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

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 activity—shows that brain cells and new pathways continue to evolve throughout life…” says mainstream newspapers like the New York Times to increase its coverage of the growing movement of “brain training” games and technology.

An article titled “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 film-like visual feedback on 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 area and how it affects 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) “Systematic training of our brain is just as important as training our body. In my experience, “Use it or lose it” should actually be “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 recreational activities have a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer’s symptoms” 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 reasoning and performance, is really a set of skills that we can train in a systematic way.” – 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 and study time… It’s important to understand the role of emotions: they’re not ‘bad.’ They are very useful signals. It is important to become aware of them in order not to be devoured 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 with exercise” – 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’re interested in learning more about this exciting area of ​​brain fitness and brain training, stay tuned. In the coming weeks we’ll be releasing 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. He has received two Distinguished Achievement Awards from the Education Press Association of America for his syntheses of cognitive science research.

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

Thanks to Alvaro Fernandez