Our Amazingly Plastic Brains

Photo credit:The Wall Street Journal

If one day there was a drug on the market that could decrease your chance of developing dementia by 60%, would you consider taking it? But there is something we can all do right now, which is one of the interesting points made by Dr. Norman Doidge, author of The Brain’s Way of Healing.

In a Wall Street Journal article, Doidge writes about a 30-year British study at the Cochrane Institute of Primary Care and Public Health at Cardiff University of men 45-59 years of age. Here’s what they did to dramatically reduce their risk that you can try: Walk 2 miles a day or some other comparable exercise, watch your weight, eat a healthy diet that includes 3-4 servings of fruits and vegetables, don’t smoke and drink only a glass of wine a day.

Doidge writes at length about what the latest neuroscience research shows: “It turns out that our brains, like our bodies in general, are far more likely to waste away from underuse than to wear down from overuse.” That’s why he says it’s so vital to exercise both the brain and the body.

The Wall Street Journal, 2/6/15

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