So have you ever been wondering? Can I get any smarter than this? I know I wondered alot of times when I forgot where I put my keys or had to solve complicated problems at work.
I've always been fascinated by the human brain and what it's capable of. I found out it's way more then we think and even discovered we got a second brain!

So what are some of the things that affect our brain?

1. Oxygen, exercise your body!
It's good to get your blood flowing so there goes more oxygen to the brain. The brain uses 3 times more oxygen as muscles in the body do. Everything that gets your hearth pumping for a longer time will do, even a brisk walk.

2. Food
Practise what you preach? ;)

This is the second brain part. Your stomach and brain actually have a connection. This has nothing to do with you getting smarter but is a nice to know fact.
Your eating pattern influences your mood. The gut brain is connected to our limbic system, which represents our emotional brain. When I eat healthy I actually feel better then if I don't. So big warning for all the emotional eaters. if your already feeling down don't make it worse with bad food.

3. Brain training
You can't go to the gym, do 1 ab exersise and expect to have killer abs the rest of the year.
The same goes for the brain! Just like a muscle you need to train it and maintain it. Most people learn alot of what they know within the first 20 years of their life and after that it declines very fast. (study not life lessons)
Be honest here. When was the last time you read a study book? *starts thinking about her own question* Ok, I'll admit the last book I studied was 3 weeks ago. This post is a good reminder to finish my book about NLP.
Off course there are plenty of apps around as well.

4. Growing the different parts of your brain
Different parts of your brain are resposible for different task. But in the end alot of parts of your brain work together. It's proven (with brain scans) that parts of your brain can improve. Our brain works on neurons, electricity. You can actually light a lightbulb with the electricty in your brain! Imagine two neurons as a canyon. The first time you cross the canyon you have to climb down, cross it, climb up and get a rope to the other side. The next time you can use the rope and bring a other rope with you. The thirth time to can get even more rope. The more often you cross the easier it get's. In the end you can build a bridge on which you can walk. So the more you use different parts the easier it get's to acces that parts and even connect them if necessary.

So how to do this? (this are just two examples to prevent my post being waaaayy to long)
- Start playing an instrument;
Brain scans show that musicians brains are different from the rest of ours. Their brains are noticeably more symmetrical. Optimizes brain health, supports memory, focus & mood It affects parts of the brain responsible for motor control, auditory processing, and spatial coordination are larger. (So playing an instrument might actually help you in getting better at sports, how cool is that)
- Play chess

Studies show that the brains of people who play chess are significantly different than an average brain. For example, grandmaster chess players have more activity in their frontal and parietal cortices. (Problem-solving and recognition.)

5. Listen to music
A lot of research proves that listening to music can actually make you learn better.
The power of music to affect memory is awesome.
For example: Baroque and Mozart's music, with a 60 beats per minute beat pattern, activates the left and right parts of the brain. The simultaneous left and right brain action maximizes learning and retention of information.
So this might be a bit more temporary but if you put you brain to work you better enjoy it while listening music.

Fun fact: Your brain has an almost unlimited storage capability. No super computer at this moment can match the amount of data your brain can process or store.

I'll hope you learned something from this, I tried to stay away from too much scientific terms to make it easier and more fun to read!

Stay healthy and stay smart - x -