Article DetailsHow to Improve Your Cognitive Skills |
| Date Added: February 03, 2012 09:27:21 AM |
| Author: Thomas Mann |
| Category: Health |
| The brain is a resource that we do not use enough of. Humans use only 10% of their brains but it still enables them to conduct highly complex planning and social interactions. Temporary retention, commonly known as short term memory is what sets humans aside as being highly adaptable. It enables quick planning and complex deductions to spontaneously solve problems. Memory is engrained by repeated synapses in a set of neurons in the brain. Memory is mostly recorded in the auditory and visual regions of the brain but also in lobes related to smell and touch. The frontal lobe is where most neuron activity related to memory and cognitive skills occur. The other brain parts namely the mid brain, celleberum and medulla oblangata have mostly physiological functions. The cognitive abilities of the human brain enable formation of new memories by visual or auditory reinforcement. For some people, memory is associated with color. This is a conscious procedure that relates the objects observed with older reinforcements stored on long term memory. We can harness these cognitive abilities to consciously improve memory and overall brain fitness. Lack of stimulation dulls the brain cells known as neurons, while interaction with a rich environment triggers a cascade of synapses. Therefore in the same individual there can be a marked improvement in cognitive skills after conducting brain teasing exercises. Activities such as playing chess, listening to classic music and puzzles are known to improve memory. There are many facets of cognition handled by the different brain parts. We all have our strong points and weak points as a result of the amount of practice got from daily activities. Flexing mental muscles is done by brain exercises to increase the use of dormant parts of the brain. The total correlation of observation, memory and conditioned responses is what determines our cognitive skills. The human species has depended heavily on the brain for survival. The decline of brain fitness such as in mental health adversely affects survival skills. In the modern setting, brain health directly affects financial and social standing. Over time the brain develops channels or neuro-circuits which are studied in Neuroscience. These are the cause of conditioned responses to events in the environment. The reactions are sometimes automated not only because of memory of similar events but also because of a type of memory stored in the nervous system instilled by repetitive action. Neurons align their links as though they learn by practice. Knowledge of how the brain works can help improve mental health and alertness. The learning curve is improved by memory exercises and by exploiting conditioned responses. Even more effective is to change or add thought processes by creating new neuro circuits. Studies in Neuroscience show that the brain which consists of neurons gradually changes its configurations during a life span. This ability is thought to be in response to long term environmental changes and is known as brain plasticity. Brain plasticity can be exploited on a shorter term by conscious conditioning. Thomas Mann is the author of this article on Mental Health. Find more information on Brain Health here. |
