Archive for May, 2009
When I’ve spoken to groups about brain fitness, I always mention the importance of stress and mood for brain fitness. Something many people don’t realize is how insidious stress can be. When stress is chronic, we get used to it and don’t notice it. It still has its effects.
Stress can affect your memory and other abilities in a number of ways. Psychological stress increases levels of hormones in your body that are known to be toxic to your brain. Chronic stress may cause depression, and depression by itself can affect your memory and your ability to think rapidly and clearly.
How can you tell whether you’re under significant stress? There are a number of stress scales on the Internet. I think the best way is to ask yourself two questions: (1) How often do you feel your ability to cope with things is challenged? and (2) How successful are you at coping with these challenges? The answer to how stressed you are comes from your response to both of these questions. If you feel frequently stressed, but you feel as though you’re doing a pretty good job of coping, your stress level is likely moderate. If you are frequently stressed and feel as though you are just barely hanging on, your stress level is probably much higher.
Coping with stress requires you to recognize that you’re feeling stressed. What causes you stress?
- Can you do anything about it?
- Can you avoid it?
- Try to schedule stressors for the time of day you’re most energetic and able to cope.
- At some point in the day, stop for five minutes and pay attention to your breathing. Interrupt the daily plunge into activity by taking five minutes for yourself.
Take stress seriously, dead seriously. Have a management plan that includes scheduling, exercise, and some form of relaxation.
Latest
- Brain Fitness and The Mind of a Monk
- Brain Fitness Tip: Training Without a Computer
I saw an interesting blog post yesterday evening on the site of the Huffington Post about the potential benefits of meditation – or at least about what one woman thinks might be the benefits. (more…)
Although many people are excited about the potential for using computers to train their brains, we shouldn’t forget that other techniques have been used to the train the brain for many centuries. I’m thinking about the large number of techniques for meditation. While free computer software still requires an investment in a computer, meditation only asks you to sit or lie quietly and focus your mind.
A recently-published study shows parts of the brain in long-term meditators are larger than the same parts of the brain in people who don’t meditate. The article by Eileen Luders and her colleagues appeared in a recent issue of the journal Neuroimage (Vol. 45, No. 3, pp. 672-678, April 15, 2009). The study showed that portions of the orbitofrontal cortex and the hippocampus were larger in persons who had been regular meditators for 5 or more years. The study is interesting because the parts of the brain that were larger are often thought to be important in helping people keep themselves emotionally balanced.
A number of strategies are likely to be helpful for meditators. There has been a great deal of interest over the last several years in mindfulness meditation. Researchers have studied how it can be used in reducing anxiety and depression. Mindfulness is based on Buddhist meditation (for a brief article, click here) but you don’t have to be a Buddhist to practice meditation. In fact, one of the most important persons who has promoted mindfulness is Jon Kabat-Zinn, a researcher at the University of Massachusetts. You can see a video presentation by him on YouTube by clicking here.