We all want a little extra time as a kid
Not everything we learn in school turns out to be true. Technically, Ferdinand Magellan was not the first person to circumnavigate the earth. His crew did, but Magellan himself didn’t survive the voyage. Vikings never actually wore horned helmets. That outfit piece was misattributed to them by 18th century opera costumers.
Language learning is another thing we’re always told we get much worse at as we age. While learning a second language may be a bit more difficult later, it’s nowhere near as intense as people make it out to be. Plenty of people still believe that, if you’re older than seven, your time to learn a second language is pretty much over. This also isn’t true. Some studies show that a nineteen-year-old is just as good at language learning as a toddler. There are tons of huge misconceptions we hear everyday.
You probably also heard, then, that it’s impossible to grow new brain cells as an adult. I can confidently say this is something I’ve been told in multiple college-level psychology classes. This may be, though, another outdated belief schools decided was right prematurely.
Let’s take a look at what the science says about adult neurogenesis, the process by which your brain can grow new brain cells long after childhood.
A recent study at a hospital associated with Harvard University concluded that the human brain absolutely can develop more neurons after our brains “stop developing” at 25. This is most obvious in the hippocampus, our brain’s memory center.
The hippocampus is responsible for processing, sorting, and storing memories. Think of it (or, technically, them, since you have two of them—one for each side of the brain) as the librarian of your brain. Your hippocampi take in the information coming from outside. They compare that information with your memories to give you a reaction. Then, it takes the new info and categorizes it to be stored, and then finds it a space on the shelves of your inner library. Once you need to find old information from your memory, your hippocampi are there to get that info off the shelf and make it available.
The hippocampus, like so many other parts of the brain, is also involved in spatial awareness, so it’s really one of the most important parts of the brain.
The main purpose of research into adult neurogenesis is in treating dementia. Dementia is a degenerative brain condition that can be caused by a number of different factors, all of which are medically outside the scope of this article. The important thing to know is that dementia involves the degeneration, or breaking down, of living brain cells, primarily those that deal with memory.
Dementia is also a progressive disease, which means the symptoms get worse as time goes on. This happens because more brain cells degenerate, causing greater issues with memory, confusion, and muscle control.
Back to the study from before, scientists have found that adult neurogenesis is most prominent in the hippocampus. This has been really important in dementia research, as those disorders most commonly affect the hippocampus. Adult neurogenesis, which is, in a way, a direct countermeasure towards dementia, is going to be crucial in the development of possible dementia treatments in the future.
Adult neurogenesis is also now viewed as a preventative measure against developing dementia, as there are overall more neurons for the disorder to chew through. Enacting adult neurogenesis should be a primary goal.
Now that you have heard all the wonders that adult neurogenesis can do for you, you’re probably wondering how you can help kick the process into a higher gear. There are actually plenty of ways to make sure you’re getting the full benefits your body provides you: the SHIELD method. Developed by the same scientist who conducted that earlier study at the Harvard-affiliated hospital, the best ways to engage in adult neurogenesis are:
These are what doctors say are the six biggest influences on adult neurogenesis. If you can get a good handle on these, you’ll be locked in for gaining more brain cells the rest of your life.
Let’s take a closer look at each aspect of the SHIELD system to see where we can improve in order to stop neurodegeneration in its tracks!
When we sleep, our body gets up to a lot of great things. Sleep is the prime time for your body to naturally heal its wounds. Any damage sustained to your skin, muscles, organs, and any other cells are worked away at by the brain’s command. Up in the brain, sleep is also the time we process and store memories, all of which happens in the hippocampus.
Our brains make us feel tired because it knows it has work to do. It can’t repair the muscle tissue you’ve burned through in the day if you keep burning through more at night. Your brain can’t process your memories if you’re taking new memories in. You absolutely need a solid amount of shut-down time every night, and, for most people, it should be around 7 or 8 hours.
7 is the minimum where it’s still healthy enough to be a full night of sleep. Anything past 8 is bordering on too much, though that also depends on the person. Some people need less, and some people need more. For example: my dad really only needs around 4 to 5 hours of sleep a night to be fully functional the next day. He’ll generally get more than that, but he can work as a person on less than most people need. My mom, on the other hand, generally needs more like 10 hours to function. I fall more towards naturally waking up after 6 and a half hours of sleep.
The important thing is that you consistently get enough sleep to be considered healthy for your body.
The thing that really makes us age is always stress. It’s the reason your hair grays, your skin wrinkles, and your muscles ache. Stress also accelerates neuron degeneration. If you really want to make sure you’re protecting yourself from that degeneration, and starting adult neurogenesis, you’ll need to get some of your stress under control.
There are a lot of pseudo-scientific methods of lowering stress out there that don’t really work. You’ll hear constant talk of people trying to stimulate their vagus nerve or some other potentially dangerous home remedy.
The best way to handle stress is to limit your stressors and find positive coping mechanisms. One great way of doing this is through music therapy, which has been shown to be amazing at handling stress!
Humans are social creatures, and we get sad and stressed when we’re lonely. A great way to improve your adult neurogenesis is to make sure you keep in touch with the people you love regularly. You never know what fun stories they may have in store for you.
I get it. This one’s probably the hardest thing on the list, but they’ve given more specific instructions that actually make it much easier. First, the recommended amount of exercise is only about 20-30 minutes a day. Second, the study recommends aerobic exercises, which are a really broad category. Anything from weightlifting to exercise ball core workouts to biking can work towards this goal. Just find some sort of exercise that interests you and run with it! Hey, maybe even pick up running.
This is probably the most unique item on this list, but learning about anything can be fun with the right teacher. Picking up new information forces your brain to create new mental pathways, strengthening your brain. It’s also been found to have a direct link to adult neurogenesis.
There are so many great ways to learn. I highly recommend checking out some variety-based educational Youtube channels, like Tom Scott and 3Blue1Brown, or watching some great new documentaries and docuseries.
Ah yes, the one piece of advice everyone gives for everything. Dieting right is a tried and true method for solving most of your problems, physical and mental. Just ensure you’re making a point to get in healthy amounts of a variety of foods—and try to avoid overly processed, sugary items.
Something important to understand is that all six components of the SHIELD Method are connected in creating a healthier lifestyle. People who exercise more will find sleeping a healthy amount easier. Social interactions with people you like are huge stress limiters. There’s always some small connection between each of these that makes for a healthier life. Even if your goal in life isn’t specifically adult neurogenesis, these are still six great core principles to follow to continue loving life well into old age.
Adult neurogenesis, according to recent research, is absolutely a thing. You can continue growing neurons well into your adulthood, and that can be crucial in limiting the possible future harms of degenerative neurological conditions.
