Lost in Translation

Think Smart: A Neurologist's Prescription for Improving Your Brain's Performance

I skimmed this book on brain health and learned some interesting things. I've always felt that missionaries, pastors, and seminary professors need to take care of themselves. As we seek to share God's Word, we must devote much energy towards studying.

A lesser emphasized point is that we must spend time taking care of our bodies (which directly affects our brain and thus our ability to think well). For biblical proof, note that Paul says that God is "for the body" (1 Cor. 6:13) and that our body is the "temple of the Holy Spirit" (1 Cor. 6:19). Obviously our body can become a god to us if we overemphasize it, but we must not neglect its care either.

Here are a few points about our brains that were new for me:

• Our bad cholesterol level affects every aspect of our health, including the ability of our brain to function well. This is an important point for me to read, as the doctor said that I need to lower my bad cholesterol levels.
  
• Our short term memories are stored in the frontal lobes of our brain. We need to develop this part by intentionally trying to hold different things in our memory at the same time (work it a little), and by trying to remember things that we should know (Google doesn't help here).
  
• Memory experts use the part of the brain that deals with spatial relationships to remember things. For example, a man who could recite about 10,000 digits of pi saw all of the numbers in a landscape of colors and sounds. Now, I can't do that, but I have tried to view the Bible as a spatial entity. For example, I almost see Romans as a cathedral in my mind. People sometimes wonder how I can remember passages so well and that's how I do it. I don't just think of a the numbers of a Bible reference, but think about the book like a building and note where I'm at in the building.
  
• Working on memorization or on a certain skill is only effective up to a certain point on any given day. Your brain needs a night of rest to cement the memorization or the new skill. In other words, writing your whole sermon on Saturday night is not the best way to recall your study on Sunday.
  
• People who have an advanced degree (or extensive informal study) are less likely to suffer from Alzheimer's disease (or at least it staves it off). Along a related note, watching TV is one of the worst things we can do for our brains. In contrast, reading a book or writing or even playing video games can help us develop our God-given mental capacities.