It has been thought exercising your brain somehow can make you brainier. Some electronic games manufacturers also use this as a selling point. The more I think about it though the more I can't help but question how true it is. I really don't believe people become brainier with age, they just learn more and relative to their age so their intelligence is steady. However, I was intrigued to find an article about Mick Jagger starting up a new group called the Super Heavys on account all the musicians are famous, e.g. Joss Stone. There's four of them, but the other musicians don't mean a thing to me, I'm not good at knowing band members and their histories. Then in another on another tangent, curiosity led a search to find an article about life long musicians. It said they were more able to discern both music and voices in a crowded room, because a lifetime of experience had made their brain function to a point there was very little in the way of auditory perceptual degradation against much younger persons on similar tasks. In a big jump the literature suggests studying and playing music prevent the ageing process, mentally of course. I mean Micky looks what he is, 70th birthday this year. Old rich git, but a great musician. One thing I am sure the research did not look at was the long term effect copious amounts of alcohol or recreational drugs had on the long term professional musicians. They are not all like Sting, with pure bodies and into tantric sex yoga. He's in better shape than me. He'll be sure to live to 100, another old rich git for sure, but a great musician.
The thing is with all the cerebral challenges people can immerse themselves in you'd of thought our brains got bigger and we'd be a lot smarter, but it just is not the case. Not in any sense at all.
I'm presently learning the ukulele, it is my passion and my hobby. Playing it takes up time each day and I love it. In addition the research points out whatever you do it must be something which is participative. Not like armchair football fanatics, who scream at TV sets and don't actually bother going outside of the front door to do any exercise. For some reason I don't think singing a footy song counts as music, but I'm sure it makes them happy. It is a pet hate I have, football crazy men, who talk more passionately about the team they follow than their family, their wife, children or their pets. Like football is everything and if you can't talk football then you are not a member of the club. You are not worth talking to. I can't talk footy, I don't watch it unless it just happens to be on TV when I walk into the pub. But it means nothing to me. In fact I can say I care more about my ukulele (Harvey) than I do any football game. Well unless it happens to be my country playing, but I'll sit down during the national anthem or better go to the toilet, which is always a good time to relieve oneself.
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