Last week we explored brain plasticity and how vastly more malleable our brains are than has been previously thought. Today we will learn more about the care and maintenance of our brains.

Keeping our brain in great shape turns out not to be too different from what we need to do to keep the rest of our body in great shape. Great brain fitness requires the right amount of sleep, aerobic exercise, a good diet and sustained mental activity.

There is a very large amount of research on how sleep affects neuroplasticity. Sleep allows "us to consolidate learning and memory. When we learn a skill during the day, we will be better at it the next day if we have a good night's sleep." (Norman Doidge, "The Brain That Changes Itself")

On the other hand, sleep deprivation severely impacts our brain. "Research has shown that people who consistently get less sleep than others have overall decreased brain function." For example, "people who get less than seven hours of sleep a night have lower activity in the temporal lobes, the part of the brain involved in learning and memory. Sleep deprivation is also associated with depression and attention deficit disorders." (Daniel G. Amen, M.D., "Making a Good Brain Great") Dr. Amen suggests that we try to sleep at least seven to eight hours each night, that we avoid as much caffeine and nicotine as possible, and avoid exercise before going to sleep.

"Is there a relationship between exercise and mental alertness? The answer, it turns out, is yes." (John Medina, "Brain Rules") Though this is intuitively obvious, it is important to understand the brain's need for oxygen. According to Amen, "moderate exercise improves the heart's ability to pump blood throughout the body and helps maintain healthy blood flow to the brain which increases oxygen and glucose delivery." Amen also notes that the regular habit of physical exercise is very important to prevent age-related memory problems. Numerous studies show the benefits of exercise on cognition. "A lifetime of exercise can result in a sometimes astonishing elevation in cognitive performance, compared to those who are sedentary." The good news is that our brains can reap the benefits of exercise even though we may have led sedentary lives. Again, numerous studies show that "when couch potatoes are enrolled in an aerobic exercise program, all kinds of mental abilities begin to come back online." (Medina)