Activate the senses - and keep the brain in shape

Modern man uses his sight and hearing very frequently, but the other three senses are not used as often. This leads to a kind of "traffic congestion" in the brain, because some nerve pathways are used less than others and therefore become dull. To keep the brain fresh, it is important to expose it to new challenges and to frequently use all its senses in new, unusual situations. An easy way to do this is to perform small exercises in everyday life that involve breaking the pattern in your routines. How about brushing your teeth with your left hand instead of your right - or closing your eyes and feeling your head when you get dressed in the morning. Activate the senses - and keep the brain in shape.

Man has five senses - sight, hearing, smell, taste and touch. Each of these has a special "section" in the brain, and when you use one of the senses, the information is sent via a nerve pathway to that part of the brain.

In today's modern society, however, we do not use all five senses as much as we should. We use sight and hearing almost all the time, but the other three seem to become less and less important in our everyday lives.

The only problem is that the brain does not feel good about just using the same two senses almost all the time. If we overuse sight and hearing, and underuse the other senses, then this causes a kind of "traffic jam" in the brain. The nerve pathways that are linked to smell, taste and feel become tough and sluggish. This prevents a lot of information from being sent in and out of the brain in an effective way.

Activate your senses

Many researchers have studied how we can train the brain, make it feel good and create new brain cells. The book Keep Your Brain Alive one of the researchers who popularized the concept of Neurobics, which is the name of a type of simple brain exercise.

The starting point is that the brain feels and performs better if we keep it in shape by actively training all five senses.

Exercises in the form of unusual stimulation of the senses - activities that in some way challenge the brain and break our normal routines - help us keep the brain active. At the same time, new neurotrophins are also created, which are a type of protein that promotes the survival and development of brain cells.

Must Read: 10 tips on cleansing the liver

There are many ways to perform this type of exercise in everyday life, according to researchers, an example is that you can use your left hand instead of your right (vice versa if you are left-handed) when brushing your teeth or writing. This means that you also use the opposite side of the brain and activate a part of the brain that you do not normally use as much.

Another small challenge in everyday life is to close your eyes while getting dressed in the morning. In this way, you have to use the feeling instead of the sight when you put on the clothes, which becomes a new and unusual challenge for the brain.

Expose yourself to news

The idea is that you should use one or more of your senses in new contexts, and possibly "turn off" the senses you normally use. You can also combine your use of different senses in an unusual way - for example, closing your eyes, listening to music and at the same time enjoying some lovely scent (scented candles? Flowers?).

It is also important to expose yourself to new things and to break your routines in general. You can take a different path to work than the one you are used to, or shop in a different store than the one you usually go to. Maybe go out and camp with the family this weekend instead of sitting at home and watching TV?

And of course, the advice that always applies - learn to speak a new language. The brain loves it, and you will probably love it too if you do it in a fun and playful way. Sign up for that evening course in French - and after a few months you can go to Paris to practice your skills. Once you get there, you can probably count on taste, aroma and other important senses being stimulated with gusto. The brain is as satisfied as the heart and stomach.