Many habits contribute to poor brain health, but four areas can have the most influence. They are too much sitting, lack of socializing, inadequate sleep, and chronic stress.
Physical damage to the brain and the spinal cord can also kill or disable neurons. Damage to the brain caused by shaking or hitting the head, or because of a stroke, can kill neurons immediately or slowly, starving them of the oxygen and nutrients they need to survive.
The daily decline is approximately one IQ point for the first hour of sleep loss, two for the next, and four for the next. After five successive days of sleeping less than you need, your IQ can be lowered by up to 15 points.
Interestingly, there was no significant correlation between stress and IQ, although stress was significantly correlated with EI and EI was significantly correlated with IQ. The correlations between stress and EI.
Smoking. Smoking kills. No other habit has been so strongly tied to death. In addition to cancer, smoking causes heart disease, stroke, lung diseases, diabetes, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which includes emphysema and chronic bronchitis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Often it's easy to sabotage your mind by holding yourself to high expectations and unrealistic standards because that's the reality your brain is telling you to be a part of. Some of these habits include perfectionism, guilt-tripping, holding onto regret, and a failure mindset.
Psychology Today reported that intelligent people are likely to be nocturnal beings, with those with a higher IQ going bed later on both weeknights and weekends.
Those with an IQ of over 125 tended to go to bed around 12:30 a.m. and wake up around 8:00 a.m. on weekdays, and go to bed around 1:45 a.m. and wake up around 11:00 a.m. on weekends. Those of normal intelligence tended to sleep from 12:00 a.m. to 7:30 a.m. on weekdays and from 1:15 a.m. to 10:15 a.m. on weekends.
Scientists measuring sleepiness have found that sleep deprivation leads to lower alertness and concentration. It's more difficult to focus and pay attention, so you're more easily confused. This hampers your ability to perform tasks that require logical reasoning or complex thought. Sleepiness also impairs judgment.
Introverts also showed more activity in the frontal lobes, where analysis and rational thought take place. Another study that scanned brains of both introverts and extroverts found that, even in a relaxed state, the introverted brain was more active, with increased blood flow.
By doing things consistently, but in an unorthodox fashion, geniuses develop a lifestyle that is both habitual and creative. They tend to ground their passion and curiosity in well-established daily routines, rather than waiting for inspiration to strike.
What age is your mind the sharpest? The human brain attains peak processing power and memory around age 18. After studying how intelligence changes over time, scientists found that participants in their late teens had the highest performance.
When it comes to brain health, focus on the three B's : vitamins B6, B12, and B9 (folate). “These three types of B vitamins are necessary for the brain's normal functioning,” says Dr. Agarwal, “and any deficiency in them may increase the risk of memory loss and other forms of cognitive decline.”
