The person is getting smarter. Scientists: In a horizontal position, a person gets smarter. Give your brain a rest

Ivan Maslyukov

Director, entrepreneur. Creator of the international network of urban games Encounter.

1. A smart person talks with a purpose

At a meeting, by phone, in a chat. Conversation is a tool to achieve a goal.

Stupid people talk for the sake of talking. So they indulge their laziness when they are busy. Or they struggle with boredom and idleness in their free time.

2. Feels comfortable being alone

A smart man is not bored with his thoughts. He understands that important events and discoveries can occur within a person.

Stupid people, on the contrary, do their best to avoid loneliness: remaining alone with themselves, they are forced to observe their own emptiness. Therefore, it seems to them that something important and meaningful can only happen around them. They follow the news, tend to companies and hangouts, check social networks a hundred times a day.

3. Trying to keep balance

• Between external experience (movies, books, stories of friends) and own experience.
• Between believing in himself and knowing that he could be wrong.
• Between ready knowledge (templates) and new knowledge (thinking).
• Between an intuitive hint from the subconscious and an accurate logical analysis of limited data.

Stupid people easily fall into one extreme.

4. Strives to expand the range of his perception

A smart person wants to achieve accuracy in sensations, feelings, thoughts. He understands that the whole consists of the smallest details, therefore he is so attentive to trifles, shades, to the small.

Stupid people are content with average stamps.

5. Knows many "languages"

A smart person communicates with architects through buildings, with writers through books, with designers through interfaces, with artists through paintings, with composers through music, with a janitor through a clean yard. He knows how to communicate with people through what they do.

Foolish people understand only the language of words.

6. A smart person finishes what they start.

The foolish one stops as soon as he starts, or in the middle, or almost finishes, on the assumption that what he has done may turn out to be unclaimed and will not bring any benefit to anyone.

7. Understands that a huge part of the world around was invented and created by people

After all, a shoe, concrete, a bottle, a sheet of paper, a light bulb, a window once did not exist. Taking advantage of what was invented and created, he wants to give something of himself to humanity in gratitude. He happily creates himself. And when he uses what others have done, he gladly gives money for it.

Stupid people, when they pay for a thing, a service, an object of art, do it without gratitude and with regret that there is less money.

8. Follows an information diet

A smart person has a memory of facts and data that are not needed to solve current problems. At the same time, studying the world, he seeks, first of all, to understand the causal relationships between events, phenomena, things.

Stupid people consume information indiscriminately and without trying to understand the relationships.

9. Understands that nothing can be appreciated without context.

Therefore, he is in no hurry with conclusions and assessments of any things, events, phenomena, until he analyzes the totality of all circumstances and details. Smart very rarely criticizes, condemns.

A stupid person easily evaluates things, events, phenomena, without delving into the details and circumstances. He takes pleasure in criticizing and condemning, thus, as it were, feeling superior to that which is the object of his criticism.

10. Considers the authority of the one who has earned his authority

The smart one never forgets that even if everyone is of the same opinion, they can be wrong.

Fools recognize an opinion as correct if it is supported by the majority. It is enough for them that many other people consider a certain person to be an authority.

11. Very selective about books and films.

A smart person does not care at all when and by whom the book was written or when the film was made. Priority is content and meaning.

A stupid person prefers trendy books and movies.

12. Has a passion for self-development and growth

In order to grow, a smart person says to himself: "I'm not good enough, I can become better."

Stupid, seeking to exalt themselves in the eyes of others, humiliate others and, thus, humiliate themselves.

13. Not afraid to make mistakes

A smart person perceives it as a natural component of moving forward. At the same time, he tries not to repeat them.

Fools have learned once and for all the shame of making mistakes.

14. Knows how to concentrate

For maximum concentration, an intelligent person can withdraw into himself, be inaccessible to anyone and nothing.

Stupid people are always open to communication.

15. A smart person convinces himself that everything in this life depends only on him.

Although he understands that this is not so. Therefore, he believes in himself, and not in the word "luck."

