The brain has been getting a lot of attention of late. Brian Ahuja (name changed) is 61 years old and had been experiencing brief memory loss and mental fatigue. Alzheimer’s disease and dementia have been his fears after his mother fell sick. The usual brain exercises weren’t giving the desired results until his doctor recommended neurobics, the new brain coach on the block—a portmanteau word combining neuro and aerobic. Brain scientists have discovered that the exercise programme encourages the brain’s ability to produce neurotrophins, natural cerebral growth boosters, that combat mental aging.
No crossword or Sudoku needed. Neurobics cross-train the brain to be more responsive and flexible in order to retain memories and new information, learn new tasks and find creative solutions through thought and action. It’s a combination of physical and mental exercises that uses all five senses and EQ to shake up everyday routines. Do neuorobics anywhere, anytime. Using this brain gym, you can help your noggin create its own nutrients that strengthen, preserve and grow new cells.
Dr Shirish M Hastak, Regional Director, Neurology, Stroke and Neurocritical Care, Global Hospital, Mumbai, says, “You form new neuronal connections in your brain and this allows the brain to grow like an intranet similar to the internet. It allows for divergent thinking before you converge on an action plan. It follows the ‘you use it or lose it’ law.” A typical neurobics exercise, for example, is to close your eyes and let your other four senses guide you to enter a room, switch on the lights, find your closet and find a hanger. It’s about disrupting daily routine.
A right-handed person handles a pen using the cortex on the left side of the brain. Turning southpaw stimulates the little used network of connections involved in writing with the left hand, throwing a challenge to your noodle. New ways of doing important tasks, bringing many senses into play, makes for a genuine neurobic exercise.
“What I’ve seen work wonders is rearranging your office desk or home space. It completely throws you off and that’s where the challenge lies,” says Mumbai-based fitness mentor Preeti Arora. With each action, a large neural network in the frontal lobe, which controls attention, and the hippocampus, which affects memory function, are stimulated. So is the prefrontal lobe affecting planning, and reasoning in decision, thus activating underused neural pathways and connections, making nerve cell receivers (dendrites) keep you younger and become stronger.
5 beneficial workouts
1. Put some coins in your pocket. Feel them. Without looking, study their sizes, textures and edges to figure out the value of each coin. Take them out and check if you’re right. This exercise connects the brain and the sense of touch.
2. Jog your brain in an unexpected way. Close your eyes and walk around the house slowly. Try to recall where each furniture item is. This disrupts your routine activity in the room and sparks the memory cells.
3. Put your TV on mute and try inventing the dialogue on your own without subtitles
4. If you loathe watching Arnab Goswami, try to understand or think like the way he screams to stimulate your brain
5. Write with your non-dominant hand for a day or if you’re up to it, a week. This activates the unused parts of the brain.
6.Take 10 to 15 spice or herb jars. Try to identify each spice or herb one by one by its smell.