Strengthen your brain with these scientifically proven methods

Like your body, your brain needs to be exercised to keep it strong and active.

No doubt you’ve tried brain exercises such as brain teasers or smartphone apps, but there’s so much more you can do every day to give your brain a boost.

Apparently, brain teasers such a sudoku, do little more than keep your brain from falling idle.

Read more: Easy ways to boost your brain health over 60

As you get older, retaining information and keeping your mind active becomes more important.

From increasing your memory to enhancing your creativity, these simple methods could hold the key to powering up your brain cells.

1. Do something to challenge yourself

Force your brain out of its comfort zone. Try approaching tasks in a different way and don’t give up when you can’t work something out. Challenge yourself to find a solution to problems.  By pushing your brain to new challenges you’ll create more space in your mind for new connections, which will in turn help you overcome obstacles in the future.

2. Try something new

Doing the same old thing every day can have an affect on your brain function. Whether it’s cooking a new recipe or taking a new route to work, trying something new can boost your intelligence and is only way to change the structure of your brain. Every time you try something new, your brain’s plasticity becomes greater. So what is brain plasticity? Essentially, plasticity controls how much information you store in your head and how long you can remember it.

3.  Be creative

Being creative is more than just painting or dancing. Creative thinking, coming up with new ideas and thinking outside the square promotes cross-hemisphere activity in your brain, allowing you to use both your left and right sides of your brain when approaching tasks. Being creative will also allow you to switch between conventional and unconventional thoughts to form ideas and draw conclusions.

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Experts also suggest that changing your diet to avoid sugar, physical exercise such as swimming and sleeping more can also strengthen your brain.

How do you keep your brain strong?