Workouts for your brain

by JCC Association and Club One

Your brain is like any muscle: you need to use it or you’ll lose it. 

Daily brain training challenges memory, attention, language, visual skills and executive function.

Try these tips – it’s not as hard as you think.

Attention

Helps maintain concentration despite distractions and focus on several activities at once. 

By changing routines, i.e. car routes or re-organizing your desk, you’ll force your brain to pay attention.

Executive Function: Activities using logic, reasoning and strategy are activities you do daily. 

A brief visit with a friend boosts intellectual performance by requiring you to consider responses and desired outcomes.

Memory: Crucial role in cognitive activities, including reading, reasoning and mental calculation. 

Try memorizing something challenging or brush your teeth with the opposite hand. This builds new associations between different neural connections.

Language: Challenges our ability to recognize, remember and understand words. 

Take time to read new materials and understand words in context, this helps you build your language skills.

Visual: Analyzing visual information is necessary to be able to act within your environment. 

Try walking into a room and picking out 5 items with their location. After you leave, try to recall the 5 items.

Sources: Bernard Croisile, M.D. Neurology, Ph. D. Neuropsychology

Note: The information presented here is not a substitute for medical advice. Consult a physician before starting any exercise. We suggest that you discontinue exercise immediately if you feel you’re exercising beyond your current abilities.