Neuro-plasticity - recent buzzword. It fundamentally means keeping your brain as young as possible. Since most of us make our livings using our brains instead of brawn, this is really pertinent to us. Plus everyone had had an older relative that starts to "lose it" - nobody wants that to happen to them I recently read a good article in San Francisco Magazine about this:
http://www.sanfranmag.com/story/brains-steel
Wikipedia defines brain plasticity as: "Brain plasticity as the ability for the organism to adapt to the changes in its environment in a positive and adaptive way because it’s not just enough to change"
This is a really cool concept - basically that your brain is able to rewire itself. In the early studies, the rewired nerves on animals and the animals easily adapted. In the article itself, there are number of different things they list 5 key factors to maintaining a healthy brain w/ plasticity.
(These are in the print article, but I can't find them online)
- Exercise: it seems to stimulate the creation of new neurons
- Eat Well: Time to start buying organic if you haven't already. Omega-3 fatty acids help too.
- Challenge yourself and make it fun: Acquire new mental & physical skills. Switch the games you play - IE if you're a crossword junky, try sudoku
- Relax: Stress is a culprit. Too much stress hormone impairs memory
- Take off your shoes - believe it or not there is research that says walking in bare feet over uneven surfaces helps your brain.
What are the things that you do to keep your brain "in shape?" I do little exercises like this and take fish oil w/ some regularity.