Is it possible to increase your level of intelligence?

Intelligence shows how effectively different areas of the brain are connected. The better the different areas communicate with each other, the less effort is spent on processing information and solving problems.

Effective communication between brain regions can be compared to a well-designed public transport system. When trying to get to point B, you need to take the subway and pass one station. An inefficient system is when you first need to travel 10 stops on the bus, walk to the next stop, and travel 4 more.

To improve your physical or cognitive abilities, you need to work hard. If you want to improve your running skills, you need to eat correctly and run regularly, then, to increase your brain's efficiency, you need to learn something new and improve your skills constantly.

The brain is a plastic organ. This means that it can adapt to the level of stress at the physiological level. For example, in pianists (due to long motor practice), the areas of the motor cortex that are responsible for controlling the movements of the hands and fingers reach larger sizes. London taxi drivers have an enlarged back of the hippocampus, which is responsible for navigation in space. New knowledge and training of new skills can lead to anatomical changes in the brain (but really noticeable changes will require significant effort and time).

What you can do for your brain to increase its efficiency:

1. To make the brain function properly, you need to satisfy the basic needs of sleep, nutrition, and physical activity.

2. Learn new things. Involve yourself in unusual situations. Just continuing to do what you know won't help you. The brain doesn't need to adapt (form new connections or strengthen old ones) when you do familiar things.

3. The more practice, the better. If you want to improve your spatial orientation skills, stop using GPS. If you want to learn a new language, use online translators as little as possible.