Mental acuity is a measure of the sharpness of the human mind. The measure of mental acuity generally considers focus, memory, concentration, and comprehension, but does not measure intelligence. This is a way of talking about how well or poorly the brain works, not about its ability to perform complex functions or how much a person has learned in their lifetime.
While there are many mental acuity tests available, most people use mental acuity estimates not as a way to measure how smart someone is, but as a way to find out if someone's brain is working better or worse than expected. normal due to factors such as distraction, illness or fatigue.
A decrease or increase in mental abilities is sometimes difficult to measure because a person's mental acuity is individual. This means that even if brain function could be considered low for a person's age group, that does not always imply a loss of brain function. It is important to think about a person's initial sharpness and the loss of caliber or improvement in function from that standardized degree of sharpness. Often, people themselves recognize a change in mental function before other people begin to notice the effects, and are therefore able to recognize that change as a symptom better than anyone else.
Some factors dramatically affect mental acuity, and often in ways that cannot be changed. Alzheimer's disease is often characterized by causing severe and permanent loss of mental acuity. Other medical problems that affect the brain, such as cancer or encephalitis, can cause decreased mental acuity. Long-term drug use can also cause permanent damage that will affect the brain's ability to function long after the drugs have left the user's system.
There are also short-term situations that can have a negative effect on mental acuity. Some drugs act on the brain in such a way that mental acuity decreases. Other conditions, such as being excessively tired or extremely stressed, can make it difficult for the brain to perform tasks that it usually has no difficulty with. Distractions can also result in an apparent decreased mental acuity, whether these distractions are internal worries or external interruptions. Most of these problems are isolated, and acuity returns after the disorder resolves and the brain has had time to adjust.
It is also possible to improve mental functions by participating in activities and strategies that promote these functions. Certain dietary measures are believed to improve mental acuity, either in the short or long term. Staying engaged in mental activities, such as learning a language or playing a complex game, can also improve overall mental function. Exercise is also believed to improve these functions by improving blood flow. Mental acuity can be variable even for the same person and has a lot to do with the body in general, so it is important to take the best possible care of the body to achieve the best possible results from the mind.