Brain Plasticity - Use It Or Lose It

UPDATES:

Some cool brain facts and myths! Read here 

I just caught up with a friend I’ve not seen in many many years and he’s recently lived through his son being involved in a car smash that’s left him with a brain injury. Lately it seems I’m seeing many people whose lives have been touched by brain injury. Assaults, road crashes. We hear about the deaths on the road but rarely consider how many survive motor vehicle accidents and assaults, who live  but whose life and the lives of their family members is never the same again.

This video on brain plasticity reminds us to never give up. We can improve even bad situations, but it takes a lot of effort to stick with it.  

A recent video from ABC TV Fora brings us a piece by Norman Doidge with the good news that aging doesn’t need to mean an inevitable slide into loss of our mental faculties.

Good news!

Norman Doidge On The Brain That Changes Itself -, 18 September 2009 10:00

The cliche that you can’t teach an old dog new tricks may soon be obsolete. The more we learn about the human brain, the more we understand the potential that it has to change, adapt and grow. Traditionally the brain was seen as being like a machine, its neural pathways set in stone from childhood. But new studies have shown that the brain can be trained to recover from strokes or paralysis, lifelong habits can be broken, and aging brains be rejuvenated. Through new experiences and brain exercises we can alter our brain’s anatomy to improve cognition, perception, memory and intelligence. In this enlightening session at the Sydney Writers Festival, Norman Doidge talks about the remarkable plasticity of the brain, and shares some examples of how we can open it up to new realms of possibilities.

Norman Doidge is a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst. He is on the research faculty at Columbia University’s Centre for Psychoanalytic Training and Research and his recent book, “The Brain That Changes Itself”

Have you thought about learning new skills and disciplines to keep your brain active?

Love to see your ideas on what you might choose. Perhaps a language and music would be a good way to go.

What do you think?