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Challenge Your Brain
- By Jill Ammon-Wexler
- Published 08/20/2005
- Awareness - thinking , Neuroscience
Jill Ammon-Wexler
Dr Jill Ammon-Wexler is a doctor of psychology, best-selling author, and pioneer brain/mind researcher. She was among the first to introduce mind power training to the corporate world. [From her http://selfgrowth.com profile]
View all articles by Jill Ammon-Wexler
Even if you are classified at a genius level, you are still potentially far more intelligent.
And if IQ tests indicate you have an average intelligence, hold on to your socks!
Attaining genius levels of mental processing IS within reach.
John von Neumann, the inventor of the computer, estimated our brains hold two hundred and eighty quintillion bits of memory (that equals 280, followed by 18 zeros). But most modern neuroscientists feel even this estimate is far too low.
A few short years ago scientists believed geniuses were born with brains that were somehow different from the rest of us. But recent scientific research suggests that genius-level brainpower is more the result of mental training -- not just genetic superiority.
Even today's “Einsteins” are now seen by neuroscientists as ordinary people who have simply consciously developed "extraordinary" mental powers and focus.
**How Genius is Developed
We do not often think of the mind as a tool whose powers can be developed on such a dramatic level. But the good news is -- there are definite, proven-effective ways to develop your brain's capacity for genius-level performance.
Modern neuroscientists claim that genius-level mental functioning is primarily all about *connections.*
Which connections? The ever-changing maze of interconnections among your neurons (brain cells.) The scientific evidence is this: The more you stimulate and challenge your brain, the more connections it is forced to create so that your neurons can communicate with each other.
And the more interconnections you have between your neurons, the closer you move toward genius-level creativity and thinking. It really is primarily that simple.
**Albert Einstein’s Secret
As a child, Albert Einstein was seriously dyslexic and had great difficulty with both speech and reading. He was actually expelled from high school and flunked his first college entrance exam, but finally managed to complete his BA degree.
He then took lowly job in the Swiss patent office. But then when he was only 26, he published his Special Theory of Relativity. And sixteen years later he won a Nobel Prize.
Dr. Thomas Harvey, a pathologist on duty at Princeton Hospital when Einstein died in 1955, removed Einstein's brain. Harvey studied it under a microscope over a 40-year period, but never found any differences from so-called normal brains.
Then in the early 1980s Dr Marian Diamond, a neuro-anatomist at the University of California at Berkeley, made some interesting discoveries. Her findings about brains in general revolutionized our ideas about what genius really is.
Diamond placed a group of rats in a very stimulating environment with ladders, swings, treadmills, and "rat toys." She then confined a “control” group of rats to bare cages.
The rats in the stimulating environment lived to advanced ages (the equivalent of 90 for mankind). But even more remarkable, Diamond found their brains had grown an amazing number of new connections between their neurons.
She had discovered the first “hard evidence” that higher intelligence could be created through mentally-stimulating exercise. And then when she examined sections of Einstein's brain, she made the remarkable discovery that it WAS different from the "average" brain in one way. Like her super-stimulated rats, Einstein's brain also had an unusually high number of experience-based neural "interconnections."
**Mental Sharpness and Aging
Now your brain does not replace it's neurons (brain cells) like the way your body replaces dead skin, bone or muscle cells. But there's something else at work in the minds of those who don't lose their mental capacities in advanced age!
Researchers studied a group of 800 older nuns, and came up with even more proof of the benefits of mental stimulation. Those nuns who were constantly learning new things, or playing mind stimulating games and crossword puzzles, were less likely to show symptoms of Alzheimer's -- compared to the less mentally active nuns.
Our brains can continue to grow in complexity right up to a very advanced age! Each challenge you present to your brain causes immediate physical changes – no matter what your age.
**A Plan of Action
Your mental inter-neural connections can potentially increase in number and complexity throughout life. The more you learn, the more of these pathways you create. And the more you stimulate your brain, the sharper your memory and mental responses. The payoff is immeasurable.
The most basic way to build brainpower is to intellectually challenge and exercise your brain. You can create healthy new neural networks by learning a new skill or language, or through the stimulation of brainwave training.
