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NEW EXERCISES FOR THE BRAIN THAT ARE SIMPLE · Your Daily Dose

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  Speaker 1: So here's a question for you as you begin your
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  Speaker 1: September 21st. I think this is the first day of fall,
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  Speaker 1: believe it or not. Summer is finally over. It's still
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  Speaker 1: going to be 90 degrees here. It's 79 degrees right now.
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  Speaker 2: But we love it. Are you right-handed or left-handed? Here's
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  Speaker 2: a question for you.
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  Speaker 1: If you're right-handed like me, think about what happens to
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  Speaker 1: your brain if you happen to use your left hand
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  Speaker 1: to open a bottle. work outside, do something where you're
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  Speaker 1: actually utilizing your left arm. I want you to think
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  Speaker 1: about that, and we're going to give you some things
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  Speaker 1: that happen to the brain when that happens.
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  Speaker 2: Hi, and welcome to Health Talk with Dr. Len, your
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  Speaker 2: daily dose.
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  Speaker 1: The information you hear on this show is informational. It's
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  Speaker 1: not meant to diagnose or treat any disease. Any kind
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  Speaker 1: of complete health conditions must be checked out and discussed
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  Speaker 1: with your primary care physician.
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  Speaker 2: Get ready for the good news of the day. God
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  Speaker 2: bless you folks.
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  Speaker 1: And here is Dr.
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  Speaker 3: Lent.
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  Speaker 1: Our daily devotional today comes from the book of 1
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  Speaker 1: Kings chapter 19. Wait quietly in my presence while my
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  Speaker 1: thoughts form silently.
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  Speaker 2: In the depths of your being.
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  Speaker 1: Do not try to rush this process because hurry keeps
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  Speaker 1: your heart earthbound. I am the creator of the entire universe,
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  Speaker 1: yet I choose to make my humble home in your heart.
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  Speaker 1: It is there when you know me most intimately. It
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  Speaker 1: is there where I speak to you in holy whispers.
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  Speaker 1: Ask my Holy Spirit to quiet your mind so that
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  Speaker 1: you can hear my still, small voice within you. I
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  Speaker 1: am speaking to you continually words of life, peace, love.
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  Speaker 1: Tune your heart to receive these messages of abundant blessing.
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  Speaker 1: Lay your requests before me and wait in expectation. Stay tuned.
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  Speaker 3: 727-916-4215. Spoiler alert. There's a health tip going around saying
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  Speaker 3: if you brush your teeth with your non-dominant hand.
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  Speaker 2: You can reverse dementia.
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  Speaker 1: Untested, unproven, but that doesn't mean switching everyday tasks to
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  Speaker 1: the other hand does not benefit your brain at all.
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  Speaker 1: What scientists do know is that it strengthens specific regions
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  Speaker 1: of your brain for the same reasons puzzles, new hobbies,
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  Speaker 1: or earning a degree does.
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  Speaker 2: It's challenging.
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  Speaker 1: That's exactly why right-handed Victoria Brownlee uses her left hand
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  Speaker 1: for daily tasks. While it might seem odd that she's
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  Speaker 1: choosing to fumble her toothbrush, write allegedly, make bigger messes
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  Speaker 1: while mopping, and smear mascara on her eyelids, her goal
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  Speaker 1: as a woman who struggles with ADHD is sharper focus.
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  Speaker 1: It's not about making ADHD go away, she said. It's
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  Speaker 1: about making me more present in the moment, being more focused,
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  Speaker 1: being more intentional in what I'm doing, being more aware
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  Speaker 1: of what I'm doing.
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  Speaker 2: The benefits of using.
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  Speaker 1: Your non-dominant hand aren't limited to people with ADHD. Anyone
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  Speaker 1: who has let ordinary tasks become mindless automatic habits, which
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  Speaker 1: is to say nearly everyone, stands to gain something. Performing
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  Speaker 1: activities with your non-dominant hand helps because novel activities challenge
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  Speaker 1: the brain, according to Dr.
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  Speaker 2: Ahmed Arak, a neurologist at UCLA.
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  Speaker 1: The brain likes to be challenged, and when you practice
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  Speaker 1: to overcome that challenge, you That's an internal stimulation for
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  Speaker 1: the brain in terms of improving its functions. Practicing a
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  Speaker 1: complex task with that non-dominant hand would certainly be more
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  Speaker 1: unusual thing to do, and that certainly would induce some
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  Speaker 1: plasticity events. In other words, doing something out of the
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  Speaker 1: ordinary strengthens neurons and improves the connection between them, calling neuroplasticity.
