you get started . These programs provide helpful tips on how to focus your attention and reminders during the guided meditation sessions to bring your awareness back to your breath .
Get your game face on
What you do outside work can also boost your brainpower . For the millions of people who use computer or video games to unwind , the type of game you play could make a difference when it comes to your cognition . And no , it ’ s not the latest word game that has the biggest benefit . Surprisingly , it ’ s first- or third-person shooter games .
Shawn Green , a psychology professor at the University of Wisconsin , says these types of games give your brain a workout by forcing it to think and react quickly . “ What makes them action games is that they have really severe time constraints ,” he explains . “ You have to take an input and very quickly make fast responses . Often things are changing or moving quickly , so you ’ re having to integrate information that ’ s rapidly changing .”
That time pressure places a higher demand on your cognitive systems , which makes your brain work harder and eventually get better at the tasks required in the game . Green and others have
found improvements among gamers in everything from basic visual abilities to higher-level cognitive processes like multitasking .
However , it ’ s important not to use certain shortcuts that make the game easier
2 %
Increase in the size of the hippocampus — an area crucial for memory — in older adults after a year of exercise . Adults who didn ’ t exercise had a
1.4 %
decrease .
The key is to challenge your brain in the ways you want to make it stronger .
but don ’ t exercise the brain . Researchers in Canada discovered that people who navigated an action game using spatial strategies like landmarks had
increased volume in the hippocampus — the brain ’ s primary memory center . But if they used counting or memorization to find their way around , their hippocampi were smaller .
As with meditation ( and physical exercise ), the key is to challenge your brain in the ways you want it to be stronger . The brain is a powerful organ that learns and grows through adulthood by forging new connections between neurons . All you have to do is give it the right tools and a little bit of practice .
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