Rockford Health and Healing-Brain Fitness For One and All

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Rockford Health and Healing

Can your brain repair itself?

So it is now several days after New Year’s Eve, the day of Resolutions for weight loss, new relationships, more money, more time with kids, ect.   Have your good intentions begun to pave the path to hell yet, meaning have you let go of your resolutions already?

If so, then check this out. Maybe all you need is some brain fitness. Ever heard the words neurogenesis, which is the term used to describe the daily growth of new neurons, or neuroplasticity, the term used to describe how your brain adapts itself, sometimes within minutes, to new learning?

We haven’t known about neurogenesis, for example, for very long. The old model of neuroscience said that we had all the brain cells and circuits that we were ever going to have by age 5 or 7, and that from then on, we would slowly deteriorate until the inevitable end.

Not true, about 20 years ago, scientists uncovered evidence that we humans actually grow neurons daily, and it took about 10 more years of scienctific debate for the concept of neurogenesis to become scientifically accepted. Now the research is looking for where in the brain this happens, and how to make more of it happen.

That is good news to this 63 year old brain, which has a 13 year old boy and a 7 year old daughter creating inventive schemes to subvert the household rules. I need all 10,000.000,000, 000 neurons to keep up with them.

To my great delight, there are some writers out there who say that brain fitness, neurogenesis, and neuroplasticity can be encouraged, that I can work out my brain like I work out my bicep.

At first I was worried that brain fitness workouts would require esoteric tools, potions, and magic wands, but that is very far from the truth.

The pillars of brain fitness are easily within the reach of anyone, and you can move at your pace through them. You can do more of the pillars if you want, but brain fitness does not require us to do Olmypic caliber workouts for example.

What are the pillars of brain fitness?

So how much is enough?  Check back regularly for more information, or if you want to get a head start, click the Mind Sparke link in the right column.  Mind Sparke is a computerized brain fitness program that will increase your IQ, and your ability to pick a fantasy football team.