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  Speaker 1: It acts as a protective strategy against cell decline that's
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  Speaker 1: associated with neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's, and today, is
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  Speaker 1: Alzheimer's Research Day. Researchers have seen these neuroplastic changes in
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  Speaker 1: brain scans. In a study published in the Journal of
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  Speaker 1: Human Brain Mapping, 24 right-handed subjects practiced finger movements with
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  Speaker 1: their left hand for four weeks. Afterwards, scans showed thickening
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  Speaker 1: in the part of the brain's cortex involved in learning
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  Speaker 1: and motor skills, a region that typically thins with age.
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  Speaker 1: Areas beyond motor control remain unaffected by the study, meaning
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  Speaker 1: the exercises didn't induce.
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  Speaker 2: Broader brain benefits.
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  Speaker 1: Still, don't discount the benefits anytime the brain shifts into
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  Speaker 1: a mode that requires more attention and potentially more planning.
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  Speaker 1: Another reason the trick works is that our brain has
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  Speaker 1: two hemispheres, and switching to your non-dominant hand engages both sides. Normally,
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  Speaker 1: each hand is controlled by the opposite side of the brain,
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  Speaker 1: your right hand by your left hemisphere, and vice versa.
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  Speaker 1: Over years of practice, the hemisphere that controls your dominant
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  Speaker 1: hand builds up a deep library of fine-tuned motor skills
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  Speaker 1: for everyday tasks, almost like software that has been installed
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  Speaker 1: over time. When you switch to your non-dominant hand, the
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  Speaker 1: hemisphere that is now in control doesn't have that built-up
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  Speaker 1: skill library. It has to borrow it from the other side.
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  Speaker 1: This means the two hemispheres have to send.
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  Speaker 2: Signals back and forth and work to get the task done.
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  Speaker 1: It has to try to use those advantages, and you
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  Speaker 1: end up using both sides of your brain. Something else
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  Speaker 1: to remember is that most people... aren't right-handed or left-handed
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  Speaker 1: for everything. Rather, they have certain skills they do better
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  Speaker 1: with one side, like writing right-handed but throwing a ball left-handed.
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  Speaker 1: In other words, harder hand varies not only from person
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  Speaker 1: to person, but potentially all activity.
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  Speaker 2: Want to make it more challenging?
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  Speaker 1: Add activities such as writing and throwing a ball that
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  Speaker 1: require smooth, flowing content with accuracy and precision. Movement and
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  Speaker 1: thinking are closely linked. However, not all movement challenges the
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  Speaker 1: brain equally. Some activities recruit more areas of the brain
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  Speaker 1: than simple or gross motor activities. For instance, threading a
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  Speaker 1: needle takes more brain power, including a great deal of
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  Speaker 1: visual and sensory feedback than lifting a heavy bucket, which
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  Speaker 1: is primarily an act of brawn. Using our non-dominant hand
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  Speaker 1: for something we do every day checks two boxes. It's novel,
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  Speaker 1: it activates more parts of the brain, and makes the
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  Speaker 1: task genuinely difficult, and you'll check a third box too.
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  Speaker 2: If you want.
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  Speaker 1: To challenge your brain, being hard is the point. Think
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  Speaker 1: of the hardest thing you can do. That's exactly why
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  Speaker 1: Brownlee added adding mascara to her left-handed routine. Once you
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  Speaker 1: master a new task with your non-dominant hand, consider a
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  Speaker 1: new activity. Think of it like graduating to a new
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  Speaker 1: level in a video game. The best part of her
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  Speaker 1: strategy is that she doesn't need a gadget, game, app,
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  Speaker 1: or more time of the day. Payoff extends beyond her brain.
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  Speaker 1: When she switches hands for a task every day, activates
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  Speaker 1: her full attention, and practices what's helped her as a nutritionist,
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  Speaker 1: be more mindful with loved ones and clients. She doesn't
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  Speaker 1: plan to stop and she suggests that to her clients too,
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  Speaker 1: to improve mindfulness around eating.
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  Speaker 2: That's cool stuff.
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  Speaker 1: For a day that we are actually focusing on Alzheimer's,
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  Speaker 1: let's try something with your left hand, okay?
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  Speaker 2: That's what we got for you today, folks. God bless.
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  Speaker 2: Talk to you soon.