[Home-on-the-range] …can we really get smarter as we grow older?
Dianne Hemphill
diannehemphill at cox.net
Mon Feb 25 22:04:46 UTC 2013
Hello federationists - again a snow storm on the way here in Wichita as, it appears, all around the state. So I picked up an old issue of "Readers Digest" in braille and began reviewing a fascinating article i earlier read but needed to review and make notes on. (by the way, did you know you can get the Readers' Digest" in braille, free from the American Printing House?) The article comes from the October RD, 2012, called, "building a better brain". I find this fascinating as I, like many of you sometimes experience and worry about "senior moments". These are the times we wonder why we went into another room: start to say something but it flies out of your brain before getting off your tongue ; go to pick up your purse or wallet and can't remember where we put it...the list could be endless ..This article searches out the latest in scientific research, which I am not going to make notation of references here, but want to share some of the findings for your consideration. One revolutionary finding is that we can change our IQ. Up till recently the thinking was that IQ was fairly fixed by sometime in childhood. Now it appears that we can either improve or, unfortunately, lose IQ points if we aren't somewhat mindful in our life style and focused on life-long learning pursuits. Yes, we can get smarter! We can actually increase "gray matter" which enables us to have a brain that has greater elasticity with both volume and mass. This allows us to store more knowledge which may or may not impact IQ depending on how it is used. If nothing else, more info makes us more knowledgeable and interesting. . What allows us to gain greater IQ, is related to our ability to take information, comprehend its meaning, relationships and relevance and use it in more abstract thinking. This includes problem solving, verbal and cognitive complex thinking, etc. This is much more than simple memorization. So how do we move in the right direction rather than slip, sliding away?! Here are some of the elements that can help you develop a better memory if not improve your IQ:
1(It is now thought that "short term" memory plays a more significant role in both enhancing our memory and IQ than earlier thought. This may be one of the key elements for establishing a foundation for a fluid use of information used in problem solving, for example. You might improve your short term memory by:
1. taking information in through multiple senses; hearing and tactile; visually and hearing, etc.
2) pay attention! Our mom's were right! in order to start the process of acquiring information, we need to "pay attention", sometimes very close attention... 3. Finding the information meaningful - this is somewhat intuitive but when something isn't as interesting to us but might be, none-the-less, important for us, we might want to figure out a way to make it meaningful...
3) be active - good blood flow to the brain improves this muscle just as it does every other muscle in the body.
4) be well rested...there is evidence that people benefit from daily naps. This is not practical for many of us working but none-the-less, figuring out ways to refresh your brain is worthwhile and has great benefits - some of us just want a good nights sleep!
5) eating a healthful diet - speaks for itself but cannot be overestimated on its beneficial impact...memory boosting benefits.
Here are some suggestions for becoming smarter!
1. incorporate some exercise that both raises your heart rate and requires coordination. Any form of dance, water aerobics or oriental based exercises might do the trick...maybe you'll want to learn social dance steps or perhaps yoga - many interesting and mind building options out there.
2. build a "memory bank" of things that can be used for relating names/ideas/etc "on purpose". For those things you must or want to remember you might want to use association or personal history to link to something new. This is relating something new with something that you already have "in storage" and easily retrieve.
3. write things down. If you used to use pen and paper, jot something down though you won't be able to visually read it The act of writing will help you recall things. For those of us using braille - well, let's use it...
4. Having learned patience from "delayed gratification" has shown to make a significant difference in how successful kids are in both school and employment...WOW - but if we are not given the gift of "patience" we can still learn it through practicing patience and self-control on purpose by focusing on something else- on purpose.....
5. writing reviews- Well, here we are- the reason I'm pestering you. I find this so interesting I wanted to share some of the info with you and I also gain because this is one of the ways we also develop our memory! When we read, listen to and/or study something then write about it, we gain reinforcement of the information and further learn about how we think about things.
As blind people our memory may be more important to us than possibly others. We can't simply glance across the room to find where we left our keys or glance at a report that our boss wants a verbal review of. Hope some of the tips help...if you have special tricks for remembering things, please share. Stay warm and remember to enjoy everyday and make each day count. Dianne
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