Every part of the human body is
important. But while a human can still survive without some body parts, one
cannot survive without some other body parts, one of which is the brain.
The brain is the central organ of
the human nervous system, and with the spinal cord, it makes up the central
nervous system. The brain consists of the cerebrum, the brainstem, and the
cerebellum.
The brain controls most of the
activities of the body, processing, integrating, and coordinating the
information it receives from the sense organs and making decisions as to the
instructions sent to the rest of the body. The brain is contained in, and
protected by, the skull bones of the head.
According to scientists, the
brain is an amazing three-pound organ that controls all functions of the body,
interprets information from the outside world, and embodies the essence of the
mind and soul.
Intelligence, creativity,
emotion, and memory are some of the many things governed by the brain.
It receives information from the
five senses: sight, smell, touch, taste, and hearing – often many at one time.
It then assembles the messages in a way that has meaning for human beings and
can store that information in the memory. The brain controls thoughts, memory
and speech, movement of the arms and legs, and the function of many organs
within the body.
However, like other parts of the
body, there are lifestyle habits that affect brain health, particularly in an
era of technology where human beings are being rewired to do more to the
detriment of the brain.
According to experts, the modern
lifestyle is chipping away at neural pathways and making humans slower, denser,
and less capable of original thought. Hyper-connectivity is increasingly taking
its toll on the brains and in the end, many people end up less productive and
ineffective.
A UK-based entrepreneur and
health expert, Thomas Oppong, said when talking about health, many people did
not always think about nurturing their brains the way they nourished their
bodies.
“But to be our most productive
self, we need to do more of what improves our brain health, and less of what
causes cognitive decline. Start by adjusting your daily habits and avoiding
these common modern habits – your brain will thank you,” Oppong wrote on
businessinsider.com.
Inactivity
Physical inactivity has its price
tags – it’s linked to the development of chronic health problems like heart
disease, obesity, depression, dementia, and cancer. Many people are too busy to
make time for “basic movement activities” that can slow cognitive
decline–walking, cycling, stretching, etc.
Being sedentary changes the shape
of certain neurons in the brain, according to a study in the Journal of
Comparative Neurology that suggests a link between inactivity and mental
decline.
Regular physical activity can
benefit you cognitively as they increase brain chemicals which promote better
memory and learning.
For emphasis’ sake, sitting is
one of the worst things one can do to their health. A study at the University
of California, Los Angeles, reported that people who were more sedentary had
thinning in brain regions linked to memory. The study found that sitting wasn’t
just a physical health risk – it’s a neurological risk as well.
The study authors wrote, “It is
possible that sedentary behaviour is a more significant predictor of brain
structure, specifically (medial temporal lobe) thickness, and that physical
activity, even at higher levels, is not sufficient to offset the harmful
effects of sitting for extended periods of time.”
You can reduce the amount of
sitting you do by adopting interventions like moderate walking, standing while
working, even for just 10 minutes at a time, and standup meetings.
Multitasking
In this age of technology,
smartphones have become Swiss army knives. Many people use them all the time.
They text while walking across the street, catch up on email while commuting,
read or listen to podcasts while standing in a queue.
According to mental health
experts, multitasking is not only bad for productivity, it’s also a habit that
rewires the brain and makes one less effective.
A neuroscientist at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States, and one of the
world experts on divided attention, Earl Miller, noted in his study that human
brains “are not wired to multitask well.”
“When people think they’re
multitasking, they’re actually just switching from one task to another very
rapidly. And every time they do, there’s a cognitive cost in doing so,” he
said.
“Multitasking also increases the
stress hormone cortisol as well as the fight-or-flight hormone adrenaline,
which can overstimulate your brain and cause mental fog or scrambled thinking,”
he added.
Information overload
Things are happening fast and
many people want to catch up on events around them as they happen. However,
this can lead to unnecessary over-stimulation of the brain.
The sheer volume of emails,
social updates, and notifications people receive can be overwhelming and take a
huge bite out of the day for many. The constant stream of content, if not
managed, can cause stress and lead to decision overload.
“Too much information or
information overload is one of the biggest irritations in modern life,” experts
at The Economist wrote.
Some people proudly boast of how
many things they can juggle in a single day. But Glenn Wilson, a former
visiting professor of psychology at Gresham College in London, found out in his
research that being in such a situation could reduce one’s effective
Intelligence Quotient by 10 points.
Oppong advised that to maximise
the brain every day, one should use better tools and settings to filter
information throughout the day.
