How Can You Enhance Brain Performance Beyond Nutrition?

[greenworld]

Other than good nutrition what can you do to increase your brain performance, concentration, and speed? Any suggestions will be appreciated.

 

[MathematicalPhysicist]

you can buy those 'brain food', that said to increase your intellect, but if you buy them obviously you think you inferior to others, perhaps there's a self esteem food for you. (-:

 

[neurocomp2003]

exercise, games(video or logic ) ,don't over do something(like games- video or logic).
read or watch lots of new things. music?, focus on outreading your self based on some time to increase the process from visual to comprehension?, meditate( i just attended a psych colloquiua that meditation can increase brain attention ...not sure if htye meant attention to detail).

and lastly do lots of questions to a certain topic...look at the picture holistically and fundamentally.
and try to simulate what you are learning in your mind and imagine how you would program it on a computer.

 

[stoorssarg]

Ginkgo Biloba is a plant that helps increase blood flow to the brain and other extremities of the body. (But it won't make you smarter, you got to do that with hard work and dedication)

 

[SizarieldoR]

I think all those may very well be working because of the Placebo effect. You take the pill and believe that you will do better, and because of this conviction of yours, your morale is high and you really do better!

 

[stoorssarg]

Morale high? So if someone gives me a vitamin and says "Hey, here's this new drug that's on the market, and if you take it. It will improve your concentration and your overall intellect."

So I end up taking the "vitamin" thinking that its something else and that its going to help me. But in reality its just me thinking I'm going to do better during the day.

Sure concentration is 95% mental (just a guess), but eating healthy and doing some type of physical activity could also perhaps help clear your mind and therefor improve concentration. (Just a educated guess)

 

[RocketSurgery]

I find that after 30 mins of playing music (guitar), playing halo, and a little bit of aerobic exercise that my concentration increases and I find it easier to take in what I'm studying. Also listening to classical music before or during mental activity seems to help me concentrate some as well. Of course this could all be placebo effect, but it's the effect that matters anyway not the method

 

[teleport]

Some people say that your intelligence cannot change substantially without some intervention of 'external influences', such as many mentioned here. However, based on my personal non-expert opinion, I belief there are others. You can definitely train yourself to concentrate better, and absorb, or process as much detail as possible in a period of time. This is in many respects similar to regular exercise, and the development of an athlete. What I would really be happy about is to exchange some of those 'magical herbs' with inherent interest or motivation. Give me that for all the things I do, and I can show you how I would beat smarter people but with less motivation.

 

[Moonbear]

Ginkgo Biloba is a plant that helps increase blood flow to the brain and other extremities of the body. (But it won't make you smarter, you got to do that with hard work and dedication)

Hmm...I wondering if the work on this that my grad school friend helped with ever got published (I don't recall if it was his project, or someone else's in his lab that he was telling me about at the time). They were testing these claims by treating rats with Ginko biloba and then running a battery of memory tests...I recall him telling me the early results were indicating the opposite, that the rats receiving the Ginko biloba were performing worse than untreated controls! I don't know the final outcome of the study though (sometimes preliminary results are misleading).

 

[d_jnaneswar]

hi there!

sound body can provide sound mind and otherwise is also true. workouts help a lot, especially those that incorporate breathing actively. Like kungfu. Hatha Yoga tends to do the same thing.

You already know about good nutrition.

As we all know, a mind un-distracted is the most potent tool for learning. Developing one-pointedness is a great help. For this, having a healthy, clutter-free, principled and disciplined life helps. This is the reason for discipline in all spiritual teachings. Although many great minds seem to have "non-disciplined" and "non-routined" minds, having a non-disciplined life is a hall mark of a fool. Also, one must remember not to let mind fix into pattens of thinking so as to be innovative and creative. Having a definite "pre-process" to learning (such as a warm up exercise, particular favourite spot to read/contemplate, a fixed set of body postures, and all the little things that help us get into the "zone") helps immensely.

Other than that, there's nothing much.

Cheers!
DJ

 

[JasonRox]

Try reading a chapter from an introductory psychology textbook on Memory and Learning. I just finished reading them.

My environment is surrounded by real things which enhances my positive mood. I have four plants in my room, real art, and real books. I don't decorate with plastics frames, fake or remakes of paintings, fake plants or anything fake (no posters). If you can't afford real paintings, like me, either get cheap ones at garage sales (which is like super rare) or just paint or draw yourself. You might draw like ass, but it's real and invokes real emotions. I eat a good healthy diet too.

The above is important.

The new thing I'm going to try is basically manipulate my environment. When learning something while in a scented room, our ability to remember what we learned is increased especially when we are forced to recall everything we learned while in the presence of the scent. So, I'm going to get a decent cologne (not expensive) and spray it on my finger. When studying something like mathematics, I'll smell my finger periodically as I'm studying. I'll do this everytime and carry the bottle to school. Therefore, everytime I smell that cologne, my brain will associate it with all the mathematics that I have learned. Smell is a very powerful tool for remembering or creating association with something, in fact it's the most powerful of all the senses. Therefore, when I take a test, I can just spray my finger, and go on and work hard.

Some people associate a lot with music too, but then that's not practical if you like to study quietly or if you want to use it during an exam! Also, if you find yourself remembering a lot about your past or things you've done while listening to a specific song, then just imagine what smell can do since it is more powerful for an associating tool!

 

[Mallignamius]

You could also try out https://www.physicsforums.com/forumdisplay.php?f=173 in the Lounge.-Wow. This topic's from May.

 

[AFG34]

or you could play UT3

 

[Zenparticle]

PLay chess! Listen to music, drink some green tea or some earl grey and take a power walk

 

[Far Star]

JasonRox,

Interesting idea about scent. You might want to try putting it someplace else. A wrist is always handy.

 

[Web-Media]

So... this is my first news post since i have been on your very nice Forum. I'm an italian reader and I liked this forum entry the most though, the way you said it was just amazing!
Cheers. :)
Michele

 

[minorwork]

What concentration is and how to improve. Concentration by Ernest Wood. Available at Amazon. Effort and time required of the student of course. This one is the real McCoy. I've given a dozen away myself.


It works, July 14, 2003
By rteder "rteder" (Eden Prairie, MN United States)
I first read this almost twenty years ago, and cannot overstate how valuable it was to me then. The methods Mr. Wood taught in the book have given me focus in my academic, business, and personal life, and helped me to achieve many goals. Year's back, I gave away about a dozen copies to friends. I just promised to loan it to another, picking it up after a ten-year absence. Re-reading the first chapter was like hearing from an old friend. In the end I decided to buy another copy to give to the friend, rather than part with mine. Do the exercises: they work.

 

[changeseeker]

Other than good nutrition what can you do to increase your brain performance, concentration, and speed? Any suggestions will be appreciated.

1. Above all, good nutrition
2. Exercise. Good book to read is Spark by John J. Ratey and Eric Hagerman
3. Put it to work with art, mathematics, writing, etc. so you work out your entire brain
4. Social interaction --> brain scans have shown isolation makes the brain atrophy
5. Do puzzles that make you think

 

[minorwork]

1. Above all, good nutrition
2. Exercise. Good book to read is Spark by John J. Ratey and Eric Hagerman
3. Put it to work with art, mathematics, writing, etc. so you work out your entire brain
4. Social interaction --> brain scans have shown isolation makes the brain atrophy
5. Do puzzles that make you think

Concentrate. One pointed attention. Practice concentration until it becomes like a favorite coat that you can put on when needed.