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we now
understand that our brains are highly
dynamic that they're changing all the
time and i always tell my students
that this change occurs from the womb to
the tomb so it makes us more accountable
for our lives and our lifestyle
uh day to day what we're doing with our
brains you know we should choose very
wisely what those behaviors are so that
we're shaping
that brain to be the brain that we want
to have at the end of the day so that's
why
it's my most favorite thing to say is
you know after this your brain will not
be the same you've changed
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we are born with a lot of neurons of the
nerve cells
like 86 billion we have in our brains
but
just like it's not helpful to have a big
pile of bricks with 86 billion bricks
it's not until you start to build them
and make structures out of those bricks
that they become
more functional efficient and
adaptive so it's our responsibility
through training through education
to help to organize and build neural
circuits that are healthy
and functional the key concept to
remember is that in terms of brain
change in terms of neuroplasticity
the single most important driver of that
is your behavior
an engaging lifestyle is important for
neuroplasticity
that may be getting out of our comfort
zones learning something new we've heard
during the pandemic that people are
baking bread or
learning a new language or learning to
play a new instrument
that's always great for our brain so it
shouldn't take a pandemic
to do that
today we define prosperity
being wealthy or we think it's great
to be able to pay people to do things
and be more automated and maybe just sit
in our chair and press buttons
but i don't think that's the way our
brains define prosperity
the richest scenario is a scenario in
which the brain is
an active player
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exercise i can't beat that drum enough
there's a lot of evidence now that
people who habitually exercise have
healthier brains into adulthood they're
better able to learn you're better able
to recall information
so when we engage in an experience we're
using certain areas of our brains and if
they are used
in association frequently they will
build what we call neural networks and
so you become
more proficient and more efficient with
these behaviors
mentally rehearsing things can really
help elite athletes do this all the time
and they'll run through their whole
gymnastics routine for example
in their brain and it's a really neat
tool because you think about
it from an elite athlete standpoint but
also then think about it maybe from a
patient who's had a stroke
it might not be safe for that patient to
get up and walk by themselves
but they certainly can mentally practice
walking and still
see a benefit from that rehearsal
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turns out when you have chronic pain the
brain starts to over interpret
any kind of signal of a sensation so
even a very light touch
can be perceived as painful even though
it's not causing tissue damage and as
you
lessen that over sensitivity the back
pain will also
start to get better i do recommend you
know writing down recordings so that you
can see
fluctuations and the data and go oh my
goodness
i changed this response and then this
got better
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our brain is an energy hog it only
occupies about two percent of our body
weight
but it demands about 20 of our body's
energy
if we're chronically stressed resources
that would go to
creating new neural circuits or even
immune functions are going to go
to how am i going to escape this
stressor so we may be mindful about
how much mental energy we're directing
to that and also
having effective coping strategies
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i might need a lot more practice than
you if we're both going to learn to
juggle
people change really differently and we
really need to understand why
those differences occur some of it may
be genetic
our brains do change with age young
learners are more neuroplastic they seem
to be faster and more able and in part
it may be because
they have this brain that hasn't changed
a lot yet it's very kind of
a blank slate
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our capacity even though it's not as
good as it was it's still
really remarkable and it's really
important for our brain health that you
continue to try to learn you continue
pushing on the boundaries of your
learning there have been several studies
for example that suggest
that people who routinely do the
crossword and have done so their whole
life they
have lower rates of dementia i've
introduced this term behavior ceuticals
in the sense that
behavior planning and activities hobbies
exercise being around friends that all
changes our neurochemistry as well
if you expose yourself to something new
you learn a new skill and you're forcing
your brain to become neuroplastic
and just by that effort you're making it
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healthier
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you