Sharpening cognitive skills -
Injury to the brain and even too much stress can challenge this communication highway and make speaking, listening, understanding cues, and integrating information more difficult. Just like a meditation practice can lower the activation of the stress response and therefore quiet the mind, you want to get into the practice of regularly quieting the mind so that the neurons can do their job of communicating.
I call this practice "deep listening," where you allow yourself to take a pause and a deep breath. This provides you with the space you need to fully hear words and take in the nuances.
The tenets of this practice are:. A diet high in sugar can be harmful to the brain , inducing inflammation, oxidative stress, and poor insulin regulation.
Your goal, therefore, is to follow a diet that helps you improve insulin sensitivity and reduce inflammation. This means eating fish, some meat, a lot of vegetables, some nuts and seeds, some fruit, and very little grains.
Your brain benefits not only from a low sugar intake but also from getting more antioxidants, which can help improve your memory, learning, and overall cognitive performance.
Antioxidant-rich foods include berries especially blueberries ; fruits and vegetables like carrots, spinach, and red grapes; and drinks like green tea, red wine, and coffee; as well as dark chocolate in moderation, of course.
We've all had that moment when we're sleep-deprived and can't remember where we put the keys or what we went into the kitchen to get. You can't fully operate when you're sleep-deprived—and this includes your cognitive skills, memory, and ability to think clearly or communicate.
If you don't feel well rested, see if you need more hours of sleep or if it's a question of improving the quality of sleep. Consider getting a Fitbit or other gadget that monitors how restfully you're sleeping, or have a sleep study done by your doctor.
You may find that you simply have to wake up too early to get the right number of hours in. If this is the case, consider taking naps, which can help you catch up on those zzz's.
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Close Banner. Mental Health. Author: Eva Selhub, M. By Eva Selhub, M. Eva Selhub is a resiliency expert, physician, author, speaker, scientist, and consultant. She studied medicine at Boston University and is board certified in Internal Medicine. Practice meditation to decrease stress.
Take up cognitive training exercises. Exercise your body—for your brain. Practice deep listening. Do not rush when communicating. Wait; take a pause. Inhale deeply and exhale completely, allowing the mind to quiet. Listen with your heart. Notice how words make you feel.
Try to engage all of your senses. Write first. In his book Cognitive Styles and Classroom Learning, Harry Morgan argued that sharpeners are usually more accurate in their comparisons of new and old knowledge, allowing them to make more informed decisions.
On the other hand, he wrote that levelers tend to combine parts of old memories together, causing them to have hazy memories with missing details and that they tend to oversimplify new material.
Example 1 — How levelling and sharpening bolsters gender stereotypes. In , Ganske and Hebl conducted a study that explored the influence of gender stereotypes on the recollection of a story. A group of students were told the same story about two individuals named John and Silvia. The study provides strong evidence for our use of leveling and sharpening to reinforce cognitive biases, particularly gender stereotypes.
Example 2 — Are you a leveler or a sharpener? The Schematizing Test. Several psychologists have investigated the different extents to which individuals engage in leveling and sharpening. Klein and Holzman developed the Schematizing Test aka the Squares Test in the s to examine the way individuals manage incoming stimuli over time.
In this test, participants watch a screen that shows a series of squares ranging in size from 1 to 14 inches. After each square is displayed, participants are given a few seconds to record whether they detected a change in size, and their estimate of the size of change.
Leveling and sharpening are processes we use during memory recollection. Leveling refers to the tendency to omit minor details and distinctions, whereas sharpening occurs when certain aspects of a memory are exaggerated or made more profound.
Both leveling and sharpening are important tools since we almost always base judgements on past experiences. However, it is important to be cognizant of leveling and sharpening, because the process can also be responsible for the reinforcement of other biases, as well as the spread of misinformation.
The confirmation bias refers to our tendency to pay attention to, and more heavily weigh, evidence that affirms our existing beliefs. It is a cognitive shortcut we use when gathering and processing information.
Interpreting information and making rational judgements takes time and energy, so our brain seeks shortcuts to make the process easier and more efficient. The confirmation bias can lead us to make poor decisions because it prevents us from questioning our assumptions, and causes us to favor subjective information, at the expense of truth and accuracy.
The availability heuristic suggests that singular memorable moments have a disproportionate influence on decisions. A classic example relates to the lottery: frequently, people believe they have a greater chance of winning after hearing about others who have won.
