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KEEP YOUR BRAIN YOUNG AND HEALTHY

by Veronica de Ronzi

July 28, 2025

Keep your brain young and healthy
from MasterClass: BRAIN HEALTH

 Dr. Wendy Suzuki, Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett, Dr. Uma Naidoo

Dr. Wendy Suzuki (a neuroscientist and professor of neural science and psychology at New York University), Dr. Lisa Feldman Barrett (a university distinguished professor of psychology at Northeastern University), Dr. Uma Naidoo (a Harvard-trained psychiatrist, professional chef, and nutritional biologist)  are brain health experts who appear in a really interesting MasterClass series on how keep your brain young and healthy, explaining the prodigious PLASTICITY of the human brain and what are the current threats to brain health, offering some easy solutions to keep healthy the state of our brain.
The series is available on the MasterClass streaming platform.

BRAIN PLASTICITY

The brain’s ability to rewire neurons throughout your life, thanks to NEUROGENESIS

NEUROGENESIS—the birth of new brain cells. This is a powerful long-term way to improve memory function and strengthen and enlarge your hippocampus.

Doctors explain that this ability can be stimulated through various activities:

  • MOVEMENT: Physical activity stimulates the release of Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF), a protein that supports the growth of new cells in your hippocampus.
  • LEARNING NEW THINGS: Your brain learns when you encounter something unexpected and potentially useful for the future. Activities such as traveling, reading, and learning new languages can help. Challenge yourself today—it’s an investment in a healthier brain for the future.
  • MEETING NEW PEOPLE: We are social creatures! Spending time and laughing with others reduces stress by triggering the release of dopamine, the neurotransmitter associated with reward and pleasure.
  • MEMORIES: Memories are deeply connected to emotions, and the amygdala, which interacts with the hippocampus, plays a crucial role in evaluating the emotional significance of new and uncertain information.
  • EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Training your brain to create emotions flexibly allows you to generate a variety of predictions at any given moment, helping you better navigate unexpected situations.

What are the biggest threats to our brain health Nowadays?

HIGH LEVEL OF STRESS AND ANXIETY

Stressful worries often arise from uncertainty because unpredictable situations can trigger anxiety.

When anxiety is activated, it automatically triggers the stress response, leading to the release of cortisol—a hormone that increases glucose in the bloodstream. This happens because the brain predicts that you will need extra energy.

Once in the brain, cortisol activates the sympathetic nervous system, which increases heart rate and respiration rate while redirecting blood flow from the digestive system to the muscles, preparing the body for action.

The two brain area with the highest level of CORTISOL receptors are:
– HIPPOCAMPUS: important for long-term memory formation;

– PREFRONTAL CORTEX: important for the ability to shift and focus attention.

Consequences of high level of STRESS:

  • SHORT TERM: you can’t focus.
  • LONG TERM: it damages and kills your cells in hippocampus and prefrontal cortex.

what to do to reduce our Anxiety?

The PARASYMPATHETIC NERVOUS SYSTEM can reverse the effects of stress by calming our heartbeat, slowing breathing and pushing blood from the muscles to the digestive and reproductive systems.

HOW?

  • BREATHE SLOWLY AND DEEPLY
  •  PET ANIMALS – Interacting with pets can reduce stress and promote relaxation.
  • Avoid sources of UNCERTAINTY – Limit exposure to social media and drinks with artificial sweeteners.

how to strengthen your memory?

REPETITION
Repetita Iuvant and strengthens the neural connections underlying a memory, helping to protect it from general degradation

NOVELTY
New People, Places, Experiences, are good for memory because the brain reacts strongly to new information

EMOTIONAL RESONANCE
Memories associated with strong emotions are long lasting thanks to the interactions between AMYGDALA and HIPPOCAMPUS

ASSOCIATION
Link something new with something you already know

what to do to protect our brain?

 

Help your brain to regulate better your body through:

  • GOOD SLEEP: converts your experience in long-term memory and cleans neurotoxins from your brain’s cells;
  • DRINK ENOUGH WATER;
  • DO SOMETHING RELAXING BEFORE GOING TO BED: a bath or meditation.

What to AVOID?

  • SEDENTARY BEHAVIOUR;
  • UNDERESTIMATING HEARING LOSS  – Hearing health is closely linked to cognitive function; untreated hearing loss can put extra strain on the brain;
  • UNHEALTHY FOOD DIET.

In conclusion, I think it’s extraordinary how most of these tips that doctors share with us in this MasterClass are actually applicable in our daily lives. We no longer have any excuses for neglecting our brain health!
SO LET’S TRY!