Brain exercises?

[DTEJD1997]

Hey all:

 

I try and exercise my mind & body in the AM, before I get started with my business for the day.

 

I used to use the website "Lumosity".  They have some excellent games for memory & cognition.

 

I will also sometimes play Tetris.  I find that game gets my mind going.  Perhaps it has something to do with thinking about the shapes & combinations they make?

 

So my question to the board is "is there anything that you specifically do to get your mind going?"

[LC]

Well my schedule is opposite yours (I dive right into work and then exercise later), but I enjoy reading after dinner.

[winjitsu]

Chess puzzles. I personally like chesstempo.com

 

I'm big into meditation as well. It's incredibly challenging to keep focus and helps w/ several aspects of daily life as well.

[boilermaker75]

Lots of coffee.

[EricSchleien]

Puerh Tea

Yerba Mate (only from gourd)

Bulletproof Coffee

 

The very occasional modafinil

 

Walk, Sprint, Lift Heavy Shit

[sleepydragon]

Watch porn. Just kidding! :)

 

In the morning, I start with social media ( Facebook) :p

 

[Jurgis]

Watch porn.

 

I just read info porn.  8)

[Seanzy]

Download the app called "n-back". It helps you build and maintain your short term memory, reflexes, and dexterity with your fingers.

 

It asks you a simple math problem like 8+4. You are then supposed to remember the last digit of the sum, so in this case it's "2" because 8 + 4 = 12. Then it asks you another math problem, but you are supposed to enter the 2 you remembered from before while committing to memory the current sum's second number for the next math problem. This repeats until you have completed ten math problems as quickly as possible in a timed format.

 

It sounds complicated but it's not. It increases in difficulty based on the number of math problems you must remember. Just try it.

[Liberty]

I find that my biggest challenge is having down time... I try to do some meditation (just breathing exercise, trying not to hold on to any specific thought..), but it keeps falling off my schedule.

 

My problem is more that I tend to fill up all available time with either reading or listening to podcasts and audio books, and I find that sometimes over time it can add up to feeling overwhelmed.

[DW]

Regular exercise changes the brain to improve memory, thinking skills

 

https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/regular-exercise-changes-brain-improve-memory-thinking-skills-201404097110

[Parsad]

I do Sudoku every night in the bathroom during my bed-time evacuation.  I do enough so that I start to get tired, rather than stimulated mentally.  So usually the legs start to get numb!  ;D  Cheers!

[rukawa]

I don't see the point to brain exercises. The brain is adaptive and its structure is altered depending on what you do. Make it good at one thing and it becomes worse at another. There is no way to make it good at everything otherwise you would be born that way.

 

So to me it would make sense to spend time on either things that really interest you or on things you want to become good at. Otherwise you are just making the brain really good at doing pointless things.

[augustabound]

I do Sudoku every night in the bathroom during my bed-time evacuation.

 

Now there's a visual.....  ;D

[Sportgamma]

I do Sudoku every night in the bathroom during my bed-time evacuation.

 

Now there's a visual.....  ;D

 

https://content.dollarshaveclub.com/sitting-toilet-long-will-wreck-butt

[Cigarbutt]

I guess it depends if you do this for fun, to increase mental capacity or to prevent decline. :)

 

For those interested:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3622463/

 

Neuroplasticity is an amazing concept but just like everything else, it has its limits.

If you look for "true" results, the key criteria seem to be:

-relevance to real-life cognitive challenges

-components related to performance (like sports, increasing levels of difficulty, persistence and frequency)

-helps if the activity is enjoyable

 

Concerning the last post and critical thinking exercises,

http://www.businessinsider.com/warren-buffetts-favorite-critical-thinking-exercise-2014-10

 

In 2018, if you look at the top ten, the things, they are changin'.

 

In the last link, which has now 1192 comments, we learn that one in six intelligent phones has fecal material on it.

 

Is that what you call evolution?