Water lilies double in area every 24 hours. At the beginning of the summer there is one water lily on a lake. It takes 60 days for the lake to become covered with water lilies. On what day is the lake half covered?
How does your mind work when you read a brainteaser like this? Is it tickled pink -- or tormented to tears? Is it too tired to tackle the task? Do you spend time puzzling over an answer, or lose interest if it doesn`t jump right out at you? Do you logically begin counting lily pads from day one? Or, without much apparent effort, does your mind leap to the solution? If the lake is totally covered on day 60, it must be half covered on . . . why, day 59, of course. Why didn`t I think of that?!
We all have days when our thinking is fuzzy, our logic defies reason, when we can`t for the life of us remember some name or fact that was so familiar just the day before. On days like those you might want to trade in your gray matter for a new, improved model with rechargeable batteries and a software system that lets you discover the unknown secrets of the universe in one easy lesson.
Unfortunately, we have to make do with what Mother Nature has given us. Luckily, that`s usually more than adequate. But it doesn`t mean we can`t make better use of the brainpower we do have. Here is one way to do just that.
Posture can help
Ever feel like you just can`t think straight? Check to see if your posture is putting a crimp on the blood supply to your brain, says Dr. E. Fritz Schmerl, teacher of gerontology at Chabot College, Hayward, Calif.
``The brain needs up to 30 times more blood than other organs,`` Schmerl says. ``But allowing your upper body to sag -- with rounded shoulders, head hung over and chin jutting outward -- can create kinks in the spine that squeeze the two arteries passing through the spinal column to the brain, causing an inadequate blood supply.`` The result? ``Fuzzy thinking and forgetfulness, especially as we age,`` says Schmerl.