Stupid people convince themselves that everything in this life depends on circumstances and other people. This allows them to relieve themselves of all responsibility for what is happening in their lives.

16. It can be hard as steel or soft as clay

At the same time, an intelligent person proceeds from his ideas about how he should be under different circumstances.

A fool is hard as steel, or soft as clay, based on the desire to meet the expectations of others.

17. Easily admits his mistakes

His goal is to understand the real state of things, and not to be always right. He understands only too well how difficult it is to make sense of the diversity of life. Therefore, he does not lie.

Fools deceive themselves and others.

18. Acts mostly like a smart person

Sometimes smart people allow themselves to relax and behave like stupid people.

Stupid people sometimes concentrate, show willpower, make an effort and behave like smart people.

Of course, no one can act smart always and everywhere. But the more you are from a smart person, the more you are. The more stupid, the more stupid.

Each of us secretly dreams of being the smartest or at least smarter than other people. It is important to be able to identify a smart person in order to learn to distinguish a fool from a wise man and a strong mind from a weak one.

Smart people are distinguished by inner strength. This includes self-confidence, the ability to control oneself and much more. That is why the mind can be felt even by those who do not know the secrets of psychological analysis.

Sign one: a smart person does not mock the weak

A person with a high enough IQ is able to put himself in the place of others, so he will never just do someone bad. Of course, revenge and a thirst for justice can take over, but without a reason, a smart person will not allow himself to mock someone, because people with increased “productivity” can simulate in their heads the state of an offended, weak person.

Sign two: smart wants everyone around to become smart too

This is not even due to the absence of envy, but to the fact that it is always easier for a smart person to communicate with a smart person. Stupid people make a strong mind lose a lot of energy to nowhere, so the desire to see people around you who want to learn is common sense, not excessive demands. Because of this, one more sign of an intelligent person can be identified - the desire for solitude. Many have probably heard of our great contemporary, who refused the Nobel Prize in mathematics. He lives with his mother. Although he is many years old, he did not go out into the world. His loneliness is fully justified and accepted by him.

Sign three: smart people are calm

Problems for people with high intelligence are nothing more than a common set of circumstances, the result of wrong actions. Such people learn very quickly, because they see everything from the right angle. Problems come and go. Smart people know that failure makes us stronger.

Sign Four: Smart people always have time for everything.

This is true, because smart people always have time for everything. They rest on time, and work a lot, and manage to take care of themselves. Of course, there are unique people who cannot afford anything but work, but this is a separate topic for discussion. If a person is not stupid, he will not complain that he has no time.

Sign #5: They're smart, but they do more than they say

The mind is not only the erudition that any person with increased intelligence has. He knows a little of everything, and in his industry he is a true genius. That is why such people can and do a lot without spending too much time talking. An excellent example is Anatoly Wasserman. He did not have a goal of becoming an erudite and a person who knows everything. At first he was a programmer, but then he went deeper and deeper into the knowledge of other industries.

Sign six: the desire for neatness

A smart person may not be fashionable, old-fashioned, or even deny fashion as such, but he always looks good. Smart people don't like spending extra money on things they don't need. Despite the composure in terms of image, smart people in the apartment have an eternal mess, but very structured. A smart person always knows where his personal belongings lie.

Sign seven: smart listens and remembers

Smart people are very, very good conversationalists. They don't talk about themselves unless they are asked to. Smart people like to listen and remember more. By the way, about memorization - the memory of smart people is very "narrow". They can forget simple things, but remember difficult ones. An example is the names and dates of birth, which are poorly remembered by people with high intelligence and a large store of knowledge. That is why smart people are not afraid of mistakes. She's just trying something new and learning the consequences.

Sign eight: a good sense of humor

This is not direct evidence of a great mind, but in most cases it speaks, at least, of his eccentricity. The fact is that humor requires a very large expenditure of energy from the brain. The brain activity of those who are friends with humor is very high. This does not indicate the presence of knowledge, but about the mind as a whole - yes.

