Today, I'd like to discuss NEUROPLASTICITY.
So what is it and how can we improve it?
According to a group of researchers, the brain is malleable and can adapt to the rapidly changing environment. This is known as “neuroplasticity”.
The efficiency of your brain's plasticity is influenced by your genetics, biology, and environmental factors throughout your entire life.
The brain is capable or reorganising itself and forming new brain connections throughout life.
It rewires itself with every new thought, action and experience.
This is important for children and adolescents with ADHD as it means that with training their brains can be rewired to assist them with a number of challenges, especially when it comes to learning new behaviours and new information.
It is quite clear that in order to maintain a healthy brain, that is capable of adapting to the environment and capable of learning and protecting itself, one needs to make healthy lifestyle choices.
Below, I have created a list of activities that are good for the brain and activities that are bad for the brain...
Activities that Promote Positive Neuroplasticity
- Education (continual learning throughout the lifespan, and undertaking challenging intellectual pursuits)
- Nutrition (healthy diets e.g. Mediterranean diet)
- Exercise (all physical activity, e.g. yoga, table tennis, walking, swimming)
- Meditation (both mindfulness and “mind-emptiness” meditation)
- Sleep (regular, restful sleep patterns)
- Social interactions (healthy relationships with family and friends and good community ties)
- Cognitive Remediation (therapy to improve cognitive abilities such as attention, working memory, cognitive flexibility, planning and executive functions)
Activities that are Destructive for Healthy Neuroplasticity
- Poor health
- Poor sleep hygiene
- Poor Nutrition
- Sedentary Lifestyles
- Substance abuse
- Depression
- Anxiety
So, what will you do to improve your child's brain?