TED Talk Tuesday: You Can Grow New Brain Cells. Here’s How

Taking care of your body and mind are key ways to grow new brain cells

SPONSORED 4:16PM • 03/01/16

Neuroscientist Sandrine Thuret said we are still learning a lot about neurons and the brain. They are an important part of the brain for not only memory capacity, but also keeping the quality of memories. Thuret said we train our brains to improve neurons and our memories.

In her 2015 TED Talk: “You Can Grow New Brain Cells. Here’s How,” she offers ways on how we can assist our brain to help improve our moods and increase memory formation. She said one of the most important parts of the brain when it comes to neurogenesis is the hippocampus. This part of the brain is important for memory, learning, mood and emotion. She said there has been research done over the past few years to find that this part of the brain is generating more neurons every day.

“My colleague Jonas Frisén from the Karolinska Institute has estimated that we produce 700 new neurons per day in the hippocampus,” Thuret said. “You might think this is not much, compared to the billions of neurons we have. But by the time we turn 50, we will have all exchanged the neurons we were born with in that structure with adult-born neurons.”

Thuret said these new neurons being grown are important to the development of our brains. She said that if we aren’t able to produce new neurons, we will end up blocking certain memory abilities. Thuret said we can control neurogenesis through a number of different ways, including learning and what you eat. But stress, sleep deprivation and not taking care of your body are major causes of stopping neuron growth.

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