Mental push ups

Saw this article on improving brain function and thought it was interesting.

According to Dr. Bernard Croisile, there are five daily activities you can do to sharpen your cognitive skills. To my female readers, keep in mind it's on the Askmen.com website, so you'll probably need to do two sets of the suggested exercises.

I and just about everyone I know have brain farts. (Sorry, not ready to call them senior moments yet. Besides, I have a 7-year-old boy -- our world is six degrees of separation from farts.) And we'll take all the help we can get to improve memory, attention and ... um, whatever else we use our brains for.

Most of these things I do already, like math in my head while driving. Apparently, it helps strengthen your attention span. It keeps me awake at the wheel.

Of course, it may all be a crock -- one part of the article suggests that these exercises help maintain efficiency when multitasking and it's written for men ...

'Nuf said.

But we could all use some mental push ups or sit ups or pull ups now and then. And if occasionally rearranging my desk, reading a story a day in the science or business section or kicking ass and taking names in the Webkinz World arcade keeps me sharp enough to wear my shirt right side out or give my kids milk money, then I'm all for it.