That’s the claim of a lead article in an issue of Newsweek many years ago. The authors cite interesting evidence from a study conducted at an outstanding brain plasticity-oriented neuroscience research institute at the University of Illinois, where investigators have found that the kids with the fittest bodies are the kids with the fittest brains.…
1) First you have cancer. Saving your bacon requires a heavy dose of chemo. 2) The chemotherapy drugs generate diffuse, destructive physical changes in your brain. Memory and other cognitive abilities are affected. 3) Your mental decline, in aging, is now on a faster track, and you have now roughly doubled risk for the onset…
It’s Brain Awareness Week, and we’ll be hearing about breakthroughs in basic science that could lead to big advances in how we live. Yet, most of the discoveries will require decades of further work, before they help people. But, what if we had a time machine and could travel ahead to see which of…
Dr. Michael Merzenich conducted the seminal experiments that led to the discovery of lifelong plasticity — that the brain changes chemically, physically, and functionally based on sensory and other inputs at any age. Last year, Dr. Merzenich was made a Kavli Laureate, the highest honor in neuroscience. He has been elected to both the US National Academy…
You probably know that I strongly recommend that you spend 10-30 (or more) minutes every day at the brain gym (www.brainhq.com). For me, that’s 30 minutes spent on my laptop working on my BrainHQ Personal Trainer regimen when I first arrive in the morning at my office—but it could be almost anytime in my daily…
A few days ago, a young linebacker on the San Francisco 49ers, clearly destined to be a star player in the National Football League, hung up his cleats. Chris Borland, a highly honored University of Wisconsin player who had had a wonderful rookie NFL season, decided that the risks for his brain health were just…
I met yesterday with a former doctoral student, now a professor at the University of Texas in Dallas, Michael Kilgard. As a research fellow in my UCSF laboratory, Dr. Kilgard studied the conditions under which acetycholine enables brain plasticity—showing among other findings that large scale and highly useful plasticity can be achieved by pairing sensory…
Did you miss the “Neuroplasticity and Healing” Summit with the Dalai Lama, Dr. Michael Merzenich, Dr. Edward Taub, and Norman Doidge? Or did you find the video feed a bit lengthy and hard to understand? The wonderful Brain Science Podcast–long on the top of our “great neuroscience podcasts” lists–has created an excellent episode featuring highlights…
Of all the neuroscientists in the world, who had the honor of sharing the stage with the Dalai Lama last week? Our co-founder and chief scientist, Dr. Michael Merzenich, was chosen for a very special on-stage discussion with His Holiness that took place this past weekend week at the University of Alabama, Birmingham. The symposium,…