Tips For Keeping Your Brain Healthy

Get Plenty of Sleep – As a population, it is no secret that Americans are chronically sleep deprived. But getting adequate sleep is essential for learning new material and for allowing the brain to sort out your daily activities and repair itself from stress. On average, an adult needs 7.5 hours of sleep each night. Science has proven that people who don't get enough sleep have shorter attention spans, impaired memory function, longer reaction times and reduced brain activity. When you don't get enough sleep, your brain will produce more cortisol and stress hormones. This can result in inflammation that can cause cell death in the brain and slows down the growth of new brain cells during learning.

Movie, TV and Technology Should Be Used in Moderation – Video, computers, watching television and playing video games can have a negative effect on brain function. Scientists have found that these sorts of activities can induce alpha or slow wave activity in the brain. Long term exposure to this sort of media can lead to permanent changes in brain activity, creating impulsive behavior and a reduced ability to concentrate. The overuse of internet and texting can also rewire our brains and cause us to have a harder time forming close relationships and cause attention problems. You should try to schedule regular breaks from technology and the television and increase face to face interactions with peers.

Exercise Regularly – Regular exercise is good for our bodies, but it is also good for our brains. Research has shown that getting exercise can stimulate the growth of new brain cells, increase blood flow to the brain and it also reduces the levels of stress hormones. People who exercise on a regular basis learn faster, remember more and think more clearly than those who don't.

Read Everyday – Reading is a complex task. It requires your brain to use many neural systems. Doing things like reading are exercise for the brain. The brain is strengthened by completing all of the tasks necessary to decode words and comprehend them can build stronger conecctions. People who read tend to have better memories, vocabularies, comprehension skills and attention. Good readers are also better writers than their non-reading peers. There are even studies that show that reading can help your brain protect itself against damage from Alzheimer's, stroke, dementia or even traumatic brain injury.