In her new book, How the Body Knows Its Mind, award-winning scientist Sian Beilock offers a groundbreaking new understanding of the mind-body connection and its profound impact on everything from advertising to romance. Beilock explains a wealth of fascinating interconnections between mind and body and how mastering them can make us happier, safer, and more successful.
Neuroplasticity refers to the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by forming new neural connections throughout life. Neuroplasticity allows the neurons (nerve cells) in the brain to compensate for injury and disease and to adjust their activities in response to new situations or to changes in their environment. On major application of neuroplastic medicine is in stroke recovery. New developments in this field promise to provide much better outcomes for patients following a stroke.
Over the past several years, the market for wearable fitness devices has exploded. You may have heard of the Fitbit or the UP band: $50-ish to $100-ish wristbands that measure your steps throughout the day, like a high-tech pedometer, and display your progress as a graph on your smartphone. Though there are concerns about data accuracy and privacy, the devices are motivating people to take their fitness more seriously.
It’s the little things you encounter every day that may spoil your efforts to maintain a healthy diet. These include such things as energy drinks, sugary coffee concoctions, and super-sized bags of snack food. In this podcast, John Abdelmalek and Shalena Putnam review healthy alternatives that will satisfy your snacking desires and keep you on a healthy nutritional regime.
Two new, large scale studies are helping to clarify the effects of exercise on longevity and also how much exercise is the right amount. The conclusion? Doing a few hours of exercise every week will probably help you live longer, but doing a whole lot more exercise, while not dangerous, doesn’t provide much extra benefit.