Reading is to the mind what exercise is to the body.
'Don't worry about senility', my grandfather used to say.
If a brain is exercised properly, anyone can grow intelligence, at any age, and potentially by a lot. Or you can just let your brain idle - and watch it slowly, inexorably, go to seed like a sedentary body.
The U.S. has spent billions of dollars on educating and supporting teachers or developing curricula but no resources are applied to 'improving the brain' that a student brings to the classroom.
Brain power improves by brain use, just as our bodily strength grows with exercise. And there is no doubt that a large proportion of the female population, from school days to late middle age, now have very complicated lives indeed.
The mind, too, has its regimen. It needs gymnastics, just like the body does.
I love doing crosswords, it's so important to keep the brain going.
Your brain - every brain - is a work in progress. It is 'plastic.' From the day we're born to the day we die, it continuously revises and remodels, improving or slowly declining, as a function of how we use it.
People's brains work differently. The brain is like a muscle and you have to train it, keep it active, keep active in races. I notice if I haven't raced for a while. It's hard to see things clearly so you have to relearn that.
I'm always trying to tackle subjects that tax me and make me think. That's the key to staying young at heart. The brain has to be exercised the same as the rest of the body.
If you do not use a muscle or any part of the body, it tends to become atrophic. So is the case with the brain. The more you use it, the better it becomes.
Talking about smart thinking, The British-made 'Brain Training Podcast' is a brief daily workout for the mind that could easily get addictive.
I think the inner person is the most important.... I would like to see an invention that keeps the mind alert. That's what is important.
The mind must be trained, rather than the memory.
People talk about the brain weakening as it ages. Mine feels stronger.
My brain is fine.
If you exercise your mind, you're not going to get sick.
The brain is a tool that gets rusty without constant, albeit moderate, exercise.