Your Brain Health Matters!

On behalf of MDR-Your Brain Health Matters, it is my pleasure to introduce this monthly column on brain health. My intent with this column is to excite you about how powerful your brain is, teach you about the basics of your brain, the fact that you are empowered to shape your brain for health across your lifespan, and encourage specific lifestyle tips for a healthier and more resilient brain. I am blessed to have been involved in the modern-day birth of “brain health,” and my work over the past 25 years has been to teach the public about the miracle that sits between your ears and how we can shape our brains for health across the lifespan. Neuroscience has revolutionized our understanding of the human brain, and our potential to live healthy, longer lives makes this column timely.

The single greatest system ever designed in the history of this, or any universe, sits between your ears. There will never be anything that approximates the complexity and wonder of the brain and that is based on what we know today, which remains primitive. Weighing but three pounds, composed of 60% fat (fattiest part of your body) and demanding 25% of the blood and nutrients from every heartbeat, your brain is the source of your every thought, feeling, action, and dream. It is the epicenter of your identity and grand choreographer for your entire body.

Brain health is a dynamic process in which exposure to health promoting thoughts and environmental stimulation can shape the functional and structural integrity of the brain. In short, it matters the type of thoughts we have and the environmental input we expose our brains to.

It was in 1998, less than 30 years ago, that a landmark study was published in the Journal Nature that found the human brain can generate new brain cells (neurogenesis) into adulthood! At that time, we did not believe this was possible and certainly refuted Dr. Benjamin Spock’s “critical period of brain development” theory. New brain cell development or “neurogenesis” occurs primarily, though probably not exclusively, in the hippocampus-structure lying under each temple-temporal lobe critical to memory and new learning. As such, your life story is formed in the hippocampus, so it makes sense this structure (s) would be able to grow and heal. Damage to the hippocampus that occurs with chronic stress or Alzheimer’s disease (AD) robs one’s access to his or her life story and causes forgetfulness.

Neurogenesis is made possible due to “plasticity,” which is a term that means your brain is dynamic, constantly reorganizing, and malleable. It can be shaped by both internal thinking (what do you think of yourself?) and environmental input (positive or negative). This means we all are empowered to shape our brains, and my mission is to get everyone to shape their brains for health. When we engage in a lifestyle that promotes brain health, we are literally changing the structure and function of our brain, creating a brain that is not only healthier, but more resilient and capable of delaying onset of cognitive decline. This is technically known as building “brain resilience,” and again, this is possible because your brain has plasticity.

I authored a Brain Health Lifestyle® that incorporates five major pillars to brain health: Physical Activity, Mental Stimulation, Socialization, Spirituality, and Nutrition. There exist research-based activities within each of the five pillars that provide us a blueprint where we can implement across our lifespan that will help build brain resilience, promote healthier brain function, and human performance. Our ability to shape our brains for health and enhanced performance has been applied into major sectors of society, including education, business, finance, religion, media, digital health, fitness, sports, etc. After all, it is the human brain that is the epicenter for our health and performance.

Brain health is not a clinical process but serves to counter the reality that we do not have a prevention or cure for neurodegenerative disorders such as dementia with its leading cause Alzheimer’s disease. Of interest, Collier County ranks second of all counties in Florida in dementia cases per capita. We hope our scientists find a cure, but I decided to focus on a proactive approach to building as healthy and resilient a brain as possible so that if dementia manifests, we can delay onset of the clinical symptoms and maintain our independence for as long as possible. There is now robust research showing that lifestyle matters and we have control over the “modifiable risk factors” that make us vulnerable to the expression of dementia. This approach is also rich for policy and a national effort to get in front of the ravages caused by dementia.

The point of this first column was to introduce you to the most miraculous system in the universe that sits right within your head! You now know the basics of your brain and how it can be shaped by your thoughts, decisions, and exposure to environmental input. You appreciate the power of “plasticity and brain-resilience.” In the Your Brain Health Matters columns that follow, I will share the specific research-based activities with reasons why each promotes brain health so you can integrate and build your brain health lifestyle®.

It is an exciting time to be alive as we know more about the human brain and its power than ever before. I hope you are excited to learn more about your brain and how to shape your brain for health. I am most blessed to serve as a messenger for brain health, and now as the Chair of the Champagne Center for Brain Health, to bring the story of brain health to Marco Island and our surrounding region.

*You are welcomed to email me a question about the brain, clinical disorders affecting the brain, or brain health, and I will respond in a future article.