic containers can contain BPA and phthalates, which can have a negative effect on mental performance. This is the conclusion reached at Yale.

If it is not possible to eat freshly prepared food, it is better to replace plastic containers with glass ones.

10. Watch sports

Areas of the human brain normally reserved for physical activity are activated when they listen to sports news or watch a match.

Therefore, the neural connections in the fans change, which use the areas that are active during training, which positively affects the functioning of the brain in general.