This is the availability heuristic at work, and it relates strongly to the idea of sharpening in memory recollection. Why do we exaggerate some details of a story, but minimize others? Leveling and Sharpening , explained. Where this bias occurs Where this bias occurs Individual effects Systemic effects Why it happens Why it is important How to avoid it How it all started Summary Related TDL Articles.
Where this bias occurs Individual effects Systemic effects Why it happens Why it is important How to avoid it How it all started Summary Related TDL Articles.
What is Leveling and Sharpening? Where this bias occurs. Debias Your Organization. Related Biases Levels of Processing Spacing Effect. Individual effects. Systemic effects. Why it happens. Why it is important. How to avoid it.
How it all started. Related TDL Articles. The Confirmation Bias, explained. The Availability Heuristic, explained. Sources Hide. Good Rumors, Bad News. Once upon a time there was a math contest: Gender stereotyping and memory. Teaching of Psychology, 28 4 , Morgan, H.
Cognitive styles and classroom learning. Westport, CT: Praeger. Allport, G.
Cobnitive strong memory depends on the Healthy Refreshment Options and Sharpening cognitive skills of skillss brain. They cognitkve that Quinoa and coconut curry can't teach an old dog new tricks, but when it comes to the brain, scientists have discovered that this old adage simply isn't true. The human brain has an astonishing ability to adapt and change—even into old age. This ability is known as neuroplasticity. With the right stimulation, your brain can form new neural pathways, alter existing connections, and adapt and react in ever-changing ways. The brain's incredible ability to reshape itself holds true when it comes to learning and memory. Brain exercises Healthy Refreshment Options help boost Suarpening maintain brain function. Memory Eco-friendly office supplies, learning new skills, crosswords, and even video games may help. Although the brain gets plenty cogbitive exercise every day, certain activities may help boost brain function and connectivity. This in turn may help protect the brain from age-related degeneration. The brain is always active, even during sleep. However, certain activities can engage the brain in new ways, potentially leading to improvements in memory, cognitive function, or creativity.Sharpening cognitive skills -
It also helps you get better at processing and organizing information. Practicing fine motor skills is a great way to improve cognitive function after TBI, especially if these skills have been impaired. Some fine motor exercises you can try are:. You can even try learning a musical instrument, which has extra benefits for TBI recovery.
This not only engages a different side of your brain, it also stimulates your neurons to fire in a new way, which strengthens cognitive function. Sit outside, and write down everything you see, hear, and smell.
This engages areas of the brain that are not usually active and will help improve your concentration. If you have difficulty writing, you can also speak what you observe out loud.
The important thing is to just pay close attention to your surroundings. Caregivers, place two different cards from a deck of playing cards face up and let the person view them for 5 seconds. Turn the cards face down. Now ask them to point to the cards that are named e.
Every once in a while ask for a card that was not shown. One good naming therapy exercise is to have someone else write down several general categories such as tools, animals, plants, countries, occupation, foods, sports, etc.
Then try to remember and name verbally or in writing as many items in that category as possible. For caregivers, if the patient gets stumped, you can give hints. Then, go and find those items without writing down what the person said.
As you improve you should increase the number of items you must memorize, until you can recall 7 items. Select four playing cards in sequence 3 of clubs, 4 of clubs, 5 of clubs and place in random order face up. After five seconds turn the cards face down.
As you improve increase the number of cards in the sequence, allowing one more second of view time for each card added, to a maximum of 7 cards. The following cognitive rehabilitation exercises can be used to help you improve your problem solving and planning skills:.
Caregivers, give the person some coins and ask them to tell you which coins would add up to 35 cents, 54 cents, etc. Color Sudoku stimulates similar pattern and logic areas of the brain as number Sudoku does, but is easier for people who might still have trouble manipulating numbers.
The puzzle consists of three rods and at least 3 disks. The more disks there are, the harder the puzzle is. The goal of the puzzle is to move all the disks over from the first rod to the third without having a larger disk end up on top of a smaller one.
This not only engages the logic and problem solving areas of your brain, it also requires you to plan ahead and strategize, which helps train executive functions.
Chess and other brain-stimulating games like Sudoku and crossword puzzles are great for activating the left side of your brain and improving your problem-solving skills.
You can use cognitive exercise apps to motivate yourself to exercise your brain frequently. The more you practice cognitive exercises, the sharper your mental skills will become.
And there you have it! We hope you find these cognitive rehabilitation exercises for TBI recovery useful. You have to shake things up from time to time! But not all activities are equal. The best brain exercises break your routine and challenge you to use and develop new brain pathways.
