There are many ways of honing your mental sharpness and helping your brain stay healthy. You could work on jigsaw puzzles, listen or play music, learn a new language, use your non-dominant hand or even socialize.

Doctors often use specific neurological exams to assess the integrity of the central nervous system. One could take these same neurological exams and use them to exercise or to rehabilitate specific areas of the brain.Brains training cute graphic of brain lifting weights. Ha Ha!

Here are three brain exercises to try:

◆ Index finger-thumb tapping: examines motor function. One hand at a time, tap the index finger on the thumb as fast and as big as possible, separating the digits as wide as possible before tapping. This will help exercise the motor area.

◆ Finger-to-nose test: assesses coordination. Extend your arms straight out to your sides and then touch the tip of your nose with the tip of your index finger. Alternate hands. This exercise can help with cerebellar deficiencies— balance issues or essential tremors.

◆ Rapid alternating movements exam: helps with cerebellar issues. One hand at a time, rapidly and repeatedly flip your hand from the palm-up to the palm-down position.

If you find doing these exercises difficult, more reason to do them. The more you do them, the more neuro-pathways can be reinforced, helping your brain (and body) to stay healthy


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