Great Craft-y News

[je-reviens.livejournal.com]

So I'm reading Real Simple and there's an article on keeping up your brain power as you age.


First, the article says that classic games like chess, checkers, and backgammon, are "brain food" -- they force you to think ahead, see the big picture, strategize, consider multiple options, etc. Other games that work your brain -- solitaire, Scrabble, Stratego.

Games like pinball, Nintendo, and juggling are great right brain activities (the creative side) bc they force you to act on instinct, rather than planning and thinking. So video games actually have a benefit...ha.

Albert Einstein College of medicine just published a study that showed that elderly people who played games once a week cut their risk of developing dementia by at least half. And those odds improved the more days a week they played games. Those who worked on crossword puzzles also had a 50% lower risk of developing dementia.

Stress reduction is vital for brain power. Especially in our modern world, where even without "stress" we are all suffering from information overload. Stress produces a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol starves brain cells of fuel, esp in the hippocampus (memory center). Chronic cortisol elevation kills brain cells. So, stress and information overload kills your brain. That's why I'm constantly forgetting anything out of my normal routine -- my friends and I call it brain-is-full syndrome. The rememdy -- downtime. Meditation. Laying about with eyes half closed, drifting (I do that a lot, now we know why I'm so smart - ha!)

Oh and...hobbies!

Cross stitch, needlework, playing an instrument, etc cultivate fine motor skills and can establish new circuits thru the brain. Scrapbooking is a great right-brain, creative activity and also develops the planning and motor skills parts of the brain. Listening to music that relaxes you activates parts of the brain's frontal lobes and limbic areas on both sides of the brain, bringing it into harmony.

Sooooo....no it's not a waste of money or time, nor is it "selfish" to spend time or money on these activities (or my favorite activity -- lounging around!) bc they actually keep your brain in tip-top shape. Even laying about doing nothing reduces your cortisol levels in the hippocampus and keeps your brain from shrinking over time.