{"id":5435,"date":"2021-05-27T19:11:09","date_gmt":"2021-05-27T19:11:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/?p=5435"},"modified":"2021-05-27T19:11:09","modified_gmt":"2021-05-27T19:11:09","slug":"10-easy-brain-exercises-that-will-make-you-smarter","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/10-easy-brain-exercises-that-will-make-you-smarter\/","title":{"rendered":"10+ Easy Brain Exercises That Will Make You Smarter"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>There are many ways that help you exercise your brain. You can get smarter by brushing your teeth with your non-dominant. Try it out\u2014along with some awesome brain exercises below.\n<h4>How these brain exercises work\n</h4><p>Giving your brain new experiences that combine physical senses\u2014vision, smell, touch, taste, and hearing\u2014with emotional \u201csense\u201d stimulates more connections between different brain areas, causes nerve cells to produce natural brain nutrients that dramatically help memory, and makes surrounding cells stronger and more resistant to the effects of aging. You can be started trying these brain exercises:\n</p><h4>1. Brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand\n<figure id='\"attachment_5436\"' aria-describedby='\"caption-attachment-5436\"' style='\"width:' class='\"wp-caption' aligncenter><img loading='\"lazy\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"size-full' wp-image-5436 src="%5C%22http:%5C/%5C/echowoven.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2021%5C/05%5C/brain-exercise1.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"1000\"' height='\"667\"' title='\"\"' srcset='\"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/brain-exercise1.jpg' https: sizes='\"auto,'><figcaption id='\"caption-attachment-5436\"' class='\"wp-caption-text\"'>Photo: Shinagawa\n<p>Research has shown that using the opposite side of your brain (as in this exercise) can result in a rapid and substantial expansion of the parts of the cortex that control and process tactile information from the hand.\n</p><p><strong>Brain exercise: Brush, and don\u2019t forget to open the tube and apply toothpaste in reverse, too.\n<h4>2. Shower with your eyes closed\n</h4><p><img loading='\"lazy\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"size-full' wp-image-5437 aligncenter src="%5C%22http:%5C/%5C/echowoven.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2021%5C/05%5C/brain-exercise2.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"640\"' height='\"427\"' title='\"\"' srcset='\"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/brain-exercise2.jpg' https: sizes='\"auto,'>\n</p><p>Your hands will probably notice varied textures of your own body you don\u2019t \u201csee,\u201d and will send messages back to your brain.\n</p><p><strong>Brain exercise: Try using just your tactile senses (although, use common sense to avoid burn or injury). Locate the taps solely by feel, and adjust the temperature. Then wash, shave, and so on with your eyes shut.\n<h4>3. Switch around your morning activities\n</h4><p><img loading='\"lazy\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"size-full' wp-image-5438 aligncenter src="%5C%22http:%5C/%5C/echowoven.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2021%5C/05%5C/brain-exercise3.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"640\"' height='\"427\"' title='\"\"' srcset='\"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/brain-exercise3.jpg' https: sizes='\"auto,'>\n</p><p>Brain imaging studies show that novel tasks exercise large areas of the cortex, indicating increased levels of brain activity in several distinct areas. This activity declines when the task becomes routine and automatic.\n</p><p><strong>Brain exercise: Get dressed after breakfast, walk the dog on a new route, or change your TV or news station. Even watching a kids\u2019 program like Sesame Street, for example, may arouse the brain to notice how much of what you take for granted is explored in depth by children.\n<h4>3. Turn familiar objects upside down (literally)\n</h4><p><img loading='\"lazy\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"size-full' wp-image-5439 aligncenter src="%5C%22http:%5C/%5C/echowoven.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2021%5C/05%5C/brain-exercise4.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"640\"' height='\"427\"' title='\"\"' srcset='\"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/brain-exercise4.jpg' https: sizes='\"auto,'>\n</p><p>When you look at things right-side up, your left \u201cverbal\u201d brain quickly labels it and diverts your attention elsewhere. When they\u2019re upside down, your right brain networks kick in, trying to interpret the shapes, colors, and relationships of a puzzling picture.\n</p><p><strong>Brain exercise: Turn pictures of your family, your desk clock, or an illustrated calendar upside down.\n<h4>5. Switch seats at the table\n</h4><p><img loading='\"lazy\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"size-full' wp-image-5440 aligncenter src="%5C%22http:%5C/%5C/echowoven.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2021%5C/05%5C/brain-exercise5.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"640\"' height='\"427\"' title='\"\"' srcset='\"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/brain-exercise5.jpg' https: sizes='\"auto,'>\n</p><p>In most families, everyone has his or her \u201cown\u201d seat, but your brain benefits from new experiences.\n</p><p><strong>Brain exercise: Switch seats to change whose position you occupy, who you relate to, your view of the room, and even how you reach for salt and pepper.\n<h4>6. Make a new connection with your nose\n</h4><p><img loading='\"lazy\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"size-full' wp-image-5441 aligncenter src="%5C%22http:%5C/%5C/echowoven.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2021%5C/05%5C/brain-exercise6.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"640\"' height='\"427\"' title='\"\"' srcset='\"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/brain-exercise6.jpg' https: sizes='\"auto,'>\n</p><p>You probably don\u2019t remember when you \u201clearned\u201d to associate the smell of coffee with the start of a day. However, by linking a new odor\u2014say, vanilla, citrus, or peppermint\u2014to an activity, you\u2019ll alert new neural pathways.\n</p><p><strong>Brain exercise: Keep an extract of your favorite scent near your bed for a week. Open it and inhale when you first wake up, and then again as you bathe and dress.\n<h4>7. Open the car window\n</h4><p><img loading='\"lazy\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"size-full' wp-image-5442 aligncenter src="%5C%22http:%5C/%5C/echowoven.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2021%5C/05%5C/brain-exercise7.