How A Neuroscientist Strengthens 5 Key Brain Regions Daily

In our body-conscious society, there's no shortage of workout routines to show you how to build muscle. But how do you train your brain?

After 30-plus years as a psychiatrist who uses functional brain SPECT imaging in clinical practice, it is clear to me that the more you use your brain, the better it will perform. When most people think about mental exercise, they think about crossword puzzles and other word games. This is a great start, but it's only one piece of a total brain workout.

Overall, the most powerful mental exercises involve learning new things and doing things you've never done before.

In general, the regions of your brain that you exercise will grow stronger, but the brain areas you don't use will shrink or atrophy1. What you need to do is find ways to challenge the parts of your brain you don't use on a regular basis.

The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is like your brain's CEO. It's involved in executive functions, such as planning, problem-solving, forethought, and follow-through.

To work this part of your brain, play language-based games (such as crossword puzzles, Wordle, Scrabble, Words With Friends, or Boggle) or strategy games (such as chess). You can also play Tetris, which also works the brain's parietal lobes and occipital lobes. Just be sure to limit your play to about 30 minutes a day for the best results.

Located below your temples and behind your eyes, the temporal lobes play an important role in mood stability, memory, learning, temper control, and auditory processing. There are many ways to strengthen this brain region. 

Practicing memorization is a potent strategy to improve temporal lobe function. One study found that reciting poetry or prose5 increased the size of the hippocampus, which is located in the temporal lobes.

If poetry isn't your thing, trying learning the names of all the U.S. presidents in order, reciting all the states alphabetically, or saying your favorite sports team's win-loss record for the past 20 years.

Situated on the top, back of the brain are the parietal lobes, which are involved in sensory processing (touch), spatial perception, sense of direction, and math calculations. 

To pump up your parietal lobes, try math-related games (such as Sudoku), juggling, or golf. One study6 found that just 40 hours of golf practice increased gray matter volume in the parietal lobes, as well as the occipital lobes.

The basal ganglia, a large set of structures located near the center of the brain, are involved in motivation, setting the body's anxiety level, forming habits, pleasure, and steadying motor movements. 

Situated at the back bottom part of the brain, the cerebellum is involved with motor coordination and thought coordination. This brain region plays a critical role in processing complex information.

Ways to boost activity in the cerebellum include coordination activities like racket sports (tennis, pickleball, and table tennis), dancing (be sure to learn new dance steps), tai chi, or basketball.

How to make mental exercise a daily habit

On a daily basis, I engage in mental exercise by learning something new. For example, I recently trained to become certified in eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR), which is a type of therapy that's highly beneficial for trauma survivors.

By far, my favorite brain-boosting activity is table tennis, which I believe is the world's best brain sport. This aerobic exercise gets your heart pumping and increases blood flow to the brain, which is great for overall brain function.

In addition, it works out nearly every region of my brain. Table tennis tests my reflexes (parietal lobes) and improves my hand-eye coordination (cerebellum). It requires me to have laser focus (PFC) so I can keep my eye on the ball as it travels through space and figure out the spins (parietal lobes). 

I also have to plan my shots (PFC) and come up with strategies to take advantage of my opponents' weaknesses (cerebellum). Then I have to follow through on my plans (PFC) and coordinate my shots so they go where I want them to (cerebellum).