The human brain is the most complex and mysterious "construction" of all possible. It is formed and develops up to 25 years. You won’t believe it, but from about 27 already, there may be interruptions in its work. After another 10 years, memory begins to deteriorate. The last 2 facts were found out by scientists of the University of Virginia.

So whoever does not develop this organ has every chance of turning into a “count ruin” by the age of 50. But we don't want that, do we? Then what can be done to make the brain work, if not like a clockwork, then at least not “rust”? Understanding...

1. Read more

Excellent "food" for the development of the brain is reading, and better memorizing poetry. Read scientific articles, even if you do not understand anything in this area, "heavy" books. In short, the more clever and intricate the text, the better.

2. Drum on the table

It is ideal when you drum to the rhythm of music, and the more complex it is, the greater the effect. The sense of rhythm develops fine motor skills. Engage both your fingertips and your entire palm in the process.

3. Listen to the classics

It has been scientifically proven that the most "brain" music is the creations of Mozart. This was discovered by psychologist Francis Rauscher in an experiment on laboratory rats in 1995. As a result, the animals became not only better at thinking, but also physically became more active.

4. Train your memory

Choose one method or use different ones. There is a wide range here: from memorizing poems, regardless of the content, to passing special tests. Paper or electronic "sclerosis" is good only for organizing the working day. For the brain - this is a disaster!

5. Drink coffee

Not liters, of course! No more than 1-2 cups of natural coffee per day. Caffeine stimulates the production of dopamine, the hormone of joy, and norepinephrine, the hormone of physical activity. But do not follow the example of Honore de Balzac. Otherwise, you'll get in trouble.

6. Play mind games

Chess, Go, poker, checkers are incredibly mentally stimulating. Increase the speed of the game over time.

7. Develop numerical sense

There is such a thing! What to do? They took out a pile of small change from their pocket, glanced at it briefly, and put it back. Figured out the amount from memory. They got it again, checked it out. Another way is to pack a bag. Don't think that you usually do this on autopilot. At this moment, the most complex processes take place in the brain, as a result of which its most ancient structures develop.

8. Feed

The brain, like all our organs, needs not only spiritual, but also ordinary food. But only in the right one! Favorites for him:
-walnuts. Contains lecithin, which improves memory. (What does a walnut look like?);
- fish. Among other masses of substances useful for the hemispheres, it contains omega-3 acids. It's just the electric generator of our brain!
- pumpkin seeds. Zinc makes the brain smarter;
- spinach. Lutein stands guard over premature aging;
- sage. Rich in amino acids that improve memory.

9. Guess!

Based on the facial expressions and gestures of the interlocutor, try to guess his next phrase. It develops intuition. Be careful, and learn to read minds!

10. Start a blog or diary

Write down the events of the day. This will allow you to articulate your thoughts more clearly and organize your day better.

11. Solve crosswords

This lesson miraculously improves the performance of our “computer”.

12. Learn foreign languages

This is another boost for the development of the brain, which allows you to quickly switch from one mental task to another.

13. Install smart app

We still spend all day staring at the screens of tablets or mobile phones. Instead of some stupid shooting game, install any mind training app.

14. Don't waste time

If you have a free minute, switch to another activity. For example, read the first article that comes across. Get both rest and brain development.

15. Walk

As the brain directly affects our motor functions, and vice versa - movements develop the brain. Run kilometers for at least half an hour 3-4 times a week. Improves concentration, abstract thinking, learning ability. The brain grows neurons when walking in the air.

16. Give your brain a rest

Alas, our poor brains never rest, even during sleep. Therefore, you need to help him unload. For example, during mental activity, take a break every hour or two for a cup of coffee, physical exercise, or just walking up and down the corridor.

17. Play Tetris

It has been scientifically proven that this particular puzzle has a positive effect on mental activity. Constant practice increases the amount of gray matter, which improves critical thinking, information processing speed, and reasoning ability.

18. Sleep

Our dreams are nothing more than the processing of daytime information by the brain. In a dream, you can also get a hint in solving problems. 6-8 hours is a mandatory daily allowance (unless you are a yogi, of course!)

19. Read in different ways

For example:
- while reading, lead with a pencil or a pointer under the line. This allows you to increase the speed of reading and master large amounts of information;
Most people say the words in their minds when they read. You should try to count to 30 or hum while reading. At first you will not remember the information, but you will get used to it in a couple of weeks;
- when reading an exciting text, the pupils expand reflexively. This means that more light enters the brain through the eyes, which allows more information to be absorbed. If the text is not interesting, just imagine or remember something exciting.

20. Take up an unusual hobby

Adapting to a new activity forces the brain to train. Scientifically proven. So do not be lazy to find yourself new activities.

Happy training!

We all want to be smart, to shine with ingenuity, wit and intellect, but only a select few like Nikolai Baskov and Gennady Onishchenko succeed in this. Read this article - and the world in your head will sparkle with new convolutions.

Alexander Kanygin

1. Read more

The more complex and unusual the books, the better. Complex constructions, long, detailed sentences, rare words, abstruse articles from our magazine, and especially poetry - a real "Rastishka" for your brain.

2. Drum on the table

Better yet, make it a rule to accompany the music you hear: on your knee, on the tabletop or on a freshly bought tom-tom - it doesn't matter. Palms or chopsticks. Neuroscientist Anirud Patel from San Diego believes that the sense of rhythm plays an important role in learning. After all, the basal ganglia are responsible for it - the parts of the brain involved in motor functions.

3. Listen to classical music

Especially Mozart. In 1995, psychologist Frances Rauscher tricked thirty rats into a room. For two months, the Sonata for two pianos in C major was periodically performed there. After the experiment, it turned out that the animals began not only to dance better, but also to run the maze faster and with fewer errors than the other group of rats who lived these two months in silence.

4. Train your memory

London taxi drivers, for example, have an enlarged hippocampus, the part of the brain responsible for emotions and memory. What are you worse?

■ Bookmark brainscale.ru. There you will find one of the variants of the "N back" task, developed in 1958 to explore and stimulate the activity of certain areas of the brain, the development of working memory, logical thinking and the ability to concentrate. Try to take the test every day, set aside a few minutes for this at the beginning of the day and the same amount at the end. According to a 2008 study by Suzanne Yeggi, regular training in this task can significantly improve fluid intelligence, enhance a person's working memory, improve logical thinking and the ability to concentrate.

■ After making a list of products that you need to buy, reread it several times and try to remember not their names, but your future path through different departments in the store. Having collected everything in a cart and standing in line, try to calculate the total amount in your mind. If she later turns out to be true, you can buy yourself a bush of spinach as a reward: it is good for memory.

■ Set aside half an hour each day to memorize poetry. The last time you did this was in kindergarten, but all the words flew out of your head at the moment when the official part of the holiday ended and the coffin was lowered into the ground. The content of the poems does not matter.

5. Drink coffee

Caffeine stimulates the release of the neurotransmitters dopamine and norepinephrine, which help you stay energized and focused longer. It is important not to overdo it: from a very large dose of caffeine, you will get overexcited and will not be able to think rationally. Caffeine in doses of more than 300 mg (four cups of natural coffee) per day will cause anxiety, headache, tremor, arrhythmia.

6. Albert Einstein

Theoretical physicist, Nobel laureate:
“Intellectual growth should begin at birth and stop only at death. Knowing where to find information and how to use it is the secret to success. The mind, once expanded its boundaries, will never return to the former. Outstanding personalities are formed not through beautiful speeches, but by their own work and its results.

7. Mark Porcius Cato

Senior statesman, writer:
"A wise man learns more from fools than fools from a wise man."

