As we’ve reported before, neuroscience has been making strides at tremendous pace in recent years. Here are 5 TED talks that highlight some important steps for the future of your brain health.

You can grow new brain cells. Here’s how

Can we, as adults, grow new neurons? We covered this concept, known as neurogenesis, in a recent blog. In this talk, Neuroscientist Sandrine Thuret says that we can, and she offers research and practical advice on how we can help our brains better perform neurogenesis - improving mood, increasing memory formation and preventing the decline associated with aging along the way.

TED page here

The brain may be able to repair itself – with help

Through treating everything from strokes to car accident traumas, neurosurgeon Jocelyne Bloch knows the brain's inability to repair itself all too well. But now, she suggests, she and her colleagues may have found the key to neural repair: Doublecortin-positive cells. Similar to stem cells, they are extremely adaptable and, when extracted from a brain, cultured and then re-injected in a lesioned area of the same brain, they can help repair and rebuild it. "With a little help," Bloch says, "the brain may be able to help itself."

TED page here

Growing evidence of brain plasticity

Neuroscientist Michael Merzenich looks at one of the secrets of the brain's incredible power: its ability to actively re-wire itself. He's researching ways to harness the brain's plasticity to enhance our skills and recover lost function.

TED page here

If you’re interested learning more about how to actually boost your brain’s adaptability, then also check out this blog.

7 Ways to Harness Your Neuroplasticity

One more reason to get a good night’s sleep

The brain uses a quarter of the body's entire energy supply, yet only accounts for about two percent of the body's mass. So how does this unique organ receive and, perhaps more importantly, rid itself of vital nutrients? New research suggests it has to do with sleep.

TED page here

If you’d like some key tips on getting better quality shut eye, then also read this blog.

Simple Life Hacks for Great Sleep

A map of the brain

How can we begin to understand the way the brain works? The same way we begin to understand a city: by making a map. In this visually stunning talk, Allan Jones shows how his team is mapping which genes are turned on in each tiny region, and how it all connects up. With these news insights, it could be possible for researchers to start unlocking some of the human brain’s deepest secrets.

TED page here

Well we hope enjoyed at least some of these talks, and if you did, you can get more insights on the science of the brain in this blog.

5 Neuroscience Breakthroughs of 2018

‍