Does using the brain really strengthen it?
488147
You had better believe it....If we treat our machines like we treat our bodies, we would be considered as being reckless. Improving brain cells can be accomplished by (basically) the following points.\n\nSTAYING MENTALLY ACTIVE: Mentally stimulating activities strengthen brain cells and the connections between them, and may even create new nerve cells.\n \n REMAINING SOCIALLY ACTIVE: Social activity not only makes physical and mental activity more enjoyable, it can reduce stress levels, which helps maintain healthy connections among brain cells.\n \nSTAY PHYSICALLY ACTIVE:Physical exercise is essential for maintaining good blood flow to the brain as well as to encourage new brain cells. It also can significantly reduce the risk of heart attack, stroke and diabetes, and thereby protect against those risk factors for Alzheimer's and other dementias. \n \nADOPTING A BRAIN-HEALTHY DIET:Research suggests that high cholesterol may contribute to stroke and brain cell damage. A low fat, low cholesterol diet is advisable. And there is growing evidence that a diet rich in dark vegetables and fruits, which contain antioxidants, may help protect brain cells.
388871
Discipline.  The mind, which is associated with the human brain, is but a tool.  To get the maximum use out of any tool, one must practice.\n\nReading helps.  Working puzzles helps.  Answering questions helps.  Asking good questions helps.
1038604
in a proper way using your brain
553659
Yes. But it is very difficult to explain as the study of bio mechanics is in the early stages. As everyone knows it is possible to stimulate the brain by either electrical or chemical means. Our brain is active both electrically and chemically. I wish you pursue this line of study as it has huge potential.
673917
1. Food for thought - You are what you eat, and that includes your brain. So what is the ultimate mastermind diet?\n\n2. The Mozart effect - Music may tune up your thinking, but you can't just crank up the volume and expect to become a genius\n\n3. Gainful employment - Put your mind to work in the right way and it could repay you with an impressive bonus\n\n4. Memory marvels - Mind like a sieve? Don't worry. The difference between mere mortals and memory champs is more method than mental capacity\n\n5. Sleep on it - Never underestimate the power of a good night's rest\n\n6. Body and mind - Physical exercise can boost brain as well as brawn\n\n7. Nuns on a run - If you don't want senility to interfere with your old age, perhaps you should seek some sisterly guidance\n\n8. Attention seeking - You can be smart, well-read, creative and knowledgeable, but none of it is any use if your mind isn't on the job\n\n9. Positive feedback - Thought control is easier than you might imagine\n\n10. Bionic brains - If training and tricks seem too much like hard work, some technological short cuts can boost brain function\n\n11. Smart drugs - Does getting old have to mean worsening memory, slower reactions and fuzzy thinking?\n\n\n11 Steps to a Better Brain\nhttp://www.newscientist.com/channel/being-human/mg18625011.900
634302
the best time to exercise your brain would be while listening to someone attentively or while assimilating things!!!you don't need to make an extra effort to exercise..it automatically gets exercised in the process!!
223311
100%  That 10% saying is bogus.  All of the brain is being used for something, whether it's memory, moving muscles, regulating heartbeat etc.  There is a smaller portion of it used for consciousness.
174109
It is very good for the brain. It has been proven that aural stimulation helps infants and toddlers increase their IQ significantly. It appears that Mozart's music is the best, though I'm not sure I believe that to be entirely true. I find that a good variety of music is best. Don't limit yourself to a certain type or genre of music. Listen to all kinds if you can. Mix it up a bit. It's amazing what you learn through your subconscious as you listen.
128510
Yes, often. That's why we have our brain to help, but in many cases, there's the battle between the heart and the brain. And either of them can be the winer.
178018
You have your facts a little messed up. The truth is that we use all our brain. However, at any given moment, we are only using about 5% or less of our brain. This is why we can't do a million things at once and why some people have trouble chewing gum and walking at the same time. So while only 5% of our brain is in use at any given moment, there is not a single part of brain that does not perform a function and we do in fact use 100% of our brain throughout the day.
67101
This is a myth that humans only use '10%' of their brain.\n\nAt any given moment in time, subportions of the brain are activated.  But, over time, all parts of the human brain are activated.  Which parts are activated at any given moment have to do with the functions of those parts of the brain and what associations have been established there.  The brain just isn't wired to have all neurons firing at once.\n\nThe evidence of what parts of the brain fire and when is being accumulated by having people perform specific tasks while having their heads scanned by CAT and PET scanners.  These are creating maps of the activity.
1070071
NO--the brain is the instrument ---the mind is the performer
651111
EDIT: Half of my answer didn't post for some reason.\n\nScientists have been studying this for years, but never have found an answer.\n\nWhen I spoke to a deaf woman about this idea, this is what she said: "When I think about what I am going to say, I think about it in sign and I sometimes sign in my sleep.  However, when I read something (because there is no written version of sign language) I think about it in English.  Concepts are created visually more often than in English."\n\nFor an actual study, when presented with a stimulus, the visual and language areas of the brain become active, whereas in a hearing person, the auditory and language areas of the brain become active.  While they are processed differently, the language area of the brain is used at all times.\n\nThe only other help I can offer is a study on Genie, a girl who was locked up and unsocialized until about the age of twelve.  While she was able to be somewhat rehabilitated and learn some basic vocabulary, she never figured out how to put complex sentences together, which was thought to show she was not capable of complex thought.  However, the data was compromised because it was thought that she may be mentally challenged.
97768
The function of optimizing neural paths in the brain is simply to reduce workload on the brain when we need it. When a lot of things happen at once and we need to take a quick and good action, you don't want too much of the brain to be occupied with other things. So it's logical to assume that it optimizes itself. We use a lot more of the brain when we learn new things, and learning in itself increases intellect. The brain gets better at optimizing, but also at using learning processes and adapting view points, or using the body. I would think that the statement merely talks about normal activity not use.
267113
No, we use all of our brains. The "10% use of brains" urban legend is completely false.
147724
The 10% myth is a myth, and has no scientific basis.  Please refer to the link.\n\nAs for your question, "brain storage" is not a quanitifiable notion because human brains are not digital.  You can easily count the digits in a digital computer storage device, but the simple truth is that the human brain does not resemble a digital storage device at all.  Besides that, I doubt that you could point at any person of any gender that maximized capacity, so capacity isn't even really an issue.  No one has learned so much that further learning bcomes impossible.  Computer discs fill up, but brains do not.
1022015
The brain that does the work grows the dendrites [does the learning].  Get to work.