Mental exercises can improve brain activity by up to 40% in just one week. Activities like solving puzzles, memorizing lists, and using the computer mouse with the "wrong" hand significantly enhance brain function.
This conclusion was reached after testing 100 volunteers for the BBC show "Become Smarter in a Week." Volunteers were asked to complete tasks like moving around the house blindfolded and brushing their teeth with their non-dominant hand. They also had to ensure they got enough sleep and exercised. Fast food was banned.
The goal was to combine a healthy lifestyle with tasks that required critical thinking, hoping to increase the participants' intelligence by around 10%. The results exceeded expectations.
In preliminary trials with 15 volunteers, the improvements were as high as 40% compared to the start of the week. Volunteers had other tasks, such as finding unusual words in a dictionary and showering with their eyes closed. All showed significant improvement in brain function.
IQ has traditionally been seen as a precise measure of intelligence, but more and more scientists believe that certain practices can enhance brain abilities, with noticeable improvements in just a week.
Psychologists at the Institute for Neurological Research in Dublin confirmed that daily mental exercises can lead to improvements similar to those conducted by the BBC group.
Professor Ian Robertson tested 3,000 men and women over the age of 65. He found that relatively simple exercises could significantly reduce cognitive decline. After just 10 brain-training sessions, their mental age decreased by 7 to 14 years.
So, give it a try! To start, we recommend brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand.