7 Quotes From Neuroscientists That Will Revolutionize Brain And Mind Health, Fitness And Wellness

Are you interested in improving your attention, memory, thinking skills, ability to cope 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 the principals newspapers like the New York Times, which are increasing their coverage of the growing movement of games and “brain training” technologies.

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

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

1) “Learning is physical. Learning means modifying, growing and pruning our neurons, connections -called synapses- and neural networks, through experience… we are cultivating our own neural networks.” – Dr. James Zull, Professor of Biology and Biochemistry at Case Western University.

2) “Exercising our brains consistently is just as important as exercising our bodies. In my experience, ‘Use it or lose it’ should really be ‘Use it and get more of it.'” Dr. Elkhonon Goldberg, neuropsychologist, clinical professor of neurology at New York University School of Medicine, and a disciple of the great neuropsychologist Alexander Luria.

3) “People who lead mentally stimulating lives, through education, occupation and leisure activities, have a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s symptoms. Studies suggest they have a 35-40% lower risk of developing disease” – Dr. Yaakov Stern, Division Leader, Division of Cognitive Neuroscience, Sergievsky Center, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York.

4) “What the 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 are distinguished by the structuring of their learning process… It is necessary to protect and optimize that practice, the 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 get wrapped up in them and learn to manage 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 Institutet and Director of the Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience Laboratory, part of the Stockholm Brain Institute.

7) “I don’t see schools applying the best knowledge about how the mind works. Schools should be the best place for applied neuroscience, taking the latest advances in cognitive research and applying it to the work of educating the mind.” – Dr. Arthur Lavin, Clinical Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Case Western School of Medicine, pediatrician in private practice.

If you’re interested in learning more about this exciting field of “brain fitness” and “brain fitness,” stay tuned. Over 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, Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Oregon. His most recent book is The Adolescent Brain: Reaching for Autonomy. The Education Press Association of America has awarded him two Distinguished Achievement Awards for his research syntheses in cognitive science.

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