“Be proactive about how you
consume media. Prepare your brain to ignore unnecessary information. When you
organise your day with these principles in mind, you will likely increase your
brain’s efficiency significantly,” he said.
Less face-to-face interaction
Today, face-to-face interactions
are increasingly being replaced by digital tools. People spend more time online
than ever before.
“Anything with a screen –
television, phones, tablets, computers, video games – constitutes screen time,”
said Tom Kersting, a psychotherapist and mental health expert.
“If the majority of our waking
hours entails looking at a screen, then we know it is way too much. A
face-to-face conversation is incredibly beneficial for your brain,” he said.
Also, a study by the University
of Michigan found that even just 10 minutes per day of conversation with
another person could improve memory and cognition.
“In our study, socialising was
just as effective as more traditional kinds of mental exercise in boosting
memory and intellectual performance,” said Oscar Ybarra, a psychologist at the
U-M Institute for Social Research and a lead author of the study.
The lack of true personal
interaction limits the brain’s opportunities to make better connections. It can
also lead to loneliness and depression – mental conditions that contribute
significantly to reduced brain health.
Looking at screens all day can
hurt one’s eyes, ears, neck, shoulders, back, wrists, and forearms. It also
interferes with getting a good night’s sleep.
According to experts, excessive
screen time has a negative effect on intellectual abilities as well as
emotional well-being.
Therefore, it is advisable to set
clear boundaries with screens to avoid developing detrimental habits. The goal
isn’t to avoid screen time entirely, as that’s not realistic in modern life.
However, if you’re going to use a device, be mindful.
Listening to loud music
Many people love to switch up the
volume as it makes the music sounds more fun and immersive. In the age of
noise-cancelling earbuds and headphones, you can easily damage your hearing.
When the rest of the world gets
too distracting, it’s tempting to pop in your earbuds, crank up your favourite
tunes, and close yourself off to focus better.
According to experts, if you
consistently blast your music too loudly, you can damage your hearing. But it’s
not just your ears: Hearing loss in older adults is linked to brain problems,
such as Alzheimer’s and loss of brain tissue.
When your brain has to work hard
to understand what’s being said around you, it can’t store what you’ve heard
into memory. So, protect your hearing by adjusting the volume of your
headphones – it’s an excellent way to preserve your hearing and allow your
brain to work better.
“One test we recommend is to
remove your headphones, keeping them at your preferred volume, and hold them
out in front of you at an arm’s length. Can you hear the music clearly? If so,
try turning it down and repeating again,” wrote experts at Headphonesty.
Always aim to take regular breaks
during the course of the day to give your ears a much-needed rest.
Sleep deprivation
Insufficient sleep is a huge
problem for many busy professionals. Sleep deprivation can have serious
short-term and long-term consequences – it can delay reaction times, glucose
levels, mood, headache, impaired memory, and hormone imbalances. Researches
showed that not getting enough sleep may actually shrink your brain.
Sleep is absolutely essential for
your brain. When you deprive your brain of healthy sleep, how it processes
information, consolidates memories, makes connections, and clears out toxins
suffers.
Lack of sleep slows down your
thinking, impairs your memory, concentration, judgment, and decision-making,
and impedes learning.
Improving your sleep habits could
be an important way to improve brain health. Seven to eight hours of good sleep
a night is essential for stimulating new connections and brain growth.
If you are concerned about the
health of your brain and the quality of your thinking now or in the future,
learn to take care of your brain. A few simple changes to your lifestyle could
boost your memory, learning, mental resilience, and overall health of your
brain.
Eating excessive junk food
According to researches, parts of
the brain linked to learning, memory, and mental health are smaller in people
who take lots of hamburgers, fries, potato chips, and soft drinks in their
diet.
On the other hand, berries, whole
grains, nuts, and green leafy vegetables can preserve brain function and slow
mental decline. So next time you start to reach for a bag of chips, grab a
handful of nuts instead.
Meanwhile, if you eat too much
food – even the right kind of food – your brain may not be able to build a
strong network of connections that help you think and remember. If you overeat
for too long, you may get dangerously overweight, which can cause heart
disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure – all linked to brain problems and
Alzheimer’s.
Similarly, experts said smoking
could cause the brain to shrink, which is a bad thing.
“It (smoking) makes your memory
worse and makes you twice as likely to get dementia, including Alzheimer’s. It
also causes heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and high blood pressure,” experts
at webmd.com said.
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