The number of sufferers of brain diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and motor neurone disease has increased dramatically over the past 20 years. There's no sure way to prevent these diseases but … the good news is that we now know there’s a lot you can do to help reduce your risk of Alzheimer’s disease or other dementia.
People often compare the brain to a computer, but there is an important difference. While a computer's hardware does not change, the nerve cells in your brain and the connections between them actually change as a person learns.
Mental activity keeps our mind sharp and agile, in other words, it keeps our neurons in peek condition. If you continue to learn and challenge yourself, your brain continues to grow, literally. As long as you learn something new, the nerve cells in your brain will grow and the connection between them will continue to strengthen. Mental challenges activate underused nerve pathways and connections in the brain. This, in turn, prompts the brain to produce growth molecules. By reading this … your brain is getting bigger!
The brain together with the spinal cord, constitutes the nervous system and controls everything we do, and every thought we have. The brain works all the time … when we're thinking, feeling, remembering, working, playing and even sleeping.
To stay mentally sharp, you need to work your mental muscles each and every day. Get involved in something that keeps your brain busy like crosswords and brain-teasers.
If you're into Trivia and have access to the Internet then check out www.completetrivia.com.au which gives you the opportunity to challenge your Memory, Research Skills, Lateral Thinking and Audio Visual Recognition. There is a small cost but you can win prizes by answering as many questions correctly as you can within the month. There are 700 new questions each month so it's no wonder their slogan is 'Aerobics For The Brain'.
So … from now on, when you think about staying fit, start thinking from the neck up!