Grow Your Brain

By Stephen Bucaro

In the past, scientists believed that we were each born with about 100 billion brain cells, and that after we reached adolescence our brain started dying at a rate of about 10,000 per day, and these cells could not be replaced.

Back in 1984, a 20-year old man named Terry Wallis was involved in an automobile accident which left him in a coma. His family thought Terry's eyes sometimes tracked people around his room and he sometimes appeared to understand what was going on around him. But the doctors said these reactions were just residual neurological impulses from a dead brain. The medical community assured his family that Terry was was beyond any hope of recovery. But his family placed him in a nursing home.

Then one day in 2003, Terry woke up and asked one of the nursing home staff who the woman in his room was. She told him that it was his mother. He was then 39-years old and thought it was still 1984.

Medical researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College used an new magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique called diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to map the internal networks Terry's brain. The researchers came to the conclusion that Terry's brain had undergone axonal sprouting - new connections had been made among existing neurons. His brain reconnected neurons which remained intact and formed new connections to circumvent damaged areas.

New research has proven that the brain CAN produce new cells and that we can grow our brain throughout our lives. We can improve our mental alertness and master new skills no matter how old we are. But to grow your brain you must take the steps described in this article.

Recently it was discovered that the brain grows during sleep. Most of the growth occurs between the sixth and eighth hour of sleep. This illustrates the importance of getting eight hours of sound sleep each night.

The most important step to ensure sound sleep is to maintain a regular schedule of when you go to sleep and when you rise. Staying up late on weekends is not good for your brain. Studies have found that people who receive eight or nine hours of regular sound sleep each night are more mentally sharp.

Blood flow is another important factor effecting brain growth. Blood carries oxygen and nutrients to the brain's cells. Exercise is the way to increase blood flow to the brain. Aerobic exercise like walking briskly, bicycling, and jogging are the best exercises for growing your brain. A University of Illinois study found that people who walked briskly for 45 minutes three times a week improved their cognitive speed by 15 percent.

The brain functions by communicating between cells through branches called dendrites. Nerve impulses are relayed across the gaps between dendrites, called synapses, by chemicals called neurotransmitters. When your brain is challenged with new information or new concepts, synaptic activity increases. A brain that is constantly challenged grows new dendrites.