Improve Brain Power With These Everyday Tips

Quick tips to improve your memory and build your brain's gray matter.

boost your brain power

Cognitive function can decline with age, affecting not only memory but also focus, processing speed, and concentration. But it doesn't have to: Groundbreaking research suggests that you can keep your brain growing and changing throughout your life, a concept known as neuroplasticity. "Age-related cognitive decline slows down this plasticity," says Hong Kong-based neuro-ophthalmology researcher Mithu Storoni, author of Stress-Proof: The Scientific Solution to Building a Resilient Brain and Life. "To slow down the decline is to force the brain back into 'grow' mode." (Here are 14 rules you should follow for better brain health.)

The best part is that you don't have to make seismic changes to stimulate this growth. We spoke to top experts to uncover specific things you can do to get the mental benefits in minutes. Some of these suggestions increase the size of the brain, and others amplify creativity or strengthen memory. Here's what to try.



Steve Wolf

Forcing the brain to find new ways to solve problems builds connections between neurons, similar to the way strength training builds muscle. These tips can help you bulk up your brain to keep it young.

Change Up Your Activities
"Trying new things helps build new connections in the brain," says Michelle Schoffro Cook, author of Boost Your Brainpower in 60 Seconds (Rodale, 2016). Learning how to speak a new language or mastering an instrument, for example, have each been shown to increase the size of the hippocampus, a brain region crucial for memory. But even far less lofty changes, like taking a new route when you go for a walk, can have a boosting effect.

MORE: 8 Ways To Make Your Coffee Brain-Healthy

Calculate the Tip in Your Head

Performing math tasks in your head rather than on a calculator can build connections between brain cells.
Paul Taylor/Getty Images

Relying on your phone's calculator to determine tips at restaurants robs you of a chance to build and maintain brain pathways. "While driving a car doesn't weaken our body, it definitely reduces the number of opportunities for us to walk, cycle, or run," Cook says. "In the same way, using a calculator can reduce opportunities to strengthen the brain." Mathematical skills need to be reinforced, or the brain will eliminate neural connections that aren't in use, she says: "When it comes to the brain, it really is 'use it or lose it.' " Try doing mental math the next time you're out to eat—or jot down your calculations on a napkin. (Try adding these 8 daily habits that will keep your brain young and sharp.)

Do a Puzzle
Games and brainteasers are well known for providing mental perks, but University of Toronto anthropology professor and brain-game creator Marcel Danesi says the ones that build new brain connections the best are ones that make you think eureka! "When you think I get it! or I see it! imagination and reasoning come together," he says. Suddenly, your brain is expanding to function in a way it wasn't before you solved the riddle. 

to challenge your mind and stay mentally fit.  (Click here to find the answers to these brain teasers.)

Navigate With a Real Map
Following GPS directions is also a missed opportunity—in this case, to build areas of the brain that control spatial skills. A 2006 study of London taxi drivers who navigated the city's tangled streets without technological assistance showed that the cabbies' brains grew as they learned their way around. Similarly, people in a driving simulation study at the University of Nottingham built more accurate maps of the route in their minds than did people who simply followed the instructions of a navigation system.


Steve Wolf

Distractions can pose more difficulty as you get older, resulting in lost focus, slower mental processing, and less productivity. These suggestions can help counter those deficits.

Play Your Favorite Song
Listening to music improves attention and cognition in people with dementia and increases concentration and productivity in office workers. Experts once believed classical music was best for brains, but recent research suggests that any music you enjoy has benefits simply because you like it, says neurologist Barry Jordan, assistant medical director of Burke Rehabilitation Hospital in White Plains, NY. Listening to a song you love lowers levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which can otherwise slow cognition, he says.


Dial It to a Nice 72°
Feeling cold can be so distracting that it impairs your thinking. A Cornell University study found that increasing office temperatures by 9°F led to a 44% reduction in typing errors. But being too warm also hampers performance: In other research, temperatures higher than 75°F were linked to decreased productivity. Stay clear and focused by setting the thermostat to the low 70s.

Let the Light In
Early-morning light suppresses production of the sleep-promoting hormone melatonin and syncs your body clock with the time of day, making you more alert. "Every region of the brain and body has its own inner clock," Storoni says. Exposure to light aligns all your clocks.

Get 91 Ounces a Day
That's the amount of water scientists at the Institute of Medicine say women need to stay hydrated, although much of that H2O comes from food. Even mild dehydration can interfere with concentration and cause fuzzy thinking, according to a Journal of Nutrition study. One classic hydration mistake: You think you're hungry, but you're actually thirsty, Storoni says. When a craving strikes, try drinking a glass of water before nibbling on anything—you may find that the craving fades and your thinking gets clearer.

Learn how to make your own rehydrating drink:

4 Habits That Can Hurt Your Brain

While some simple steps can improve your brainpower, certain lifestyle factors may sap it, including these.

Sleep Deprivation

Lack of Exercise
Regular aerobic activity stimulates blood flow, including to the brain, where it helps keep neurons alive. Cardio can also reduce insulin resistance and inflammation, both of which are linked to memory loss.

Chronic Stress
Tension can shrink the hippocampus and trigger the progression of mild cognitive impairment to full-blown dementia. Meditation, breathing exercises, and other relaxation techniques can help mitigate the effects of stress.

Adults 65 and older who were frequently socially active had a 70% lower risk of developing dementia than did their least socially active peers in a 2011 rush university study. Brain-protecting activities include eating at restaurants, volunteering, attending religious services, and visiting with family and friends.


Steve Wolf

Experiences from years ago are more likely to come readily to mind as you get older. Unfortunately, your short-term memory tends to suffer. That's because forming new memories—essentially, recalling things that just happened—often becomes more challenging with age. People use countless tricks to create reminders for themselves, but these four memory boosters are backed by science.

Pick Up a Pen

A handwritten list is easier to remember than a typed one. Drawing works even better.
Kristin Duvall/Getty Images

Next time you need to create a list, bypass your phone and handwrite it instead. This is better for the brain because you have to think about the information and then write it down, often paraphrasing it, in a way you'll understand later. Tapping on a keyboard doesn't require the same level of mental processing, so typed notes are easier to forget. For even more memory emphasis, use a pen that's not black—it's easier to remember a note in colored ink. The most memorable hue, according to a 2015 German study, is red.

MORE: The Alzheimer's 'Fifteen-Year Window' Could Be a Game-Changer

Draw Your To-Do List
Illustrating something you don't want to forget may be even more beneficial than writing it down, according to a 2016 University of Waterloo study. You're more likely to recall your sketch later, researchers believe, because drawing taxes motor, word, and visual skills. Plus, fully engaging in an activity like drawing eases stress, Storoni says, and stress reduces brainpower. "When you're doing something that absorbs 100% of your attention, you don't have the chance to let stress in," she says.

Close Your Eyes
It will help you conjure up more details of what you're trying to remember. In a University of Surrey study, people who shut their eyes answered 23% more questions correctly when asked to recall a scene than did people who kept their eyes open. Researchers believe it's easier to visualize what you saw in the past and remember it more clearly when you eliminate current visual distractions by shutting your eyes.

Make Yourself Laugh
In a small 2014 study from Loma Linda University, older adults who watched a funny video performed better on a memory test taken afterward than did adults who sat calmly for the same amount of time. The researchers believe that's due to the stress-reducing effect of laughter. 

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