Why Do I Need to Exercise My Brain and What Are the Benefits?



Want to increase mind power? Get the facts on why and how!

A team of researchers from the University of California studied a group of about 1000 people for 9 years taking blood samples and measuring brain function. The study was led by a Dr. Kristin Yaffe, and their report was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It said that you can definitely protect your cognitive abilities as you get older simply by exercising your brain when you are young.

They found that cognitive decline can be predicted by the levels of several compounds found in your blood. These compounds, called beta-amyloids, are directly related to Alzheimer's disease. Even more interesting than that, they found that brain exercises gave highly protective benefits.


The report states that people who experience regular educational activities (or higher levels of cognitive reserve) were better protected against the cognitive decline that's associated with those beta-amyloids compounds. Stated simply; when comparing two people with the same levels of blood plasma beta-amyloids, if only one of them is doing brain exercises, that person will have better cognitive fitness later on in life.

All that means is, you will be a lot better off if you do brain exercises than if you don't. It's the same with physical exercise and a very logical step. It's also possible to change your brain in dramatic ways with the right mental training just as you can change your physical shape with the right physical training.

Actually, physical exercise is one of the keys to mental exercises. Scientists have known since 1992 that there is a process called neurogenesis in which the brain can produce new neurons, or brain cells. Recently, it has been discovered that cardio-vascular exercise stimulates that process.

It also has been discovered that, brain stem cells are producing most of the new neurons and that as we age, our stem cells fall into what is described as a sort of cellular coma and become a lot less productive.

Northwestern University scientists, hoping to find a way to fight this decline in production, manipulated levels of BMP in lab rats. BMP, which is a naturally occurring protein in the brain and other parts of the body, slows down stem cell divisions causing this coma-like condition. The research showed that as BMP levels increased, there was less neurogenesis, and more negative cognitive effects.


The research also showed that exercise counters the effects of BMP. Exercise, the study showed, both decreased the levels of BMP and increased the process of neurogenesis. That means if you get your physical exercise regularly and learn how to do mental exercises, you will definitely improve your mind health and increase mind power!


Dan Lambeth is an expert on how to increase mind power. Find out how to exercise your brain at Increase Mind Power [http://www.increasebrainpowertips.org/increase_mind_power.html] Or visit the homepage of my website [http://www.increasebrainpowertips.org/]

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Daniel_Lambeth/408789
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