The following Mark's Daily Apple article was written by Mark Sisson

and is narrated by Tina Lehman.

16 ways to increase neuroplasticity, and why that's important. For hundreds of years,

the localizationism theory of the brain reigned. The idea that the adult brain is composed of

distinct regions, each responsible for a separate function. Most people still hew to this.

Assuming the vision goes here, memories there, with separate sections

for short and long-term memories, smell here, verbal fluency over here, and quantitative processing

over there. We assume the number of neurons is fixed, and they're wiring soldered, but the emerging

science of neuroplasticity shows how wrong

this is. Rather than fixed and immutable, the neural connections between different regions of the brain

can reorganize themselves. This is why someone with brain damaged to one part of the brain

can often recover. Neuroplasticity allows a healthy section

to assume the role of the damaged section. It's also how we learn, form memories, and develop new

skills. Neuroplasticity can refer to the strengthening or lessening of existing neuronal pathways,

synaptic plasticity, or the establishment of entirely

new neurons and connections, structural plasticity. Cool. So neuroplasticity exists. What's it good for,

and why should we care about preserving or enhancing it? Most neurodegenerative diseases are accompanied by a loss

of neuroplasticity, including Alzheimer's disease, Huntington's disease, and Parkinson's disease.

Schizophrenia may actually be a disorder of neuroplasticity. Loss of neuroplasticity even

characterizes mild cognitive impairment.

It may very well be the case that the aging brain is a less plastic brain.

If we can enhance neuroplasticity or hold back its degradation, perhaps we can mitigate

...