8. Play chess, checkers and poker

These games can not only make you richer, but also perfectly develop your thinking. If you think you're too good at chess, try playing against the clock as well, so that it doesn't take more than a minute to make a decision.

9. Develop your numerical sense

Yes, you already have it. Take a handful of small change out of your pocket, take a quick look at it and try to calculate the total amount from memory. Véronique Izgård, a cognitive psychologist at Harvard, has found that ancient brain structures are responsible for expense, something like a quasi-lion years old (is there such a number? We're bad at it), but they can develop throughout a lifetime. To check how your HH is developed at the moment, take a short test or a large-scale test, the results of which will even be preserved in the annals of an American university and help advance science. Well, then - develop the CH. The easiest way is to pack things in a bag. When you figure out how best to cram them in, your brain solves the most difficult tasks and trains.

10. Feed your brain right!

Especially if you still cannot fully tell a single poem from the school curriculum, and Facebook reminds you of the birthdays of your friends.

■ Walnuts. Almost the main food for an erudite! They even look like a brain. Five nuts a day - and you will be provided with lecithin, which improves brain function and activates memory. Nuts are also useful if you suddenly live in conditions of high radiation.

■ Fish. Laconic and cold, it is rich in iodine, its meat contains omega-3 fatty acids, which provide a quick influx of energy necessary for the transmission of impulses in brain cells. They also regulate the level of cholesterol in the blood and improve the functioning of blood vessels. If you eat at least 100 grams of fish a day, you will increase the reaction rate and you will reduce the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease.

■ Pumpkin seeds. Pour half a glass into your jacket pocket and during office scandals improve your memory and make your brain think faster. All thanks to zinc.

■ Spinach. Add it to your morning omelette two to three times a week. The lutein contained in spinach will protect brain cells from premature aging.

■ Sage. Johns Hopkins University found that sage inhibits the action of amino acids responsible for memory impairment. Now they drink tea with sage every day and everyone remembers everyone.

11. Try to guess the next phrase of the interlocutor

Rebecca Sykes of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology is confident that with proper training, people will be able to understand others without words at all - by facial expression, look and other similar signs. The section of the brain that is located behind the right ear and is responsible for intuition is responsible for this.

12. Start a blog

Telling about the events of the day in it, you will not only learn to articulate thoughts clearly, but you will also constantly think of new topics and sharp answers to questions from loyal readers.

13. Koichi Tohei

Writer, Aikido Master, 10th Dan, Founder of the Ki-Aikido Style Kii Society “Reading is the cornerstone of intelligence. Fill your free time with reading all kinds of books. Read novels, non-fiction, biographies. First, skim through the book quickly to get a general idea of ​​it. If you think it makes sense, read it again. As a result, your brain’s ability to adapt to different circumstances and organize a wide variety of data will increase.”

14. Solve crosswords

Surprisingly, it works: the work of the brain is greatly spurred on by serious crossword puzzles.

15. Konstantin Sheremetiev

Researcher, author of the "Intelligence" project (), author of the books "Perfect Brain: How to control the subconscious" and "How to become smarter":
“Someone thinks that if at school he was good at solving problems in mathematics or something like that, then he is smart and will remain so forever. This is utter nonsense. If you pump up your muscles at the age of 18, and then lie down on the sofa and forget about them, then very soon they will atrophy. And the same thing happens with the efficiency of the brain.”

To the answer!

Konstantin Sheremetyev cleverly answers our stupid questions.

Who can be considered smart?
A person who uses his brain to solve everyday problems. The main mental activity takes place in the subconscious. They don’t teach him how to handle it at school, so the brain of most people is idle. He doesn't help them in any way. And the main purpose of intelligence is to ensure survival. Therefore, in order to evaluate the mind of a person, remember the rule: the result of the work of the intellect is a change in the material world. Survival? Then who is smarter - an office worker or a hunter in the wild?
Oddly enough, the brain does not distinguish between these types of activity. Both need to explore what surrounds them and learn how to act effectively in this environment. How many minutes or hours per day should be devoted to brain training?
The brain works around the clock. The only question is how much load you give him. If you look at life critically, look for what you want to do, realize yourself, then the brain starts to work to its fullest. If there is no mental load, he will atrophy and is only capable of thinking according to a pattern. You developed an emergency response program for astronauts. Are they smarter than those who have not been in space?
I entered knowledge in various fields into the artificial intelligence system so that in a dangerous situation it would suggest the right decision. But you can save useful tips for all occasions in your phone. Then, for example, in the event of an accident, you will know exactly what to do.

16. Learn a foreign language

Andrea Macelli, PhD in neurology from the University of London, proves that people who know several foreign languages ​​find it easier to switch between different mental tasks. An additional boost in the development of your brain will give a new way of learning incomprehensible foreign words.

■ Let's say learning a language through parallel translations. On getparalleltranslations.com you will find books with both English and Russian texts on their pages. In fact, these are the same titles with which you love to watch the latest TV shows so much.

■ Vojtek Rinik, a Slovak web developer, believes that words should be learned before they appear in a book. Surprised by his advice, you should feed the unfamiliar text to the wordsfromtext.com service, in response, it will generate a list of the most used words and prompt you to mark unfamiliar ones in it. If desired, they can be printed out with a translation, memorized and already fully armed pounce on unsuspecting literature.

17. Get yourself a smart app

Feeling an unpleasant throb in our too-fast-growing brains, we turned our heads to our mobile phone screens, hoping to find salvation in some mind-numbing game. But what is it? And on mobile devices, do not step a step away from the dominance of developing programs!

Memory trainer. Consistently remember pressing multi-colored buttons and repeat them. In fact, this is still the same "N back" task, disguised as a game.
Einstein. Mind training. HD-collection of 30 exercises for the development of logic, memory, counting and attention.
Brain of Genius. A variation on the well-known logical problem, created, according to legend, by Einstein from his reluctance to go to kindergarten.

18. Don't waste time

If you have a free minute at work and you want to look at a couple of meters of funny pictures, it’s better to open Wikipedia and read a “random” article.

19. Walk

It is enough to defile around the house three times a week for half an hour in order to concentrate, learn and think abstractly by 15% better. And it's not just about the flow of oxygen to your neurons withered in the stuffiness of the office: scientists from the Salk Institute have proven that moderate exercise in the fresh air causes the brain to grow new cells.

20. Give your brain a rest

No matter how busy you are, in the process of mental activity, you must definitely rest every hour and a half. For example, doing simple physical exercises or just walking down the hallway and having a cup of coffee. Consider it a necessity. So the analytical centers of the brain better digest the accumulated information and no, no, yes, and come to some unexpected conclusion.

21. Boost your brain

If you ignored all our advice, and tomorrow is the final of the championship “What? Where? When?" League of classmates, there is another way to shake the fat on the cerebral convolutions.

■ Neurometabolic stimulants, they are also nootropics, will help to urgently increase IQ, - agents that have an activating effect on memory and mental activity. Note: completely legal. Words for searching in a pharmacy are: phenotropil, allertec, deprenyl. You can still try Phenibut, but, unlike previous drugs, it is drunk in a course of 2-3 weeks, a single use will not give the proper result. And it should be like this: lack of desire to quit everything and go to sleep, increased reaction speed, slight irritability and the feeling that you are smarter than everyone around. There is, however, a small problem. “The effect of nootropics on the brain has not yet been fully studied,” says Konstantin Anokhin, head of the memory neurobiology laboratory at the Institute of Normal Physiology of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences. And one more thing: do not confuse nootropics with dietary supplements. These will also make you smarter for a while, but they act differently and have a weaker effect. These are, say, ginkgo biloba, guarana, eleutherococcus and ginseng root.

22. Play Tetris

A study by American scientists has shown that this classic puzzle can have a positive effect on the development of the human brain. Testing has confirmed that regular practice of playing Tetris can increase the amount of gray matter in the player's brain and improve their thinking abilities. The brains of people who played this puzzle for half an hour a day during the experiment for three months underwent changes in areas related to movement, critical thinking, reasoning, language and information processing.

23. Leonardo da Vinci

Artist, inventor, scientist, writer:
“Iron rusts when it has no use, stagnant water rots or freezes in the cold, and the human mind languishes.”

24. Anatoly Wasserman

Journalist, political consultant:
“Read and watch more, try to find connections and analogies between different knowledge - and pretty soon you will feel what other gaps should be filled in order to understand more. Without intelligence, everything else is simply useless. Being smart is not only fashionable, but also very pleasant. In my experience, it is better to remember what interests you. Be inquisitive - and without much effort remember everything that turns out to be curious. But in order to preserve the memory, you need to work actively, have diverse interests. Then much will be remembered, and memory will be a reliable support.

25. Get good sleep

It is during sleep that the brain processes the information collected during the day and forms memories. As calculated by the staff of the University of California at Berkeley, usually an adult needs from 6 to 8 hours of sleep.

26. Read in new ways

You, of course, have already skimmed through this tip and moved on to the next one. Try to go back and do this.

■ Take a pencil and, leading it under the line, read the text. The eye, having caught the movement, will run after the pointer, while reading everything that you slipped into it. Each time you move the pencil faster - this way your eyes will get used to the increased load, the reading speed will increase, and you will be able to absorb information faster.

■ 80% of people mentally pronounce words while reading. You acquired this bad habit while learning to read: you spelled out the text letter by letter, then by syllables, then put them into words. But this is not necessary for understanding. To combat the inner voice, learn to read the text while simultaneously counting to thirty or singing (you can without words) a song. For a week or two you will not understand the content of the text, but gradually everything will return to normal.

■ According to physiologists, in a person who sees something exciting, the pupils expand reflexively. When you reach an interesting place in the text, the same thing is observed: the pupil expands, more light enters the eye, which means that it can catch more information. The only problem is how to make yourself believe that the investigation protocol before you is as interesting as an interview with a cover girl. From a neurophysiological point of view, interest arises when the brain compares new information with what is already in memory. So just guess what exactly can be written in the text. The brain will be forced to compare the information with the real and, willy-nilly, show interest.

27. Get yourself an unusual hobby

(ideas will be thrown to you by our heading "Idea!").
New activities, according to the Salk Institute for Biological Research in the suburbs of San Diego, firstly, perfectly help to escape from the routine, and secondly, they will force your brain to adapt to activities unfamiliar to it and, as a result, to train.

28. Alan Weiss

President of the NCH Health Alliance:
“When you are completely immersed in the world of the game, your brain focuses on solving actual problems. He is looking for unusual solutions and ways out of unusual situations in everyday life. Later, these same ideas can be useful to you in real life, at work or in communication.

29. Try new ways to get information

Are you prevented from reading books at a rock concert? Check out audiobooks and audiopodcasts. And on the Internet, sign up for free courses at knowledgestream.ru (coursera.org for English speakers).

30. Stop watching TV

The contemplation of flickering pictures, supposedly designed to give rest to the brain, which has been strained during the day, loads it in the same way as reading or proving theorems. But at the same time it does not develop at all. Conclusion? Throw the TV out the window and put a pot of sage in its place.

The Greek mathematician Archimedes made his ingenious discovery about the buoyancy force while lying in a bathtub. Mendeleev's table of chemical elements came to mind in a dream, that is, in bed. Oblomov, although a literary hero, gave birth to a lot of wise thoughts without getting up from the couch.

And there are many such examples. It seems that if you lie down, then with the brain human is something special going on? The researchers decided to test this.

“Horizontal position really affects the performance of the brain,” says Dr. Darren Lipnitsky from the Australian National University School of Physiology. - My experiments have shown that lying down people cope much easier even with the most difficult tasks.

At the request of the physiologist, 20 volunteers solved anagrams - they made up words from five mixed up letters (see "Mind Games"). And at the same time, first they stood, and then they lay. And it turned out that, lounging on the couch, people found solutions much faster. Moreover, they, as a rule, appeared in the brain suddenly. And some even wanted to exclaim: "Eureka!" Like Archimedes.

Neurophysiologists quite quickly (probably after lying down and thinking) found out: when human thinks, taking a horizontal position, then a large amount of norepinephrine enters his blood. This hormone is produced by the adrenal glands. It works as a central nervous system neurotransmitter, enhancing cognition and attention.

However, the scientist does not exclude the influence of comfort: lying human calm, and therefore, he has more strength in order to focus on solving a specific problem. That is why, for example, psychoanalysts usually advise their patients to lie down on the couch before starting a healing conversation.

Moreover, clinical tests have shown that a man and a woman solve their problems faster when they lie in the same bed, and do not go, for example, next to each other in a car or sit at a table.

Yes, and business issues, as it turned out, are better settled down if business partners are reclining in armchairs, and not standing at a buffet table with a glass of wine. In the first case, as practice shows, the productivity of the transaction agreement increases by almost 10 percent.

OPINION OF SPECIALISTS

Mikhail KRUASHVILI, Candidate of Medical Sciences:

When you stand, circulation is harder, and when you lie down, the brain receives more blood. Therefore, in horizontal position maybe it really enlightens some people. This only works if man generally something to think about.

BUSINESSMAN

Director of the Moscow supermarket Gavriil BEZHANOV:

If you want to sleep and dream, then lie down, and if you want active work, then you have to stand. I'm not sure that solving business problems is easier if you lie on the couch or sit in a chair. Lying meetings relax, create a frivolous atmosphere. And because of this, the transaction can turn out to be frivolous and inefficient. At business meetings, we usually stand. And, in my opinion, it helps not to waste time on empty chatter.

AND AT THIS TIME

Can you become a Schwarzenegger without dumbbells?

Rejoice, couch potatoes. Another holiday has come to your street. Gan Yu, a physiologist from Cleveland, Ohio (USA), discovered that you don't have to get off the couch to build muscle.

Perhaps, without a sofa, Nikolai Nekrasov would not have thought of who would live well in Russia.

The scientist conducted experiments with lazy people from 20 to 35 years old. They had to imagine physical exercises in their minds. Think that they are bending their arm with force and straining their biceps.

During training, which took place five times a week, Gan Yu recorded electrical impulses in the brain. According to his hypothesis, the frequent excitation of certain nerve centers should have affected muscle tone. And so it happened. A few weeks later, the "thinking jocks" were 13.5 percent stronger than their counterparts in the control group, who did not think about exercise. And, moreover, they retained a good athletic shape for another 3 months after the end of training.

So lie down comfortably, focus and imagine how hard you are squatting, running, pulling up, jumping. And the especially conceited can even imagine that they are lifting a barbell weighing half a ton!

MIND GAMES

The tall men have matured

Anagrams are most often pairs of words made up of the same set of letters. It's interesting to find ones that make sense. For example, an orange is a spaniel.

Decide
anagrams of 5 letters, as Dr. Lipnitsky's volunteers did, is not the most difficult task.

For example:

rat - trotter
pump - pine
spring - canopy
reed - mouse

It is more difficult when there are a lot of letters. But intellectuals cope:

Belarusian - lumberjack
machine - wall
baroque - box
waterfall - supply

And absolutely wise men are much more likely to rearrange more than 10 letters:

pensioner - blushing
companion - hospital
indissolubility - old-fashionedness

And humorists also joke through anagrams:

saw - strangled
hung - left-handed
tekla - chick
rot - clay
trample - mail
warm up - beast

Winston Churchill:

"I never stood if I could sit down, and I never sat if I could lie down."

This is how the British Prime Minister explained the secret of his longevity.