How To Become Smarter: Enhancing Intelligence And Boosting Brainpower

Reading time: 5 minutes

Lose 100 pounds of fat? Sure. Lift 700 pounds of iron? Doable. But increase your intelligence? Nope. At least that’s what most people believe. We are told that our genetics are the determining factor on how smart we’ll become and there’s not much that we can do about it.

This theory has been proven false. More and more legitimate research is being published that shows just the opposite: using targeted brain training one can improve different aspects of their intelligence.

But not only can you increase your intelligence, you can also make your brain work better by eating the right foods and taking the right supplements. Even exercise has shown to help your smarts, as it can help create new brain cells (neurogenesis).

So what should you do? How can you improve your working memory, which supplements can help protect your brain? In the following I will report my findings on this fascinating topic.

Dual N Back And Lumosity: Brain Training

1.    Dual N Back: Dual N Back is a game that bases off of the original N back game. Although the application is simple by design, it requires all of your attention and can lead to frustration relatively quickly. Explaining how the game works is a difficult task, the best way to learn it is by playing the game yourself a few times. But I’ll give it a shot: There’s a screen made up of 9 square boxes. (Picture: “IQ Boost” App)

Every few seconds, one of the squares (except the middle one) goes red for a brief moment. Simultaneously, a voice tells you a letter. 

It’s your job to memorize which square turned red and which letter was said along with it. There are different “N backs” in the game: lets take 2 back as an example. If you’re playing 2 back, you have to always remember the last two squares that turned red and also the two matching letters. Then, when for the third time a square alights and a letter is said, you have to check if it matches either the letter, square or both (or none). If it’s a matching letter, press “audio”. A matching square requires you to press “visual” and if both categories match, press both. If there’s no match, you don’t need to press anything.

You’ll find that each dual n back program is a little different, but all adhere to the same principles I just stated. My favourite version is called “IQ Boost” which is only available for your smartphone. You can however get many different versions for free on your computer as well.

Now let’s look at the exciting part, the science. At this stage I’d like to point out however, that I am by no means a neurologist or biologist. What I’m sharing here is awesome research that I’ve come across and think is legit.

The idea of the dual n back task is to improve your “fluid intelligence” (Gf). Fluid intelligence is basically “responsible” for logical thinking and problem solving. The flag ship study that brought attention to the dual n back program was done by Susanne M. Jaeggi and Martin Buschkeuhl among others. Students where prescribed a dual n back training program and had their fluid intelligence tested before and after the training. The results? An increase in fluid intelligence was evident.

I train an average of 7 minutes per day on the dual n back task, in the informed belief that it will help my intelligence. If you’d like to go deeper into this topic, I’d recommend you to read the following: https://www.bulletproofexec.com/how-to-add-2-75-iq-points-per-hour-of-training/

http://www.amazon.com/Smarter-Science-Building-Brain-Power/dp/1594631271/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414088823&sr=1-1&keywords=smarter+dan+hurley

2. Lumosity Another brain training tool I use is called Lumosity. It seems like a well backed up brain-training program, as there are numerous studies that suggest benefits from doing it. I use the free version about 3 times a week, it’s fun and challenging so I see no harm in doing it. Instead of explaining all the different games, just download their free app onto your smartphone, sign up for free and see how you enjoy it. If you’d like to see some of the research that suggests benefits of the program, check out the following link. http://cdn-hcp.lumosity.com/uploads/completed_research_post/original_paper_file/3/Ng-2012-ESCoNS.pdf

Those are the two brain training tools I use regularly and think very highly of. Both dual n back and Lumosity are for free (although you can pay for Lumosity to get more access) and they have science backing them up so I see no reason why one shouldn’t use them.

Smart Food: 3 Nutrients That Boost Brain Power

1.    Creatine. One of the most studied molecules in the fitness world, creatine has been shown to significantly increase muscle mass and physical performance. Not so well known however is its positive effects on boosting memory and brainpower. Creatine aids in the “fuelling” of your neurons (along side ATP) and therefore one can consider using it as part of a brain boosting, healthy lifestyle. If you're a vegetarian then you're in luck: studies have consistently shown better results in vegetarians then in omnivores. This has to do with the fact that vegetarians hardly get any creatine in their diet and therefore have lower creatine levels to begin with. Bottom line: if you're a vegetarian, creatine will most likely increase your brain's performance substantially, whereas if you're an omnivore the benefits of creatine supplementation will be milder. 

2.    Fish Oil (DHA). Docosahexaenoic acid, also known as DHA is a substance found in fish oil. It’s an essential building block for our brain (roughly 30% of your brain is DHA) and has been proven to be especially helpful in children. But there's also benefits for adults: improved brain functioning and prevention of cognitive decline are some of the benefits one can reap from consuming fish oil. Aside from its positive effects on the brain, the omega 3 fats that are in the fish oil are also a potent anti-inflammatory. It’s one of the few supplements I take on a regular basis and would recommend to almost anyone who isn’t eating enough fatty fish (most people are omega 3 deficient).

3.    Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT). MCTs are fats that are found extracted in MCT oil but are also naturally present in coconut oil, palm oil and butter. They’re a special type of fat, as they’re directly transported to the liver in their original form and then used for energy (unlike most fats, which are processed and reassembled in the intestine). MCTs are well known for their ketosis inducing properties. Without going into detail, ketosis is basically a state in which your body is using fat rather than carbohydrates for energy. Current science supports the idea that ketones are the preferred source of energy for your brain. From my own experience I can say that I tend to have more focused energy available for longer periods of time when I’m eating a higher fat/MCT and lower carbohydrate breakfast.

                There are a lot more nutrients and brain training games that I could include into this blog post. The cognitive enhancing methods I've listed here are the ones that I’ve found to have a lot of strong research behind them and they’re also methods that I use.

                 I hope you enjoyed this blog post! Comments of any kind are greatly appreciated!