Lately, it seems, I have really needed this lecture... Memory: How the Brain Remembers and How to Make Memories Stick.
Cyndy and I arrived in Incline Village early to make a day of it. After visiting three thrift stores, having Thai for lunch, and observing surfers, we found ourselves in the quaint (and actually perfect bar) the Paddlewheeler Saloon. Why not lose some brain cells, via martinis, prior to the lecture? Way fun.
The presenter was Dr. Charan Ranganath and his lecture was about the latest research on memory. While a lot of it was very academic, we did learn a great deal about memory disorders and how the brain makes us remember. Dr. Ranganath shared research which showed that the most promising tools for brain health are aerobic exercise, sleep and the motivation to learn... all very doable endeavors.
He also spoke of Cognitive Reserve which involves mentally engaging activities, being social and learning new things. He informed us that the worse things for the health of our brains are chronic stress, hypertension, diabetes and depression. Yikes. One of the most comforting things he discussed, for me, was a phenomenon called event boundary. Has it ever happened to you to enter a room and forget why you are there? According to an experiment by the scientist Gabriel Radvansky, our brains compartmentalize events and tie them to the environment, or room, in which they occurred. By moving from one room to the next, the brain effectively creates a file containing all the information about the first room, and what you did there, and tucks it away. Oh thank goodness this is normal and not just me!
So according to this lecture, being there (learning new things), with friends (being social) is just what our brains need to be healthy!
posted under |
0 comments:
Post a Comment