A Neuroscientist Reveals That Most Important Factor in Changing Your Brain and Improving Your Mood

Sandrine Thuret is a neuroscientist who recently gave a riveting TED talk on a relatively new field of research in neuroscience.

The revelations the field has in store for the world could significantly alter the way we think about many mental illnesses and the structure of the brain itself.

Earlier it used to be taken for granted that the human brain would stop growing once an individual had attained maturity. Thus, at around the age of 22, the process of cell growth, and neurogenesis (the birth of brain cells called neurons) and the constant re-wiring of the brain would finally cease. Thus, it meant that there would be no significant change to the structure of the brain after the full development of the human body in adulthood.

Recent studies have shown that scientists of the old days may have been wrong on the count of the brain not changing its structure later in life. It has been now discovered that the process of neurogenesis continues well into an individual’s middle age. In a region of the brain called the hippocampus, new neurons are born well after childhood, right into an individual’s later years. While the volume of neuron production is lower, it has some massive implications for the world of medical science. The neurons produced in the hippocampus number in the hundreds in the later years of a person’s life. This is infinitely smaller than the billions of neurons we produce and process during our teenage years, but the presence of new-born neurons in the brain at an advanced age significantly alters things.

For instance, Sandrine Thuret explains that an older brain still has the capacity to produce about 700 new neurons daily. Most interestingly, her research shows a strong link between depression and the process of neurogenesis. The more the process of neurogenesis is halted and inefficient, the more it effects the production of key hormonal enzymes in the body such as serotonin which in turn leads to the incidence of Depression.

Major Depressive Disorder is now one of the most common mental illnesses which afflict an ever-increasing number of people (especially older people). This opens the door for medical companies to design more effective ways to treat the disorder. This sort of revelation completely changes our understanding of the functioning and parameters of the human brain.

Through the course of this article so far it has become clear to you by now that the process of neurogenesis is a cornerstone to mental health. It seems increasingly that our brain’s ability to manufacture more neurons holds the key to a healthy and mentally sound life. Can this process be controlled naturally then? Research shows that there are several steps that can be taken and many different kinds of foods consumed which stimulates the process of neurogenesis. A comprehensive lifestyle change is truly required to fully harness the true potential of your own brain. Here are some things you can do that will increase your own brain’s neuron production:

– Learn something new every day. The key here is to keep your mind stimulated. Mental stimulation in the adult years goes a long way in keeping our brain healthy in later years.

– Have sex regularly (seriously)

– Get enough sleep to reduce stress

– Calorie restriction of 20-30%

– Intermittent fasting

– Omega-3 fatty acids, consume fish like salmon.

– Cut back on the hard liquor

– Occasional sips of red wine can help due the presence of resveratrol.

Watch the entire video bellow:

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