Challenge Your Brain
By
Dr 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.
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© 2005 All Rights
Reserved
Dr Ammon-Wexler is a pioneer brain/mind researcher, and was among the
first to introduce brainwave training to the corporate world. She
currently creates live brainwave training sessions for the Quantum
Brain Gym -- the first complete online brain gym that lives right
on your computer.
For a
sample 3-minute Alpha brainwave session go to the site:
Quantum-Self &
click “Member Center”