How To Supercharge Your Brain

The ability to build new neural connections and rewire existing ones is known as neuroplasticity. The old thinking? You can accomplish this only when you’re young (we’re talking teen years, people). The reality: It’s possible at any stage and age, if you know what to do. For years, neuroscientists were seriously bah-humbug about the brain. They pretty much thought it was a static lump that just declined over time. But recently (as in, the past 30 years—a blink of an eye in the research world), they realized they had it wrong. Really effing wrong. Here’s what the latest, most exciting science reveals: The brain is malleable, like a muscle, able to continuously grow cells and make brand-new connections. “We now know that you can change the machinery in the brain to refine how it operates, boost its reliability, and continuously get sharper, speedier, and just plain better at everything you do,” says Michael Merzenich, PhD, a professor at the University of California at San Francisco and founder of the Brain Plasticity Institute. Um, yes, please! But here’s the key: You have to take a peek under the hood and learn a little about the inner workings—something many of us neglect to do, says Merzenich. Don’t feel bad—it’s not just you, he assures. “Brain health is an almost entirely ignored area of human health,” he says. “We pay almost no attention to it until it crashes and becomes dysfunctional in some way.” Where we’re devoting the least attention to learning more? Women’s brain health, sadly. And new stats are sounding the alarm bells: We’re more than twice as likely as men to have an autoimmune disorder that affects the brain (like multiple sclerosis), three times more likely to get migraine headaches, and much more at risk for stroke or a […]

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