The common definition of brain health has also changed. Previously, brain health conversations focused on cognitive decline, dementia, and Alzheimer’s. Now we see that brain health is a continuum that spans our whole life, from everyday mental wellbeing and cognitive performance to the long-term management of neurodegenerative disease. Perhaps the biggest change has been the compelling recent science that shows the most powerful tool we have to improve our brain health at every stage of life and mitigate cognitive decline is our daily habits.
There will no doubt be many new brain health drugs introduced in the next few years. If they work, of course, we should get them to everybody who needs them. But that’s only one kind of innovation, known as “de novo innovation,” or coming up with something completely new. “Synthetic innovation” is about taking known science and applying it in new ways. I would argue that synthetic innovation can be just as transformative because it can help us make dramatic improvements in our brain health right now.
“There probably isn’t going to be a miracle brain drug any time soon,” writes Dr. Wood in The Stimulated Mind. But “the truth is that there’s a huge amount that can be achieved simply by continuing to invest time in the activities that support our health and our brains.”
The small miracle of neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to change, grow, adapt and reorganize its structure and function in response to environmental changes—was once thought to be limited to the developing brains of children. But neuroplasticity is a reality throughout our entire lifespan. As Dr. Sanjay Gupta, neurosurgeon and author of Keep Sharp, puts it, “The brain can be continuously and consistently enriched throughout your life no matter your age or access to resources.”
Food, exercise, sleep, stress management, and connection
For instance, healthy food and a healthy brain are directly connected. We think of food as fuel for our bodies, but much of that energy goes to our brain. “Your brain is the hungriest, thirstiest organ in the body,” writes Dr. Annie Fenn, a physician and author of The Brain Health Kitchen. “It makes up just 2% of body weight, but requires 20% of your body’s primary fuel, glucose.”
Scientists believe the APoE4 gene variant is one of the strongest genetic risk factors for Alzheimer’s. But as Dr. Majid Fotuhi, professor at the Mind/Brain Institute at Johns Hopkins, notes in his new book The Invincible Brain, exercise is a powerful counterbalance. And getting the benefits of exercise doesn’t have to mean going to the gym. A landmark clinical trial in Alzheimer’s and Dementia found that even light-intensity stretching, balance and range of motion activities slowed cognitive decline in at-risk adults.
Similarly, sleep impacts nearly every aspect of brain health. And that’s because sleep is actually a time of intense and essential activity in the brain.
Meanwhile, chronic stress and anxiety are enemies of brain health. But of course, stress is a natural part of life. That's why it is so important to hone our stress management skills.
But as bad as chronic stress is for our brains, we also have tools to reduce it. Research shows that even short periods of mindfulness and meditation decrease stress responses like cortisol and blood pressure that are risk factors for dementia. Breathing exercises, getting out in nature for even just a few minutes, and taking “micro-breaks” during the day have also been found to reduce stress.
The rewards for fulfilling our deeply hard-wired need for connection are an incredible range of health benefits, including a lower risk of heart failure, diabetes, and depression. A study by researchers from Johns Hopkins found that socially isolated adults have a 27% higher risk of developing dementia than adults who are more connected.
Brain health is the next frontier of healthcare, but we don’t have to wait for a miracle drug. The breakthrough at our fingertips, which is scalable and available to everyone, is applying what we already know: that daily behaviors can improve our brain health, and making even small daily changes can transform what’s possible for our brain now and decades from now.
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