Elkhonon Goldberg Quotes

Such networks of neurons are built following the principle that “cells that fire together, wire together” (Hebb’s rule). In short, neurons that are frequently active at the same time tend to become associated and end up connecting with one another. This principle has major implications for brain fitness. First, the more a network of neurons is activated (i.e., the more often the neurons fire together), the stronger the connections become. If a network supporting a brain function is repeatedly stimulated through practice and training, it will become stronger, contributing to the optimization of that brain function. Second, by contrast, the less a network of neurons is activated the weaker the connections become, and weak connections end up dying. This accounts for the popular idea “use it or lose it” – brain functions that are not stimulated end up losing their efficiency since the neural networks supporting them weaken or dissipate.

no importa su edad o estado cerebral, hay muchas cosas que usted puede hacer para mejorar de manera significativa el funcionamiento de su cerebro y frenar el envejecimiento del mismo.

La única actividad de ocio que ha sido asociada con una función cerebral reducida es ver la televisión.

is, reality conceptualized in this quasi-Darwinian manner). Elkhonon Goldberg,

consumo ligero o moderado de alcohol parece reducir el riesgo de Alzheimer.

Una consecuencia de la plasticidad del cerebro es que cada experiencia, pensamiento y emoción cambia físicamente su cerebro, de lo que se desprende que usted, querido lector, tiene la capacidad, y la responsabilidad, de cuidar y mejorar su cerebro.

Working memory is the type of memory that allows us to both hold information in mind and work on it as needed.

A consequence of the brain’s plasticity is that it may change with every experience, thought and emotion, from which it follows that you yourself have the potential power to change your brain with everything that you do, think, and feel. So brain fitness and optimization are about much more than crossword puzzles and blueberries; they are about cultivating a new mindset and mastering a new toolkit that allow us to appreciate and take full advantage of our brains’ incredible properties.

Other studies show that plastic changes in the brain can even be observed after just a few months. For instance, in 2006, researchers imaged the brains of German medical students three months before their medical exam, and again right after the exam, and then compared the brains of these students to the brains of students who were not studying for the exam at this time. The results: Medical students’ brains showed changes in regions of the parietal cortex as well as in the posterior hippocampus. As you can probably guess, these regions are known to be involved in memory and learning.

collaborator of our lab, Dr. Yiyuan Tang, studied the impact of mindfulness meditation with undergraduates to improve executive attention, finding significant improvements as well. We hope that training methods like this will be further evaluated, along with other methods, both as possible means of improving attention prior to school and for children and adults with specific needs.

Recently, we uncovered an important mechanism by which a month of mindfulness meditation (about 11 hours of practice, 0.5 per day, 5 days a week) improves attention and self-regulation (Tang et al 2010; 2012). This mechanism is a change in the white matter that conducts signals into and out of the anterior cingulate gyrus. The anterior cingulate is an important part of the system by which we can voluntarily regulate behavior. After two weeks of meditation the improvements seemed to involve the number of fibers conducting information. This improvement was related to more positive and less negative mood self-reports. After 4 weeks of meditation improvement in white matter involved changes in the myelin that provides insulation to the fibers and thus further increases the efficiency of the network involved in self-regulation.

Cognition and emotion are both critical parts of normal functioning. As neatly summarized by Dr. Robert Sylwester (whose interview can be found at the end of this chapter): “Emotion is the system that tells us how important something is. Attention focuses us on the important and away from the unimportant things. Cognition tells us what to do about it. Cognitive skills are whatever it takes to do those things.

cualquier cosa que hagamos que implique novedad, variedad y desafío, estimula el cerebro y puede contribuir a aumentar la reserva cognitiva.

Numerosos estudios han encontrado que el aislamiento social es perjudicial para la salud general.