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Letting your mind wander boosts mental health

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Written By: Editorial Team | Published : October 25, 2014 4:35 PM IST

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Engaging brain areas linked to so-called 'off-task' mental activities such as mind-wandering and looking back at good times can actually boost performance on some challenging mental tasks, new research reveals.

The prevailing view is that activating brain regions referred to as the default network impairs performance on attention-demanding tasks because this network is associated with behaviours such as mind-wandering.

Like if you start thinking about what you did last weekend while taking notes during a lecture, for example, your note-taking and ability to keep up will suffer.

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'Our study is the first to demonstrate the opposite - that engaging the default network can also improve performance,' said Nathan Spreng, neuroscientist at Cornell University.

Spreng and his team developed a new approach in which off-task processes such as reminiscing can support rather than conflict with the aims of the experimental task.

While undergoing brain scanning, 36 young adults viewed sets of famous and anonymous faces in sequence and were asked to identify whether the current face matched the one presented two faces back.

The team found participants were faster and more accurate when matching famous faces than when matching anonymous faces. This better short-term memory performance was associated with greater activity in the default network.

'The results show that activity in the default brain regions can support performance on goal-directed tasks when task demands align with processes supported by the default network,' Spreng added.

The paper was published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Diet tips to boost and improve mental health

It is also important to watch what you are eating to keep your mental health on track. Here are some tips by diet expert Tina Khanna to boost mental health and prevent mental disorders.

  1. Incorporate foods of different colours on your plate. The more the colours the more antioxidant rich your meals get, which helps in healing damaged nerve cells.
  2. Green leafy vegetables, tomatoes, beetroot, pomegranate, eggs, soy and herbs are some foods that allow holistic mind healing.
  3. Eggs are a source of choline, another important nutrient that is involved in neural message transmission.
  4. Ensure your diet is rich in protein. Proteins release feel good hormones (seretonin) in the body.
  5. Reduce your carbohydrate intake, as carbs tend to spike sugar levels, and can actually leave you drained and depressed. Although sugar is an instant pick-up but the slump that follows is depressive.
  6. Alcohol has the same effect. So avoid drinking.
  7. Sometimes low level of calcium may also affect mental wellness. So get your calcium levels checked. According to Jeetika, Theta Healer at Desidieter.com calcium supplements may improve decision making capabilities of an individual with low self esteem. Read here for more such easy tips.

With inputs from IANS

Image source: Getty Images

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