>From: "J. R. Molloy" <jr@shasta.com>
>Reply-To: extropians@extropy.org
>To: <extropians@extropy.com>
>Subject: Neurobics: "Keep Your Brain Alive"
>Date: Thu, 25 Oct 2001 10:42:27 -0700
>
>MENTAL GYMNASTICS
>Read a book upside down. Brush your teeth with your wrong hand. Sniff
>vanilla essence while listening to classical music. Breaking your normal
>mental routine will help invigorate your brain, and encourage its cells
>to make new connections and pump out neurotrophins that feed and sustain
>its circuits. This is the theory behind "neurobics" - mental workouts
>that are believed to shape and sculpt the brain in much the same way as
>physical exercise tones and trains the body. But does it work? Brain
>scans do indeed suggest we use a lot more of our grey matter when
>carrying out new or strange tasks. And rats raised in bright cages with
>toys are known to sprout more neural connections. So if you exercise
>your brain, will it grow? Is there a brain-boosting regime that could
>allow you to "think" yourself cleverer? This week's New Scientist
>magazine investigates the possibility of turning brains into
>superbrains.
>
>Keep Your Brain Alive
>http://www.neurobics.com/explain.html
>Neurobics is a unique new system of brain exercises based on the latest
>scientific research from leading neurobiology labs around the world -
>including Dr. Katz' lab at the Dept of Neurobiology in the Duke University
>Medical Center in Durham, NC. The deceptively simple exercise program is
>the
>first and only program scientifically based on the brain's ability to
>produce
>natural growth factors called neurotrophins that help fight off the effects
>of
>mental aging. Neurobic exercises use your five physical senses and your
>emotional sense in unexpected ways and encourage you to shake up your
>everyday
>routines. Neurobics don't require paper and pen or isolating yourself with
>puzzles. Everyday life is the Neurobic Brain gym. They can be done
>anywhere,
>anytime in offbeat, fun and easy ways while you're getting up, commuting,
>working, eating, shopping or relaxing. They are designed to help the brain
>manufacture its own nutrients that strengthen, preserve and grow brain
>cells.
>
>Something as simple as closing your eyes and using your other senses of
>touch,
>smell and spatial memory to unlock your door, enter your home at the end of
>the day and find your way to the coat closet and answering machine is a
>typical Neurobic exercise. What happens in your brain while you're doing
>this
>becomes exercise because different, underused nerve pathways and
>connections
>get activated. The result is the production of a kind of natural brain
>fertilizer that strengthens nerve connections and helps them and your nerve
>cell receivers (dendrites) stay younger and stronger. And the benefit of
>that
>is a fit and flexible mind ready to meet any mental challenge whether it be
>remembering a name or where your car keys are or mastering a new computer
>program or staying creative in your work.
>
A most EXCELLENT idea! There is an old sitcom trope where a character does
everything backwards.....
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