Think of something new you've always wanted to try, like learning how to play the guitar, make pottery, juggle, play chess, speak French, dance the tango, or master your golf swing. Any of these activities can help you improve your memory, so long as they keep you challenged and engaged.
There are countless brain-training apps and online programs that promise to boost memory, problem-solving skills, attention, and even IQ with daily practice. But do they really work? Increasingly, the evidence suggests no. While these brain-training programs may lead to short-term improvements in whatever task or specific game you've been practicing, they don't appear to strengthen or improve overall intelligence, memory, or other cognitive abilities.
While mental exercise is important for brain health, that doesn't mean you never need to break a sweat. Physical exercise helps your brain stay sharp. It increases oxygen to your brain and reduces the risk for disorders that lead to memory loss, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
Exercise also enhances the effects of helpful brain chemicals and reduces stress hormones. Perhaps most importantly, exercise plays an important role in neuroplasticity by boosting growth factors and stimulating new neuronal connections.
There is a big difference between the amount of sleep you can get by on and the amount you need to function at your best. Even skimping on a few hours makes a difference! Memory, creativity, problem-solving abilities, and critical thinking skills are all compromised.
But sleep is critical to learning and memory in an even more fundamental way. Research shows that sleep is necessary for memory consolidation, with the key memory-enhancing activity occurring during the deepest stages of sleep.
Get on a regular sleep schedule. Go to bed at the same time every night and get up at the same time each morning. Try not to break your routine, even on weekends and holidays. Avoid all screens for at least an hour before bed. The blue light emitted by TVs, tablets, phones, and computers trigger wakefulness and suppress hormones such as melatonin that make you sleepy.
Cut back on caffeine. Caffeine affects people differently. Some people are highly sensitive, and even morning coffee may interfere with sleep at night. Try reducing your intake or cutting it out entirely if you suspect it's keeping you up.
BetterHelp is an online therapy service that matches you to licensed, accredited therapists who can help with depression, anxiety, relationships, and more. Take the assessment and get matched with a therapist in as little as 48 hours.
If you're like most of us, it's probably the former. But countless studies show that a life full of friends and fun comes with cognitive benefits.
Humans are highly social animals. We're not meant to survive, let alone thrive, in isolation. Relationships stimulate our brains—in fact, interacting with others may provide the best kind of brain exercise. Research shows that having meaningful friendships and a strong support system are vital not only to emotional health, but also to brain health.
In one recent study from the Harvard School of Public Health, for example, researchers found that people with the most active social lives had the slowest rate of memory decline. There are many ways to start taking advantage of the brain and memory-boosting benefits of socializing. Volunteer , join a club, make it a point to see friends more often, or reach out over the phone.
And if a human isn't handy, don't overlook the value of a pet —especially the highly-social dog. Stress is one of the brain's worst enemies. Over time, chronic stress destroys brain cells and damages the hippocampus, the region of the brain involved in the formation of new memories and the retrieval of old ones.
Studies have also linked stress to memory loss. The scientific evidence for the mental health benefits of meditation continues to pile up. Studies show that meditation helps improve many different types of conditions, including depression, anxiety, chronic pain, diabetes, and high blood pressure.
Meditation also can improve focus, concentration, creativity, memory, and learning and reasoning skills. Brain images show that regular meditators have more activity in the left prefrontal cortex, an area of the brain associated with feelings of joy and equanimity.
Meditation also increases the thickness of the cerebral cortex and encourages more connections between brain cells—all of which increases mental sharpness and memory ability. Try one of HelpGuide's free Audio Meditations.
You've heard that laughter is the best medicine , and that holds true for the brain and the memory, as well as the body. Unlike emotional responses, which are limited to specific areas of the brain, laughter engages multiple regions across the whole brain. Furthermore, listening to jokes and working out punch lines activates areas of the brain vital to learning and creativity.
Laugh at yourself. Share your embarrassing moments. The best way to take ourselves less seriously is to talk about the times when we took ourselves too seriously. When you hear laughter, move toward it. Most of the time, people are very happy to share something funny because it gives them an opportunity to laugh again and feed off the humor you find in it.
When you hear laughter, seek it out and try to join in. Spend time with fun, playful people. These are people who laugh easily—both at themselves and at life's absurdities—and who routinely find the humor in everyday events.
Their playful point of view and laughter are contagious. Surround yourself with reminders to lighten up. Keep a toy on your desk or in your car. Put up a funny poster in your office.
