14 weird brain exercises that help you get smarter

Stores are designed to have the most profitable items at eye level, and when you shop you don’t really see everything there.

Brain exercise: Stop in any aisle and look at the shelves, top to bottom. If there’s something you’ve never seen before, pick it up, read the ingredients and think about it. You don’t have to buy it to benefit; you’ve broken your routine and experienced something new.

Art activates the nonverbal and emotional parts of the cerebral cortex. When you create art, you draw on parts of your brain interested in forms, colours and textures, as well as thought processes very different from the logical, linear thinking that occupies most of your day.

Brain exercise: Ask each person to draw something associated with a specific theme like a season, an emotion or a current event.

Scientific research has repeatedly proved that social deprivation has severe negative effects on overall cognitive abilities.

Brain exercise: Thirsty? Buy a drink from a person rather than a vending machine. Need gas? Pay the clerk at the counter rather than just swiping your credit card at the pump.

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When we read aloud or listen to reading, we use very different brain circuits than when we read silently to ourselves.

Brain exercise: Read aloud with your partner or a friend, alternating roles of reader and listener. It may be slow to get through a book, but as a bonus you’ll spend quality time together.

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Your olfactory system can distinguish millions of odours by activating unique combinations of receptors in your nose. There’s a direct link to the emotional centre of your brain, so new odours may evoke unexpected feelings and associations.

Brain exercise: Choose a cuisine unfamiliar to you, and browse the variety of novel vegetables, seasonings and packaged goods.

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Source: RD.com