Thirty Thousand Days - Fall 2013 Vol 18 No. 1 | Page 9

If a brain is exercised
properly, anyone can
grow intelligence, at any
age, and potentially
by a lot.
It’s no idle pursuit. My brain power depends on my
retained mastery of analyzing in detail what’s happening
in my world and in my mind and body. I must continue
to practice to retain my constructive and analytic powers.
The goal is to be a master of my environment. My brain
was designed to provide me with that power.
Later in the day, I find time to reconstruct my
morning walk or other activities in my mind, replaying
them forward and backward. I have become a master of
the world that I live in. You can, too.
The areas of the brain that control learning and
memory require regular exercise. Diane and I engage in
a continuous schedule of new learning. I don’t mean just
reading new books or acquiring new information through
other media. Learning has to be translated into acquiring
fundamentally new skills and abilities. We accomplish this
by continually developing challenging new avocations and
activities. A second mantra:

Nothing changes positively in your brain
unless it matters to you.
This explains why I have a flower garden, a vegetable
garden, an orchard, a vineyard, beehives, a wood shop,
a potter’s wheel and a kiln — and can often be found
making wine, jam, mustard, bowls, sculptures, cabinets,
spaghetti sauce or a kite. It explains the time I devote to
ping pong, jigsaw puzzles, Boggle or catch, where fast
reactions, adaptive memory and working memory come
into play. In every case, I take such activities seriously.
My performance and progressive improvements matter
to me. The key is continuous challenge.
Diane and I also know that every brain needs a
regular dose of social exercise. We try to make our home
a place people are attracted to, because we know that
social interaction is brain food for everybody. We try to be
a source of fun and joy in the world, because passing on

Thirty Thousand Days

good spirits is just as rewarding for us and our brains as
receiving those precious gifts. The brain machinery
involved controls new learning, so a regular dose of
positive surprises enables you to grow your brain power.
While you work to grow or restore your brain power,
it is also important to sustain an interesting you. You have
to continue to read, listen and learn in conventional ways
to gather information about what’s happening in our
world. It’s not just about keeping in touch. It’s about being
better informed and growing as a person that other people
find worthwhile. A stronger, more reliable brain, steadily
fed fresh information, is bound to make you smarter and
more interesting.
Finally, it’s important to consider what you should
not be doing quite so much. Limit the time you spend in
front of TV, computer and smartphone screens. Most of us
waste far too much time passively receiving information
from screens without translating what we see, hear or
feel into any useful action. Modern tools allow us to
operate without making very much use of our brains.
GPS is wonderful, but not as a crutch that keeps you from
tracking what you can find in the world you live in. Your
Facebook contacts may be terrific, but an actual visit and
hug trumps a post every time. We can’t put our brains
on the sidelines. They need to be in the game, every day.
Each one of us has the ability to enrich our life and
grow our brain power. I strongly encourage you to
consider changing your own life, in these and other
ways. Take this subject seriously and your brain will
thank you!
Michael Merzenich, Ph.D., is a professor emeritus at University of
California, San Francisco and is co-founder and ch YY???Y[?Y?X???X?\?????]??Y[??K?\?]\???????U?\?Y???\?\????H?]???Y[??B???]\??\?X?]H??[?[??H???H[??Y\??[?X??\??H?B??]\????Y[?\???X]\?Y[?H?X?X[??X\?\???Z[???X?Z\?Y?????][???][??YH[?]Y?\?????[?L?8?(?B??