Choose a computer screensaver that makes you laugh. Frame photos of you and your loved ones having fun. Pay attention to children and emulate them. They are the experts on playing, taking life lightly, and laughing. Just as the body needs fuel, so does the brain. Get your omega-3s.
Research shows that omega-3 fatty acids are particularly beneficial for brain health. If you're not a fan of seafood, consider non-fish sources of omega-3s such as seaweed, walnuts, ground flaxseed, flaxseed oil, winter squash, kidney and pinto beans, spinach, broccoli, pumpkin seeds, and soybeans.
Limit calories and saturated fat. Research shows that diets high in saturated fat from sources such as red meat, whole milk, butter, cheese, cream, and ice cream increase your risk of dementia and impair concentration and memory. But research is mixed. According to a large study , mindful breathing meditation alone is suggested to not be effective in improving executive functioning, such as attention, working memory, and long-term memory.
A review suggests that mindful breathing is not superior to other methods, but it may be better than doing nothing at all. To practice mindful breathing, sit in a quiet place, close your eyes, and focus on your breath.
Inhale deeply, counting to four, then exhale slowly. Next, concentrate on the sensation of your breath, which can improve your concentration and reduce stress. Learn more about mindful breathing and how to try it.
Playing chess demands strategic planning and focused attention, providing a comprehensive mental workout for the entire brain. An analysis of 24 studies suggests that chess instruction can enhance math achievement and overall cognitive ability in primary and middle school students, with the minimum effective training threshold being approximately hours.
In this task, you have to track the position of visual stimuli, like squares on a grid, and the identity or location of auditory stimuli, like sounds or letters, in a sequence. This training is thought to enhance working memory and cognitive abilities.
One small study from involving 54 subjects found that after 16 sessions of using the dual n-back game, participants experienced improved working memory performance. You can find dual n-back exercises online on various websites and apps dedicated to brain training. Crossword puzzles are word games that require you to fill in a grid with words, using clues to determine the correct answers.
Engaging in crossword puzzles can enhance cognition by stimulating:. In a week study of individuals with mild cognitive impairment MCI , researchers found that Web-based crossword puzzle training at home was more effective in improving cognitive function than other Web-based cognitive games.
Sudoku is a logic-based puzzle that involves filling a 9×9 grid with numbers so that each column, row, and 3×3 subgrid contains all the digits from 1 to 9 without repetition.
It requires both logic and attention. A small study investigated the brain activity of participants while they solved Sudoku puzzles. The researchers found that when people engage in Sudoku tasks, both the medial and lateral regions of the prefrontal cortex PFC are involved.
The medial PFC became particularly active when their brains were searching for logical rules and strategies to solve the Sudoku puzzle. The findings suggest that Sudoku could be used for cognitive training, especially for neuropsychiatric disorders involving the PFC, including:. Go is an ancient Chinese board game that involves complex decision-making, spatial reasoning, and long-term planning.
Playing Go can help improve your:. One study found that Go players, especially those of high master level, had exceptional cognitive reflection test CRT scores, outperforming previous measurements of undergraduates at top universities.
Frequent Go players also tended to possess a stronger theory of mind, which is the ability to understand and attribute mental states, like beliefs and emotions, to yourself and others, contributing to their social cognitive skills. Bridge is a card game that involves critical thinking, memory, and strategic decision-making.
It can be an enjoyable way to keep your brain sharp. An older study of people ages suggests that playing bridge may improve working memory and reasoning, but not vocabulary and reaction time. Brain exercises, from chess to dual n-back training, serve as dynamic tools to keep our minds agile and resilient.
But research is mixed and further. They may enhance memory, problem-solving, and cognitive abilities. They may also contribute to structural changes in the brain, fostering neural reserve.
For convenient access, explore online platforms and make enhancing cognitive abilities a regular part of your routine. Your brain will thank you for the workout!
Sharpening cognitive skills your intellectual capabilities doesn't Sharpeniny to be a Dark chocolate pleasure process. Syarpening are Sharening simple yet effective tips to Sharpenint sharpen your Interval training exercises and boost your Healthy Refreshment Options skills effortlessly: 1. EMBRACE LIFELONG LEARNING. Cultivate a habit of continuous learning. Challenge yourself with new subjects, skills, or hobbies to keep your brain active and engaged. Reading books, taking online courses, or attending workshops are excellent ways to stimulate your mind and acquire fresh knowledge regularly. The process of learning not only broadens your horizons but also encourages your brain to adapt and thrive. 
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