Brain Care

Brain Care

Here are some tips for keeping your thinking gear in fine fettle.

Commit to lifelong learning: the skills, knowledge and experience that got you where you are today won't be enough to get you where you want to be in the future. 'Learning' does not always have to mean 'courses'. Read a book; talk to an expert; surf the net for info; take a secondment; or do some work in the community.

   Become a fluent communicator: gain the confidence that you can give a prepared talk with style and clarity. Aim at being 'media-friendly': today's politicians can't succeed without this communication skill and people who are competent in their work but who don't come across well on TV or in person will struggle to move into senior roles in the future. To polish your writing skills, try reading The Pyramid Principle by Barbara Minto, one of the best books around on how to present complex ideas in writing.

   Embrace technology: fewer than half of Britain's senior directors can use email and 60% can't log on to their company's website without help. While there may be something faintly comical and endearing about this, if you have a disdain for new technology, be warned: you can run, but you can't hide.

   Upgrading your brain involves a mixture of thinking and action: thinking without action is sterile, action without thinking lacks direction and mindfulness. So, what are you going to do?


Jemima : "MORNING."

Hayley : "AH, HI JEMIMA!

VALERIE WANTS YOU TO WORK WITH HER ON HER NEW PRODUCT LINE. PLEASE CALL HER BACK."

Jemima : "OKAY."

Male Colleague : "HEY, JEMIMA, ROSE-PHILLIPS BOOKS HAVE SENT OVER A BIG PURCHASE ORDER FOR LETTERHEAD STATIONERY."

Jemima : "I'M ON IT.

HEY BOSS."

Valerie : "MORNING JEMIMA. FREE FOR A MEETING AT 11AM? NEW PROJECT'S JUST COME IN THAT I WANT YOU TO MANAGE. KEEP ON YOUR TOES, MISSY."

Jemima : "YEAH, YEAH, SURE."

Jemima staring at her computer screen thinking : "I LOVE KEEPING ON MY TOES. IT'S WHY I LOVE MY JOB."

>>1

Maintain healthy brain function with BrainAbundance : http://www.brainabundance.com

Scientists have said that one of the best way to improve cognitive ability is by exercise.

Brain training helps older adults

Large study finds durable effects in reasoning ability and processing speed

CHICAGO - Older adults who underwent a brief course of brain exercises saw improvements in reasoning skills and processing speed that could be detected as long as 10 years after the course ended, according to the largest study done on cognitive training.

   The findings, published yesterday in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, offer welcome news in the search for ways to keep the mind sharp as 76 million baby boomers in the United States advance into old age.

   The federally sponsored trial of almost 3,000 older adults, called the Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly study, or Active, looked at how three brain-training programmes - focusing on processing speed, memory and reasoning ability - affected cognitively normal adults as they aged.

   Those who participated in the study had an average age of 74 when they started the training, which involved 10 to 12 sessions lasting 60 to 75 minutes each.

   After five years, those with the training performed better than their untrained counterparts in all three measures.

   Although gains in memory seen at the study's five-year mark appeared to drop off over the next five years, gains in reasoning ability and processing speed persisted 10 years after the training.

   "What we found was pretty astounding. Ten years after the training, there was evidence the effects were durable for the reasoning and the speed training," said Johns Hopkins University Professor George Rebok, an expert on ageing.

   Participants in all three training groups also reported that they had an easier time with daily activities such as managing their medications, cooking meals or handling their finances than did participants who did not get the training.

   "The speed-of-processing results are very encouraging," said the study's co-author, Professor Jonathan King, programme director for cognitive ageing at the National Institute on Ageing.

   Prof King said the self-reported improvement in daily function were interesting, but added: "We do not yet know whether they would truly allow older people to live independently longer."

   However, researchers said even a small gain would likely ease the burden on caregivers.

   "If we delay the onset of difficulties in daily activities even by a small amount, that can have major public health implications in terms of helping to curb health-care costs, delaying entry into institutions and hospitals," Prof Rebok said.

   The training course was designed to bolster specific cognitive abilities that begin to slip as people age.

   It does not aim to prevent dementia caused by underlying disease such as Alzheimer's

REUTERS