What makes you brainy

Since humans are social creatures, staying social may also enhance your mental fitness. If you find it difficult to meet new people or create relationships, you may want to consider the following:. By staying curious and following the tips outlined above, you may be able to boost your brain health and enhance your intelligence over time. Some people are born with the gift of emotional intelligence, but others have to learn it.

The ability to know yourself and understand the emotions of…. Abstract thinking is what lets you create and problem solve. People with certain conditions like autism or dementia may struggle to understand…. A high IQ might give you a leg up in certain situations, like getting the job you want.

Concrete thinking is a literal way of understanding things. It's common in young children and older individuals with autism and other conditions…. An introvert is often thought of as a quiet, reserved, and thoughtful individual. Experts say the COVID pandemic added to the stresses of job insecurity and food shortages already felt by People of Color and young adults. You've heard the term countless times, but what does having a type A personality actually mean?

We'll go over common traits, how they compare to type…. Psychologists and psychiatrists have a lot in common, but they also have some key differences. Nothing is. Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Mental Health. Medically reviewed by Timothy J. Likewise with intelligence. Iodine deficiency during childhood is associated with lower IQ, and addressing this in developing countries has boosted cognitive skills.

So too has treating parasitic worms and removing lead from petrol. Other environmental influences on IQ are not as obvious. Find a friend willing to practice dialogue with you and come to the meeting prepared. If you find yourself buckling under the intellectual demands — good. This puts pressure on your mind to improve.

Keep doing your minimum 30 minutes a day and feel your intellect grow. They might not beat your game console, but brain games claim to sharpen your cognitive ability. Many apps promise to boost your IQ through fun and simple games.

People like brain games. Whether they work or not, these programs get a lot of attention. The website Lumosity offers a series of brain games used by 50 million brain trainers. Brain games market themselves as a way to increase fluid intelligence.

This applies to problem-solving skills extended from the game to real-life situations, which represents the crux of the games. One study conducted in proved that a game called Duel N-Back demonstrated that fluid intelligence developed in participants.

Duel N-Back receives great praise from its users. Essentially, it functions as a memory retention game. Unfortunately, scientists cannot replicate the results of the test.

This has cast doubt on the experiment controls used in the original study. Despite the skepticism, research on the advantages of brain games remains an exciting field for neuroscience.

Including 30 minutes of cardiovascular exercise in your daily routine will enhance your mental clarity and intelligence. Research from Concordia University claims that getting more blood and oxygen to your brain does wonders for cognitive health.

Not only does the biological aspect play a role, but multitasking while exercising also stimulates multiple areas of the brain. Picking up an instrument will not only impress your friends, it will make you smarter. When you play an instrument, you employ a vast area of your brain at once. Consider the senses. You use your visual, auditory, and physical capacities all while playing an instrument.

Your experience of playing music uses tons of cognitive processes simultaneously, for instance:. Scientists frequently employ magnetic resonance imaging MRI technology to study the brain during tests. When participants in one study played an instrument, many different parts of the brain lit up on the MRI scan. Getting into the habit of practicing an instrument daily, even for a short period, will improve your brain function and intelligence. You need to eat, so why not power your intelligence with brain-booster super foods?

Certain foods contain qualities proven to enhance brain power. No need to order any fad food online — the best foods line the shelves of your local grocery store. The best foods for brain function all contain high levels of fat. Historically, fat has a bad reputation. People generally believe that eating fat makes you fat. Some fats do affect your body negatively, but not all. The foods to avoid contain trans fats. Often labeled on packages as partially hydrogenated oil, trans fat contributes to high cholesterol, inflammation, diabetes, stroke, and other health problems.

You could learn something new by reading a brief article about how clouds form, learning how to jump rope, or diving deep into a new investment. Decision fatigue is a well-documented phenomenon that indicates our ability to make decisions deteriorates after a lengthy decision-making session.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg wears the same T-shirt every day to eliminate decision fatigue, so his mind has more mental capacity for smart work. It is better to divide all daily tasks into two buckets — deep work tasks and repetitive tasks.

The deep work tasks that need concentration or require a lot of will power should be done first in the morning. If we can accomplish the job we have always wanted to achieve right in the morning, then the rest of the day will be great. You will have a sense of accomplishment to kick start your day. And you will gain momentum.

Automate the repetitive tasks to save time and mental bandwidth for jobs that require your concentration. You can use automation for everything, right from investing to exercising. Avoiding decision fatigue is the secret of how to get stuff done and become smarter.

Protecting your mental health is critical in your quest to become smarter. Although you may be in a funk that eventually passes on its own, you could be experiencing a long-lasting concern that requires intervention.

Consider incorporating meditation into your day. Meditation is well proven to give many benefits, including brain development. Over time, with regular practice, you begin to notice your ability to slow down your emotional reactivity to life events. Regina, a pharmacist , says that you should give yourself some space to do something that you find fun but challenging.

It can be a lot easier to learn new skills and make yourself smarter when it feels like fun instead of work. She has recently been working on expanding her graphic design abilities, which she describes as a rabbit hole that started by making one sticker. A bonus, once you develop new skills in the process of having fun, you may be able to turn that around into side hustle opportunities or items to add to your resume. Whether a long commute or doing chores at home, audiobooks are an excellent way to learn passively, with no effort required.

Not to mention, a good portion of them are free! If you have a card from your local library, there are almost always partnerships with digital audiobook lenders that you can sign up for, checking out books to listen to much the same way that you might check out a physical book at the counter.

Especially in an age where folks might be cautious about stepping into their local library but still be looking to save on book purchases, these free audiobooks are the perfect source for entertainment and knowledge. Financial insecurity can cause stress for a lot of families. Relationships, money, jobs — you name it — they can all cause unnecessary stress that must go if you want to learn to become smarter. Here are some ideas to reduce stress fast:.

Bernz JP, the founder of Moneylogue , says that exposing yourself to the right kind of media is crucial. However, if you spend too much time on social media, you miss out on learning opportunities. Social media has its pros, but it also has many cons, like breaking our attention, causing anxiety, and comparing. Not to mention, social media can make us dumber, not smarter. Whether that is art, making music, baking new recipes, woodworking , etc.

Anything that helps switch your mind from the day-to-day thought processes we all go through with life, jobs, and families. Exploring creative ideas is essentially a process of trial and error. For people who explore their creative side more often, this can lead to being more comfortable and better able to deal with uncertainty in life. The only way to deal with debts, worries, and confusion about what to save and spend on is to make your Money Date a regular part of your monthly calendar.

Do it over a relaxing dinner or a drink at the end of the day. It can be something as small as looking up the meaning of a word or something more complicated such as perfecting a recipe or learning about negotiation tactics for real estate. Learning one new thing every day is an easy, quick way to become more well-rounded and intelligent.