7 quotes from neuroscientists that will revolutionize brain and mind health, fitness, and well-being

7 quotes from neuroscientists that will revolutionize brain and mind health, fitness, and well-being

Are you interested in improving your attention, memory, thinking skills and ability to deal with stressful situations? Good news: "Recent research on neuroplasticity—the brain's ability to change in response to information and new activities—shows that brain cells and new pathways continue to develop throughout life..." say mainstream newspapers like the New York Times are increasing their coverage of the growing movement of "brain training" games and technologies.

An article called “Mind Over Matter, With a Machine’s Help” provides a great overview of how to combine cognitive therapy with fMRI (an advanced neuroimaging technique that provides movie-like visual feedback about which areas of the brain are being activated). Another article entitled “Calisthenics for the Older Mind, on the Home Computer” reviews a number of commercial software packages.

I interviewed 10 neuroscientists and experts in cognitive and emotional training to better understand the research behind this field and its impact on our lives. Let me share some of my favorite quotes with you:

1) "Learning is physical. Learning is the modification, growth and pruning of our neurons, connections - called synapses - and neural networks through experience...we cultivate our own neural networks." – Dr. James Zull, professor of biology and biochemistry at Case Western University.

2) "Systematically training our brains is just as important as training our bodies. In my experience, "Use it or lose it" should actually mean "Use it and get more of it." – Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg, neuropsychologist, clinical professor of neurology at New York University School of Medicine and student of the great neuropsychologist Alexander Luria.

3) “Individuals who lead intellectually stimulating lives through education, work, and leisure activities have a lower risk of developing Alzheimer's symptoms, according to the Cognitive Neuroscience Division of the Sergievsky Center at the College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University, New York.

4) “What research has shown is that cognition, or what we call thinking and performance, is really a set of skills that we can systematically train.” – Dr. Daniel Gopher, Professor of Cognitive Psychology and Human Factors Engineering at the Technion Institute of Science.

5) “Elite artists excel at structuring their learning process… They need to protect and optimize that practice, learning time… It is important to understand the role of emotions: they are not “bad.” They are very useful signals. It is important to become aware of them so as not to be consumed by them and to learn how to deal with them.” – Dr. Brett Steenbarger, Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, SUNY Medical University, and author of Enhancing Trader Performance.

6) “We have shown that working memory can be improved through training” – Dr. Torkel Klingberg, professor at the Karolinska Institute and director of the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Lab, part of the Stockholm Brain Institute.

7) "I don't see schools applying the best knowledge of how the mind works. Schools should be the best place for applied neuroscience, taking the latest advances in cognitive research and applying them to the task of educating the mind." – Dr. Arthur Lavin, associate clinical professor of pediatrics at Case Western School of Medicine, pediatrician in private practice.

If you would like to find out more about this exciting area of ​​“brain fitness” and “brain training”, stay tuned. In the next few weeks we will be publishing new interviews with:

– Dr. Judith S. Beck, director of the Beck Institute for Cognitive Therapy and Research and author of The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person.

– Dr. Robert Sylwester, professor emeritus of education at the University of Oregon. His latest book is The Adolescent Brain: Reaching for Autonomy. The Education Press Association of America has given him two Distinguished Achievement Awards for his syntheses of cognitive science research.

Now you know: Diet, exercise and stress management are very important for your brain health and fitness, but you can also train and improve your “mental muscles”!

Inspired by Alvaro Fernandez