And even so-called physical activities such as yoga, Tai Chi, skating or dancing. Even weight-lifting workouts and walking help build your mind power by supplying more oxygen to your brain.
~ ~ ~
© 2005 All Rights Reserved
And if IQ tests indicate you have an average intelligence, hold on to your socks!
Attaining genius levels of mental processing IS within reach.
John von Neumann, the inventor of the computer, estimated our brains hold two hundred and eighty quintillion bits of memory (that equals 280, followed by 18 zeros). But most modern neuroscientists feel even this estimate is far too low.
A few short years ago scientists believed geniuses were born with brains that were somehow different from the rest of us. But recent scientific research suggests that genius-level brainpower is more the result of mental training -- not just genetic superiority.
Even today's “Einsteins” are now seen by neuroscientists as ordinary people who have simply consciously developed "extraordinary" mental powers and focus.
**How Genius is Developed
We do not often think of the mind as a tool whose powers can be developed on such a dramatic level. But the good news is -- there are definite, proven-effective ways to develop your brain's capacity for genius-level performance.
Modern neuroscientists claim that genius-level mental functioning is primarily all about *connections.*
Which connections? The ever-changing maze of interconnections among your neurons (brain cells.) The scientific evidence is this: The more you stimulate and challenge your brain, the more connections it is forced to create so that your neurons can communicate with each other.
And the more interconnections you have between your neurons, the closer you move toward genius-level creativity and thinking. It really is primarily that simple.
**Albert Einstein’s Secret
As a child, Albert Einstein was seriously dyslexic and had great difficulty with both speech and reading. He was actually expelled from high school and flunked his first college entrance exam, but finally managed to complete his BA degree.
He then took lowly job in the Swiss patent office. But then when he was only 26, he published his Special Theory of Relativity. And sixteen years later he won a Nobel Prize.
Dr. Thomas Harvey, a pathologist on duty at Princeton Hospital when Einstein died in 1955, removed Einstein's brain. Harvey studied it under a microscope over a 40-year period, but never found any differences from so-called normal brains.
Then in the early 1980s Dr Marian Diamond, a neuro-anatomist at the University of California at Berkeley, made some interesting discoveries. Her findings about brains in general revolutionized our ideas about what genius really is.
Diamond placed a group of rats in a very stimulating environment with ladders, swings, treadmills, and "rat toys." She then confined a “control” group of rats to bare cages.
The rats in the stimulating environment lived to advanced ages (the equivalent of 90 for mankind). But even more remarkable, Diamond found their brains had grown an amazing number of new connections between their neurons.
She had discovered the first “hard evidence” that higher intelligence could be created through mentally-stimulating exercise. And then when she examined sections of Einstein's brain, she made the remarkable discovery that it WAS different from the "average" brain in one way. Like her super-stimulated rats, Einstein's brain also had an unusually high number of experience-based neural "interconnections."
**Mental Sharpness and Aging
Now your brain does not replace it's neurons (brain cells) like the way your body replaces dead skin, bone or muscle cells. But there's something else at work in the minds of those who don't lose their mental capacities in advanced age!
Researchers studied a group of 800 older nuns, and came up with even more proof of the benefits of mental stimulation. Those nuns who were constantly learning new things, or playing mind stimulating games and crossword puzzles, were less likely to show symptoms of Alzheimer's -- compared to the less mentally active nuns.
Our brains can continue to grow in complexity right up to a very advanced age! Each challenge you present to your brain causes immediate physical changes – no matter what your age.
**A Plan of Action
Your mental inter-neural connections can potentially increase in number and complexity throughout life. The more you learn, the more of these pathways you create. And the more you stimulate your brain, the sharper your memory and mental responses. The payoff is immeasurable.
The most basic way to build brainpower is to intellectually challenge and exercise your brain. You can create healthy new neural networks by learning a new skill or language, or through the stimulation of brainwave training.
And even so-called physical activities such as yoga, Tai Chi, skating or dancing. Even weight-lifting workouts and walking help build your mind power by supplying more oxygen to your brain.
~ ~ ~
© 2005 All Rights Reserved