I'm now 56 years old. A while back, I started getting the feeling that I wasn't thinking as clearly, or as fast, as I was just a few years back. I did some research on google and found a bunch of interesting stuff that explains what's happening in our older skulls. I noticed the biggest change when it came to trying to remember things...here is a good link regarding that:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_and_aging
Anyways, I was listening to a late night talk radio show one evening, and the guest happened to be talking about these brain exercises called "Dual N Back." So, I looked 'em up, found a good free website to do these exercises at (http://brainscale.net/dual-n-back/training), and started doing brain calisthenics.
I've been doing them for about 3 weeks now. When I started, I really sucked. But, I kept at it. Now, I've improved considerably, far beyond what I expected. And, it's not about competing with other people's scores, so I'm not going to post mine. It's more like getting out there and doing some physical exercise...some folks happen to be naturally inclined to do well at physical exercise, and some just aren't. But everybody who does physical exercise improves their health which leads to feeling good...even if they are only doing a 20 minute mile.
It's pretty boring stuff. I do about 30 minutes a day. The first improvement I noticed was in my sleep cycle...before I started doing these brain exercises I would wake up after about 3 hours of sleep and couldn't fall back to sleep. Now, I can get in about 7 hours of sleep before waking up. The next thing I noticed was that I was generally more awake and aware in a general sense throughout the day, but most noticeably immediately after completing the exercises. I read somewhere that it usually takes about 2 weeks to start noticing changes, but my sleep cycle change happened after only a few days. I also have been remembering my dreams...haven't done that in a real long time.
So, let me recommend these brain exercises. There are many, but the Dual N Back seem to be the most popular (these were also recommended for folks who have ADD, which I do). They are boring, but in my mind it is worth doing them rather than watching/feeling your brain function go downhill as we approach the later part of our lives.
If you start doing Dual N Back, I recommend starting off at level 1. Brainscale.net automatically starts you off at level 2, I found that too fuckin hard when I started. The exercise will automatically advance you to the next level when you score high enough at the current level, you need to score 80% to get advanced.
Here's some of those links again:
Brain training website:
http://brainscale.net/dual-n-back/training
Dual N Back explained:
http://www.memory-improvement-tips.com/dual-n-back-training.html
Wiki article on memory and aging:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_and_aging
.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_and_aging
Anyways, I was listening to a late night talk radio show one evening, and the guest happened to be talking about these brain exercises called "Dual N Back." So, I looked 'em up, found a good free website to do these exercises at (http://brainscale.net/dual-n-back/training), and started doing brain calisthenics.
I've been doing them for about 3 weeks now. When I started, I really sucked. But, I kept at it. Now, I've improved considerably, far beyond what I expected. And, it's not about competing with other people's scores, so I'm not going to post mine. It's more like getting out there and doing some physical exercise...some folks happen to be naturally inclined to do well at physical exercise, and some just aren't. But everybody who does physical exercise improves their health which leads to feeling good...even if they are only doing a 20 minute mile.
It's pretty boring stuff. I do about 30 minutes a day. The first improvement I noticed was in my sleep cycle...before I started doing these brain exercises I would wake up after about 3 hours of sleep and couldn't fall back to sleep. Now, I can get in about 7 hours of sleep before waking up. The next thing I noticed was that I was generally more awake and aware in a general sense throughout the day, but most noticeably immediately after completing the exercises. I read somewhere that it usually takes about 2 weeks to start noticing changes, but my sleep cycle change happened after only a few days. I also have been remembering my dreams...haven't done that in a real long time.
So, let me recommend these brain exercises. There are many, but the Dual N Back seem to be the most popular (these were also recommended for folks who have ADD, which I do). They are boring, but in my mind it is worth doing them rather than watching/feeling your brain function go downhill as we approach the later part of our lives.
If you start doing Dual N Back, I recommend starting off at level 1. Brainscale.net automatically starts you off at level 2, I found that too fuckin hard when I started. The exercise will automatically advance you to the next level when you score high enough at the current level, you need to score 80% to get advanced.
Here's some of those links again:
Brain training website:
http://brainscale.net/dual-n-back/training
Dual N Back explained:
http://www.memory-improvement-tips.com/dual-n-back-training.html
Wiki article on memory and aging:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_and_aging
.
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