Now I’m all for the “better life”-part, but honestly I don’t like the idea of “hacking” my brain.  It sounds at best messy and not a completely accurate process.  I know “hacking” is a cool and flip term, i.e. lifehacking, but humor me.  Lets just talk about 15 ways to “better” our brains.

That aside, there are a lot of good tips in this article.

Here are excerpt of a few of my favorites:

1. Exercise: You knew it was good for your muscles, but the brain? Absolutely! More than 20% of the body’s blood and oxygen go directly to the brain (without passing GO or paying $200). Exercise, particularly cardio training, effectively increases the flow to the brain, keeping it a well-oiled machine.

3. Find Stimulation: A friend of mine used to say, “I don’t need caffeine, I have Motorhead.” And he always got his papers in on time. Now heavy metal may not be your thing, but listening to music can increase your productivity. Just like the smell of dinner can bring on hunger pangs, engaging all five senses will stimulate brain activity.

8. Eat Brain Food: Diets — don’t go on one. Depriving yourself of food literally starves the brain and makes you dumb dumb dumb. But if you want to get peak mental performance from what you eat, here are a few things to remember. Protein is the main source of fuel for the brain. But don’t automatically switch over to Atkins, cause your brain also needs foods rich in crucial vitamins and minerals. It’s always better to get these from food rather than taking pills. Vitamin A, to protect brain cell membranes; B Vitamins, essential for neuronal growth and vitality; Vitamin C, so vital for brain function that its levels in the brain are fifteen times higher than anywhere outside the brain; Vitamin E, to prevent and actually reverse brain deterioration; Magnesium, to maintain the metabolic viability of neurons; Zinc, rids the brain of impurities such as lead to improve cognitive function; and Amino Acids, necessary to the growth and health of neurotransmitters.

11. Learn Something New: This seems pretty obvious, right? But it’s not that simple. Very few people find the time to master new skills or even read a new book that isn‘t for work or class. Learning a foreign language, a new handcraft or recipe, or challenging yourself with an unfamiliar subject all increase brain growth, stimulating parts of the brain that may have been stagnant and untapped til now. But all this takes time, right? Wrong! Try spending 15 minutes a day on your new discovery, about the same time as all the commercials in an hour-long TV show, and you’ll be surprised how much you learn.

And who can argue with ? –

15. Have Sex: A lot happens to the body during sex, and much of it goes on in your head. Your brain, that is. There is no activity that increases more blood flow to the brain, enhancing cognitive capabilities. Having sex also produces hormones that dramatically improve brain functioning. One example includes the ‘trust’ hormone Oxytocin, which is produced during sex. This increases your ability to think of original solutions to a problem while serotonin and dopamine, which surge after sex, help a person’s creative thinking and calm, logical decision-making. And if you’re having any trouble falling to sleep, to give your brain the rest it needs, look no further.

It’s a good list with plenty of ideas and not hard to follow, read the article:

15 Ways to Hack Your Brain For A Better Life

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Areas of the brain stimulated by Web Searching

A recent University of California at Los Angeles study provides some good news both about withstanding the results of aging on our brains and using the Web. The researchers found that for middle-aged and older people, at least, searching the web stimulated centers in the brain that control decision-making and complex reasoning and may even help counteract the age-related changes that cause our brains to slow down.

This study is consistent with the concept that we’ve writing about before that playing certain mental computer games will increase brain activity and keep the brain functioning.

So it would seem that just doing our day-to-day work if it involves the use of the Web is good for our mental stimulation and our brains.

From the UCLA press release:

For the study, the UCLA team worked with 24 neurologically normal
research volunteers between the ages of 55 and 76. Half of the study
participants had experience searching the Internet, while the other
half had no experience. Age, educational level and gender were similar
between the two groups.

Study participants performed Web searches and book-reading tasks
while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans,
which recorded the subtle brain-circuitry changes experienced during
these activities. This type of scan tracks the intensity of cell
responses in the brain by measuring the level of cerebral blood flow
during cognitive tasks.

All study participants showed significant brain activity during
the book-reading task, demonstrating use of the regions controlling
language, reading, memory and visual abilities, which are located in
the temporal, parietal, occipital and other areas of the brain.

Internet searches revealed a major difference between the two
groups. While all participants demonstrated the same brain activity
that was seen during the book-reading task, the Web-savvy group also
registered activity in the frontal, temporal and cingulate areas of the
brain, which control decision-making and complex reasoning.

“Our most striking finding was that Internet searching appears to
engage a greater extent of neural circuitry that is not activated
during reading — but only in those with prior Internet experience,”
said Dr. Gary Small, a professor at the Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA.

The study will be published in an upcoming issue of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

Read the UCLA Press Release and the BBC Story.