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"640\"' height='\"427\"' title='\"\"' srcset='\"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/brain-exercise7.jpg' https: sizes='\"auto,'>\n</p><p>The hippocampus, an area of your brain that processes memories, is especially involved in associating odors, sounds, and sights to construct mental maps.\n</p><p><strong>Brain exercise: Try to identify new smells and sounds on your route. Opening the windows provides these circuits with more raw material.\n<h4>8. Play with spare change\n</h4><p><img loading='\"lazy\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"size-full' wp-image-5443 aligncenter src="%5C%22http:%5C/%5C/echowoven.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2021%5C/05%5C/brain-exercise8.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"640\"' height='\"427\"' title='\"\"' srcset='\"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/brain-exercise8.jpg' https: sizes='\"auto,'>\n</p><p>Because our brains regularly rely on visual cues to distinguish between objects, using touch to identify subtly different things increases activation in cortical areas that process tactile information and leads to stronger synapses. (Similarly, adults who lose their sight learn to distinguish Braille letters because their brain devotes more pathways to processing fine touch.)\n</p><p><strong>Brain exercise: Place a cup full of coins in your car\u2019s drink holder. While at a stoplight, try to determine the denominations by feel alone. You can also put coins in your pocket, and identify them when you stop at a corner.\n<h4>9. Play \u201c10 Things\u201d\n</h4><p><img loading='\"lazy\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"size-full' wp-image-5444 aligncenter src="%5C%22http:%5C/%5C/echowoven.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2021%5C/05%5C/brain-exercise9.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"640\"' height='\"427\"' title='\"\"' srcset='\"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/brain-exercise9.jpg' https: sizes='\"auto,'>\n</p><p>Forcing your brain to think of alternates to every day will help keep it strong.\n</p><p><strong>Brain exercise: Someone hands you an ordinary object, and you must demonstrate 10 different \u201cthings\u201d that the object might be. Example: A fly swatter might be a tennis racket, a golf club, a fan, a baton, a drumstick, a violin, a shovel, a microphone, a baseball bat, or a canoe paddle.\n<p>Engage your brain with these tough trivia questions.\n</p><h4>10. Scan at the supermarket\n</h4><p><img loading='\"lazy\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"size-full' wp-image-5445 aligncenter src="%5C%22http:%5C/%5C/echowoven.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2021%5C/05%5C/brain-exercise10.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"640\"' height='\"427\"' title='\"\"' srcset='\"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/brain-exercise10.jpg' https: sizes='\"auto,'>\n</p><p>Stores are designed to have the most profitable items at eye level, and when you shop you don\u2019t really see everything there.\n</p><p><strong>Brain exercise: Stop in any aisle and look at the shelves, top to bottom. If there\u2019s something you\u2019ve never seen before, pick it up, read the ingredients, and think about it. You don\u2019t have to buy it to benefit; you\u2019ve broken your routine and experienced something new.\n<h4>11. Do an art project in a group\n</h4><p><img loading='\"lazy\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"size-full' wp-image-5446 aligncenter src="%5C%22http:%5C/%5C/echowoven.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2021%5C/05%5C/brain-exercise11.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"640\"' height='\"427\"' title='\"\"' srcset='\"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/brain-exercise11.jpg' https: sizes='\"auto,'>\n</p><p>Art activates the nonverbal and emotional parts of the cerebral cortex. When you create art, you draw on parts of your brain interested in forms, colors, and textures, as well as thought processes very different from the logical, linear thinking that occupies most of your day.\n</p><p><strong>Brain exercise: Ask each person to draw something associated with a specific theme like a season, an emotion, or a current event.\n<h4>12. Make more social connections during your day\n</h4><p><img loading='\"lazy\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"size-full' wp-image-5447 aligncenter src="%5C%22http:%5C/%5C/echowoven.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2021%5C/05%5C/brain-exercise12.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"640\"' height='\"427\"' title='\"\"' srcset='\"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/brain-exercise12.jpg' https: sizes='\"auto,'>\n</p><p>Scientific research has repeatedly proved that social deprivation has severe negative effects on overall cognitive abilities.\n</p><p><strong>Brain exercise: Thirsty? Buy a drink from a person rather than a vending machine. Need gas? Pay the clerk at the counter rather than just swiping your credit card at the pump.\n<h4>13. Read differently\n</h4><p><img loading='\"lazy\"' decoding='\"async\"' class='\"size-full' wp-image-5448 aligncenter src="%5C%22http:%5C/%5C/echowoven.com%5C/wp-content%5C/uploads%5C/2021%5C/05%5C/brain-exercise13.jpg%5C%22" alt='\"\"' width='\"640\"' height='\"427\"' title='\"\"' srcset='\"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/brain-exercise13.jpg' https: sizes='\"auto,'>\n</p><p>When we read aloud or listen to reading, we use very different brain circuits than when we read silently to ourselves.\n</p><p><strong>Brain exercise: Read aloud with your partner or a friend, alternating roles of reader and listener. It may be slow to get through a book, but as a bonus, you\u2019ll spend quality time together.\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There are many ways that help you exercise your brain. You can get smarter by brushing your teeth with your non-dominant. Try it out\u2014along with some awesome brain exercises below. How these brain exercises work Giving your brain new experiences that combine physical senses\u2014vision, smell, touch, taste, and hearing\u2014with emotional \u201csense\u201d stimulates more connections between &hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5449,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[59,51,46,31],"class_list":["post-5435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tie-life-style","tag-brain","tag-healthy","tag-life-hacks","tag-tips"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}</p></strong></p></strong></p></strong></p></strong></p></strong></p></strong></p></strong></p></strong></p></strong></p></strong></p></strong></p></strong></p></strong></p></figcaption></figure></h4></strong></p>