How to Increase Your Brain's Processing Speed

Here's an exercise that will actually increase your brain's processing speed. It will also strengthen attention skills, enhance working memory, and build visual manipulation skills. Try it. Many people can actually feel their brains working. This exercise, when done with intensity and frequency, will actually map new neural pathways in your brain. It really will make you smarter and think faster!




Steps: 

1. Enlarge the picture above by opening it in a new window.

2. From left to right, top to bottom, call out the direction the eyes are looking (from your perspective —"down, left, up, right...") Have someone time you. Do it without error in 30 seconds. Keep practicing until you can do it in only 15 seconds.

3. Try it from the face's perspective (as if you were the face looking out from the page – "down, right, up, left...".) It's harder, isn' t it! You have increased the difficulty by adding a second mental challenge (adjusting for the change in perspective). Don't worry though...your brain can adapt and grow!

4. Call out the color of each without error in 30 seconds. Get that time down to 15 seconds without error. Not too tough unless you are color blind! (but now comes the fun...)

5. Begin doing exercise 1 (above) but point your finger in the opposite direction each time ("down [point up], left [point right], up [point down]..."). You have added an element that requires divided attention. Once mastered, increase the difficulty by switching (point the direction the eyes are looking and call out the opposite direction) only when you come to a green face. Try substituting different colors. Keep track of your time and stay with it until each exercise flows quickly and smoothly. You will find yourself not only doing the familiar ones easier, but mastering each new variation faster as well. This is because your brain is growing new connections to handle the challenges!


Tips: 

Another Thing you can do is get a deck of playing cards, shuffle them up, and put one of each card in a row from Ace-King. Now shuffle it again and put the pile face down on the table. Pick up the top card and put in the pile that has the same card. Keep doing this until the deck is exhausted. Try and do it as fast as you can. Also, you can mix up the piles to make it harder. Or even use two or more decks at a time.