09 413 5312
Elevate Chiropractic
  • Home
  • Services
  • About Us
  • Blog
  • Contact Us

Can simply thinking about a task make you better at it? and 5 ways to improve your brain fitness

13/7/2014

0 Comments

 
Some interesting new research has shown that you can actually “change” your brain through thought itself and that mental effort can actually result in physical changes to your mind and body.

When imagining an action, it requires the same motor and sensory programs in the brain that would be used if
you were actually doing it.  New research has shown that those who mentally practiced playing the piano achieved the same accuracy level as those who physically did it. 

On the same note, people who imagined doing strength-training exercises increased their muscle strength by 22%, compared to 30% among those who physically did the exercises.  Taking this a bit further, the research showed that when you focus your mind on a specific muscle during a workout, you work that muscle 22% harder.  So by focusing on what you are doing at the gym can enable you to get a better workout.

In fact, just believing that your daily activities are exercise has also been shown to improve physical fitness. Harvard researchers informed one group of hotel housekeepers that their daily work qualified as exercise, whereas a control group did not receive this information. Four weeks later, those who believed their work was a form of exercise had a decrease in weight, blood pressure, body fat, waist-to-hip ratio, and body mass index, even though their behaviors hadn’t actually changed at all.
Norman Doidge, MD, a psychiatrist and researcher has written a book called “the Brain That Changes Itself”.  In it he describes how your thoughts can literally alter brain anatomy by switching your genes on and off, and how brain exercises can not only help you improve cognition and learning, but also help you develop muscle strength, recover movement lost due to a stroke, or even overcome pain, depression or anxiety. 

Dr. Merzenich, professor emeritus at the University of California, who has pioneered research in brain
plasticity explains, your brain is designed and constructed to be stimulated and challenged, and to carefully examine, resolve and interpret your environment.  What research into brain plasticity shows us is that by providing your brain with appropriate stimulus, you can counteract degeneration. A key factor or ingredient necessary for improving brain function or reversing functional decline is the seriousness of purpose with which you engage in a task. In other words, the task must be important to you, or somehow meaningful or interesting — it must hold your attention. Rote memorization of nonsensical or unimportant items will not stimulate your brain to create new neurons – but imagining the act of exercise or playing a musical instrument might. 

Aside from engaging in a computer-based brain exercise program, Dr. Merzenich lists several things you
can do on a daily basis, as part of your day-to-day lifestyle, to help maintain brain function.  Here are 5 ways to maintain optimal brain function:
  1. Get 15-30 minutes of physical exercise each day. When exercising, think about using your brain to control your actions.  So skip the music and concentrate on the details of your actions and the environment.
  2. Spend about five minutes every day working on the refinement of a specific, small part of your physical body.  
  3. Find ways to engage yourself in new learning.  Continually look for new hobbies, activities and skills.
  4. Stay socially engaged.
  5. Practice “mindfulness”, in which you are attentively focusing on the world around you again, as if you are seeing it for the first time.

Your mind is intricately linked to your physical activity.  Just as your thoughts can affect physical body, physical exercise can also protect your brain.  One study found that among people in their 70s, those who were the most physically active had less signs of aging in their brains than those who weren’t, while engaging in intellectually challenging or social activities appeared to have no effect. 
 
The key take home point from this is … you can very well harness the power of your thoughts to create real
physical changes in your body. And on the flipside, physical activity can also lead to positive changes in your brain. A lifestyle that encourages both of these modalities is likely going to give you the most benefit now and in the years to come.

 Modified from www.mercola.com.  
 


 





 


 


 

 


0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Picture

    Dr Craig Buscomb

    Bringing you news, research and advice on health, wellness, exercise and chiropractic care to help take your health to the next level

    Picture

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014

    Categories

    All
    6 Week Challenge
    Air Purifier
    Athritis
    Back Brace
    Back Pain
    Balance
    Barefoot
    Blood Pressure
    Body Hacks
    Brain Development
    Brain Function
    Breathing
    Cervicogenic Headaches
    Children
    Chiropractic Care
    Chiropractic Research
    Clicking Joints
    Concussion
    Core Exercise
    Crawling
    Cryotherapy
    Diaphragmatic Breathing
    Disc Herniation
    Disc Injury
    Dizziness
    Dr Craig Buscomb
    Elderly
    Elevate Chiropractic Clinic
    Ergonomics
    Exercise
    Eyesight
    Fall Risk
    FAQs
    Fidgeting
    Flexibility
    Foot Function
    Free Spine Checks
    Functional Movement
    Gardening
    Grip Strength
    Grounding
    Habits
    Hanging
    Headaches
    Headbanging
    Health
    Heat Therapy
    Hip Hinge
    Hip-Hinge
    Hugging
    Hypermobility
    Ice
    Joint Cracking
    Kneeling
    Knee Pain
    Lifting
    Low Back Pain
    Lower Back Pain
    Meditation
    Migraine
    Mirgrane
    Mobility
    Movement
    Music
    Myofascial Release
    NEAT
    Neck Pain
    Neuroplasticity
    New Year's Resolutions
    Nocebo Affect
    Non-Exercise Movement
    Novelty
    Osteoporosis
    Overweight
    Pediatric Care
    Physical Activity
    Pillows
    Placebo Effect
    Plants
    Posture
    Power Poses
    Rehabilitation
    RICE
    Risk Of Dying
    Schoolbag
    Sciatica
    Sciatic Nerve
    Seniors
    Shoulder Pain
    Sickness
    Sitting
    Sitting Positions
    Sleep
    Sleeping
    Soft Tissue Release
    Sport
    Sports Performance
    Stability
    Static Back Position
    Stress
    Stretches
    Stretching
    Studying
    Surgery
    Teenagers
    Tension Headaches
    Testimonials
    Text Neck
    Tongue Positions
    TV
    Upper Back Pain
    Upper Cross Syndrome
    Vertigo
    Walking
    Warning Signs
    Water
    Weightloss
    What To Expect
    Work Breaks
    Yoga

    RSS Feed

    Contact Us
    Services
    About Us
    It's what you do everyday that impacts your health, not what you do sometimes.

Let us keep you updated with our newsletter

Quick Links

Home
Services
About Us
Blog
Contact Us
Privacy and Confidentiality

Contact Us

Shop 1, 10 Greenhithe Road
Greenhithe, Auckland
P: 09 413 5312
M: 027 975 4104
E: drcraig@elevatechiropractic.co.nz
Submit once, a confirmation email will be sent to you.
© Elevate Chiropractic  2014 | Website developed by Outbox Ltd