What Is Brain Fitness and Why Do It?

We know about muscle fitness and cardiovascular fitness but Brain Fitness  was added to our repertoire of things to keep fit only in the 21^st century! Don’t we have enough on our plate? Why would we want to do brain fitness and what are the benefits? We aim to answer these question so keep reading to find out.

Brain fitness recognizes the brain’s ability to respond to exercises to keep it mentally fit. When the scientific community recognized this and released this information to the general community, it was a most exciting discovery!

Why? Up until the 1970’s, it was believed that the brain was a fixed organism, whose pathways were laid down during gestation and early years and then eventually faded away as human beings grew older, never to be replaced.

Now we know – the earth is not flat and our brains can change for the better! 

In the last 20 years, research has shown us what the brain is capable of. Research into brain neuroplasticity started as early as the 1890’s, when it was referred to in William James’ book “The Principles of Psychology”, but it has only been in the last 20 years that it has come leaps and bounds with information we can work with.

Back in 2008, Jill Bolte Taylor, a brain scientist who suffered a massive stroke, discusses her journey back to being able to walk and talk again, and how her brain recovered. Her TED talk inspired many to see the brain in a different light with the ability to recover from serious brain injury, as it had never been see before.

Brain neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change and accommodate a new environment, either in response to a brain trauma, or in response to learning something entirely new. In both cases, we now know that the brain is able to lay down new pathways to learn, memorise and process the information needed in this new environment.

There will be more knowledge available over time about the power of our brains and what they are capable of, but in the meantime, we can participate in brain fitness programs to learn more about the way our brains work today.

What is the meaning of Brain Fitness?

When we discovered the brain’s ability to change to accommodate new information, we realized we could change the brain by training it. For example, learning a new hobby, a new language, a new skill – all require the ability of the brain to change and develop new pathways to process new information.

Keeping your brain fit means exercising your brain by learning something new and continuing to practice it. Much like you exercise your body to keep physically fit. You learn a new gym routine, the muscles initially ache but eventually they build shape as well as muscle memory. The benefits to physical training are obvious in that we get fitter, stronger and more toned. The benefits of brain fitness are a little subtler but still obvious:

1.     It improves mental health – the brain can be trained to think differently therefore helping those struggling with mental health issues such as anxiety and depression.

2.     It keeps you intelligent – keeping your brain fit and healthy means you stay alert, present and open to new information that you can absorb.

3.     It keeps your love of learning alive and well – this is key to good ongoing mental health and avoiding problems of memory loss and potentially dementia.

Why is Brain Fitness important today?

Other than just being important to look after your brain, for obvious reasons, there are also two main differences in our society today compared to 30 years ago that have fundamentally changed our lifestyles.

• One is the fact that Australians are getting older. 15% of Australians are now over 65 years old, and by 2030, the over 65 year olds will outnumber the under 15 year olds – a first in Australia.

If we are going to live to an older age, then we need to start looking after our brains today for the longer term. This is a combination of attitude, in the way we think and use our brain, and nutrition, in what we eat that affects our mental clarity.  

• The other reason is that we are processing 200 times more information today than we were 100 years ago. Can you imagine what this has meant to our cognitive ability to absorb, store and process information.

Our brains have to keep up and change accordingly. They have had to become more efficient, learning to sift and sort the massive amount of information that we are exposed to daily to allow information in that is relevant to us personally.

There is not much knowledge now that is inaccessible to us, with a few clicks and we can read up on anything we want online. But has this made us more intelligent?

If the brain knows how to handle the significant amount of information it is being given, and can cope by sifting and sorting and processing for its benefit, then this may be considered a more intelligent brain. You may as well start developing brain fitness, as the more this area is researched the more we will find out about its benefits.

Starting Brain Fitness with Brain9D 

Brain9D has been created to provide brain tests, games and analysis. It is a complete brain fitness program to keep your brain fit, monitoring its development over time so that you can see progress. Much like going to the gym to keep your body fit and strong, Brain9D does the same for your brain:

• Mental Health Questionnaires – scientifically validated and researched back questionnaires about all areas of mental health. These include stress, anxiety, depression, dementia, autism, social anxiety and many other others. The questionnaires cover both mood and behaviour as well as mental health, therefore providing you feedback on both your mental and emotional wellbeing.

• The questionnaires are delivered to you throughout the week and will help you build a profile of your mental health over time.

• Facial Scanning – you can conduct a facial scan in front of your computer, in the comfort of your own home, and all you need is the ability to take a 15 second video. Our software will detect subtle changes in your facial movements and provide feedback and data on your heart rate, SpO2 levels, beats per minute and breathing rate. Using this data, over time you will build a profile of your mental health and be alerted to changes that you may need to pay attention to.

• Brain Tests and Games – Brain9D has brain test and games to help you test mental cognitive processes such as your speed of thinking and your working memory.

Sign Up Today 

Sign up for a Brain9D membership and join our community to start your brain fitness training today. Over time, you will get to know how your brain works. The more you know how it works, the more you can discover ways to steer it toward better mental health.