Many people are wrong when they think what they think. They think in the periphery of the brain, whereas for maximum mental activity, the frontal lobes must be forced to work.
What are the frontal lobes?
The frontal lobes of the brain are located just above the eyes, just behind the frontal bone. Recent studies have shown that it is the frontal lobes that can be called the "crown of creation" of the human nervous system.
Interestingly, a rather naive point of view prevailed in neurological science at the beginning of the 20th century: researchers believed that the frontal lobes did not play any role in the functioning of the brain. They were contemptuously called inactive.
Such ideas did not allow us to understand the meaning of the frontal lobes, which, unlike other parts of the brain, are not associated with any easily defined narrow functions inherent in other, simpler areas of the cerebral cortex, for example, sensory and motor.
Only thanks to them the whole "orchestra" is able to "play" harmoniously. Disruption in the work of the frontal lobes of the brain is fraught with serious consequences.
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Why is it important to develop them?
The frontal lobes regulate behavior of a higher order - defining a goal, setting a problem and finding ways to solve it, assessing results, making difficult decisions, purposefulness, leadership, a sense of one's Self, self-identification.
In those days, when neurological syndromes were treated mainly with the help of lobotomy, it was noticed that a person after a lesion of the frontal lobes can retain memory, retain motor skills, but any motivation and understanding of the social conditioning of actions can completely disappear. That is, after the lobotomy, a person could perform his functions at the workplace, but he simply did not go to work, because he did not see the need for it.
Regardless of the mindset, character and preferences, the frontal lobe cortex has built-in functions that are by default: concentration and voluntary attention, critical thinking (assessment of actions), social behavior, motivation, goal setting, development of a plan for achieving goals, monitoring the implementation of the plan
Disruption of their work subordinates human actions to random impulses or stereotypes. At the same time, noticeable changes affect the very personality of the patient, and his mental abilities inevitably decrease. Such traumas are especially hard on individuals whose life is based on creativity - they are no longer able to create something new.
When the method of positron emission tomography was applied in scientific research, John Duncan (a neuropsychologist from the Department of Brain Sciences in Cambridge, England) discovered the so-called "nerve center of the intellect" in the frontal lobes.
Main development paths
There are many techniques for the development of the frontal lobes of the brain, which in most people in everyday life are in a "sleeping mode", as it were.
First, you need to do exercises that increase the blood supply to the brain. For example, play table tennis.
Diet is essential. You need to eat more often, but little by little, to maintain your blood sugar with complex carbohydrates, lean proteins, and healthy (unsaturated) fats.
An important part of frontal lobe training is planning and clear goal setting. Therefore, it is good to learn how to make a to-do list, a work schedule. This will train the frontal lobes. The solution of simple arithmetic exercises and puzzles also helps in this matter. In general, you need to force the brain to work so that it does not dormant.
Meditation
Now in order.
Meditation is beneficial for developing the frontal lobes. This is proven by numerous studies. So, in a study conducted by specialists from Harvard University, 16 people studied at the University of Massachusetts for 8 weeks on a specially designed meditation program.
Two weeks before and two weeks after the program, the researchers scanned the participants' brains using MRI.
The volunteers went to classes every week, where they were taught meditation, the goal of which was a non-judgmental awareness of their feelings, feelings and thoughts. In addition, participants were given audio lessons on meditation practice and asked to record how much time they spent meditating.
In addition, participants had increased gray matter density in the hippocampus, an area of the brain responsible for memory and learning, and in brain structures associated with self-awareness, compassion, and introspection.
Also, the volunteers from the experimental group decreased the density of gray matter in the amygdala, an area of the brain associated with anxiety and stress.
Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles School of Medicine, who also studied the relationship between age and gray matter in two groups of people, concluded that meditation helps maintain the volume of the brain's gray matter, which contains neurons. Scientists compared the brains of 50 people who have meditated for years and 50 people who have never done it.
Richard Davidson, Ph. D. from the University of Wisconsin, has found in his research that the left side of the prefrontal cortex shows increased activity during meditation.
Prayer
Prayer, like meditation, can improve the ability of the brain. Andrew Newberg, M. D., head of research at the Myrna Brind Center for Integrative Medicine at Thomas Jefferson University College of Medicine and Hospital, has studied the neurotic effects of religious and spiritual experiences for decades.
In order to study the effect of prayer on the brain, he injected a person during prayer with a harmless radioactive dye.
The photo shows that the greatest activity during prayer is observed precisely in the frontal lobes of the brain.
Dr. Newberg concluded that all religions create neurological experiences, and while God is inconceivable to atheists, to religious people God is as real as the physical world.
The scientists concluded: "Thus, it helps us understand that intense prayer elicits a specific response from brain cells, and this response makes the transcendental mystical experience a scientific fact, a specific physiological phenomenon."
Learning languages
Learning a second language as a child has lifelong benefits. It is a great "brain feed" that improves thinking and memory. Research has shown that bilingual students are more capable of memorizing and assimilating information than monolingual classmates.
It is part of the limbic system of the brain that is responsible for emotions and memory. Learning foreign languages in old age can help delay memory dementia and reduce the likelihood of Alzheimer's.
Sport
No matter how attractive the image of a genius tormented by malnutrition and long sitting at work, it is worth saying that it is far from the truth. The smartest people in all ages have devoted a significant part of their time to physical exercise.
Hahnemann, the creator of homeopathy, wrote in his autobiography: "And here I did not forget to take care of physical exercise and fresh air about the very strength and energy of the body, which alone is able to withstand the load of mental exercises."
The Greek concept of "kalokagatiy", when the value of a person is determined by a combination of both his spiritual and physical development, was not invented by chance. Physical activity is just as necessary for the brain to develop as it is for poring over textbooks.
In 2010, the journal Neuroscience reported data from experiments on monkeys. Those who did exercise learned new tasks and completed them twice as fast as those who did not exercise.
Exercise improves neural connections in the brain, increases blood flow, and makes the brain more productive.
Sunbathing
Everyone knows perfectly well that there are substances that stimulate the brain. But do not think that all these substances are prohibited by law or harm our body.
First of all, vitamins will help your brain to gain strength. American researchers from the National Institute of Mental Health have proven the amazing effectiveness of vitamin D.
Vitamin D has a positive effect on the frontal lobes, which are also responsible for memory, processing and analysis of information. Unfortunately, analyzes have proven that most adults today lack vitamin D. Meanwhile, getting the right dose is not so difficult: our body produces vitamin D when exposed to sunlight. In extreme cases, a solarium is also suitable.
Mozart Effect
A series of studies have proven that Mozart's music has a positive effect on the body's metabolism and brain activity. First, one group of plants was "charged" with the music of the Austrian composer, the second test group grew without musical accompaniment. The result was convincing. Music lover plants matured faster. Then laboratory rats listened to Mozart's music, they quickly "grew wiser" and passed the maze much faster than rats from the "quiet" group.
It was also established that listening to the works of the genius Austrian by pregnant women has a positive effect on the development of the fetus and the course of pregnancy. Make listening to Mozart a hobby. It is enough to listen to Mozart for 30 minutes a day to notice the result in a month.
Sleep
Sleep not only gives rest to our body, it also allows the brain to "reboot", to take a fresh look at the tasks before it. Scientists from Harvard University have proven that after sleep, people solved the tasks before them 33% more efficiently, easier to find connections between objects or phenomena. Finally, scientists have proven the benefits of naps. Of course, it is most obvious to children: those babies who sleep between different exercises do them better and faster than those who were deprived of rest. But for adults, daytime sleep remains useful and relevant.