STIMULATE YOUR BRAIN AND MIND MORE EVERY YEAR
When we were students studying anatomy and physiology, the structure and function of the human body, we found that the brain was both complex and simple to understand. The structure and function of the brain were very complex with the parts of the brain having peculiar names, like hippocampus. However, there was one simple fact that was helpful. The brain we were born with, we were told, did not grow or develop. It could, and probably would, be damaged by disease but the nerve cells or neurons would not develop or change. They would just gradually reduce in number.
That teaching was wrong. The brain is an organ that can grow and develop and the term that has entered research and education about the brain is plasticity – neuroplasticity. Plastic, what does that word convey to you? One implication is of a material that is hard and strong and shiny, like metal but lighter, but the great advantage of plastic is that you can change its form easily. Just heat it and bend it or transform it from a plastic toy car to a plastic spoon or vice versa! The brain is plastic and neuroplasticity means that the brain can develop throughout life. New networks of nerve cells develop as a result of learning because the nervous system is not simply like a set of electric cables running to and from the brain to the foot or the hand or the eye. It is better to think of it as a set of networks, like the London Underground with people who can use it in a million ways, and even find new routes in their seventies and beyond.
When we were students studying anatomy and physiology, the structure and function of the human body, we found that the brain was both complex and simple to understand. The structure and function of the brain were very complex with the parts of the brain having peculiar names, like hippocampus. However, there was one simple fact that was helpful. The brain we were born with, we were told, did not grow or develop. It could, and probably would, be damaged by disease but the nerve cells or neurons would not develop or change. They would just gradually reduce in number.
That teaching was wrong. The brain is an organ that can grow and develop and the term that has entered research and education about the brain is plasticity – neuroplasticity. Plastic, what does that word convey to you? One implication is of a material that is hard and strong and shiny, like metal but lighter, but the great advantage of plastic is that you can change its form easily. Just heat it and bend it or transform it from a plastic toy car to a plastic spoon or vice versa! The brain is plastic and neuroplasticity means that the brain can develop throughout life. New networks of nerve cells develop as a result of learning because the nervous system is not simply like a set of electric cables running to and from the brain to the foot or the hand or the eye. It is better to think of it as a set of networks, like the London Underground with people who can use it in a million ways, and even find new routes in their seventies and beyond.
- by learning new skills, preferably by engaging in purposeful work- Work your brain even harde
- by increasing contact and interaction with other people to avoid isolation and depression
- by Keeping your hearing and your vision as sharp as possible to keep receiving stimulation