

Maintaining an active lifestyle with exercise is neuroprotective and thought to help the brain function well for longer. Neuroplasticity allows us to adapt but it also does tend to get slower with age. New experiences, memories, and creative activities challenge the neurons in the brain to form new connections. In certain parts of the brain, neurons are generated throughout life and then become a part of existing brain circuits. One of the most exciting and hopeful discoveries of the past few decades is adult neurogenesis. Scientists used to believe that adults couldn’t form new functional neurons. Because the brain can shape itself, it is neuroplastic.Ĭhildren are born with a number of growing neurons. The brain trains itself with input from the eyes while walking, so vision during motion is seamless. In fact, the brain creates its own structure and organization during a critical period of life. In early childhood, the neurons from the eye make it to a part of the brain known as the visual cortex. At that point, it digests its own brain because it is no longer required. Once a sea squirt matures, it is fixed to rock and is no longer moving around. For example, a young sea squirt will keep its brain while it is moving underwater. In fact, there are even some animals that lose their brains once they stop moving. There is even a view among many neuroscientists that the brain evolved in more primitive animal ancestors to coordinate movement. Our brains are a part of our bodies and are shaped by movement. We like to think that our brains are separate from the rest of our bodies, but this isn’t true.
