Training Your Body — and Your Brain
BLISTER Podcast
BLISTER
4.8 • 560 Ratings
🗓️ 1 August 2019
⏱️ 65 minutes
🔗️ Recording | Apple Podcasts | RSS
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
You’re probably already convinced of the importance of physical exertion, going outside, and staying physically fit and active. But what about your mental fitness and health?
To get each of us thinking more clearly about the things we should — and shouldn’t — be doing to optimize the health of our bodies and our brains, we talk to the neuroscientist, Dr. Michael Merzenich, about how, through training, we can keep up and improve the health of our brains — just as we know that, through proper exercise, we can keep up and improve the health of our bodies.
We discuss with Dr. Merzenich the important neurological benefits of going fast, going outside, and undertaking new activities; the more effective and less effective ways to exercise our brains; how we might be able to avoid certain neurological disorders with proper training; the changes to our brains caused by the time so many of us — and our kids — are spending in front of phone, computer, and TV screens; and more.
TOPICS & TIMES:
- Dr. Merzenich’s background (4:22)
- Discoveries in “neuroplasticity” (10:42)
- Outdoor sports & your brain (17:44)
- Exercising your brain vs. gathering information (24:58)
- Preventing neurological disorders through training (37:07)
- Generosity & Joy - their neurological significance (45:47)
- How screens & social media are changing our brains (49:46)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Blister podcast, a program dedicated to interesting people, the great outdoors, and a bunch of other stuff we like. |
| 0:08.7 | I'm Jonathan Ellsworth, the founder of Blister, and you can check out everything we're doing and reviewing over at blisterreview.com. |
| 0:18.0 | It's probably safe to assume that those of you listening to this right now don't need to be convinced of the importance of physical exertion or going outside or staying physically fit and active. |
| 0:30.6 | But I think it's also safe to assume that we don't spend nearly as much time thinking about the best ways to stay mentally fit. |
| 0:39.3 | And that is the purpose of today's conversation to get each of us thinking more clearly |
| 0:44.0 | about the things that we should and shouldn't be doing to optimize the health of our bodies |
| 0:49.7 | and our brains in order to keep both of them functioning at a high level, whether we are 22 years old or |
| 0:56.5 | 82 years old. To get this conversation started, our guest today is Dr. Michael Mersenik, a neuroscientist |
| 1:04.3 | who has been working in the field for over 50 years and whose work primarily centers around |
| 1:09.3 | the plasticity of the brain and how we can through training |
| 1:13.7 | keep up and improve the health of our brains, just as we know that through proper exercise, |
| 1:19.6 | we can keep up and improve the health of our bodies. |
| 1:23.5 | Dr. Mersenik is a professor emeritus at the University of California, San Francisco, |
| 1:28.4 | and the chief science officer at Posit Science. |
| 1:32.2 | He is also the author of the book Softwired, which is a book I'm reading now, |
| 1:36.7 | and that I'd encourage you all to check out. |
| 1:39.7 | In this conversation, Dr. Mersinick and I discuss the important neurological benefits of going fast, |
| 1:46.2 | going outside, and undertaking new activities. We also discuss some of the more effective |
| 1:52.4 | and less effective ways to exercise our brains, what disorders we might be able to avoid with |
| 1:59.0 | proper neurological training, and we talk about |
| 2:02.0 | the changes to our brains that are the result of the increased amounts of time so many of us, |
| 2:08.1 | and so many of our kids, are spending in front of television, phone, and computer screens. |
... |
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