Brain Awareness Week: How to Keep your Brain Healthy

This week is Brain Awareness Week (BAW). BAW is an international campaign dedicated to advancing public awareness about the progress and benefits of brain research.

According to the Dana Foundation:

Brain Awareness Week began in 1996 as a modest effort involving 160 organizations in the United States. BAW was created to bring together diverse groups from academia, government, professional, and advocacy groups and unite them with a common theme that brain research is the hope for treatments and preventions, and possibly cures, for brain diseases and disorders, and to ensure a better quality of life at all ages. In 1998, the campaign became international, first as a day and then as a week. Since that time, BAW has evolved into a powerful global initiative with more than 2,200 partners in 76 countries (as of the 2008 campaign).

What is the brain made of and how does it work?

The brain is made of millions and millions of special cells called neurons and other special cells called glial cells. Each of these cells is connected to many many many other cells by long “arms”. These long arms let different cells talk to each other. The places that the arms touch other cells are made specially to help cells talk to each other. Cells talk to each other by sending electrical and chemical messages to each other.

There are more connections in the brain then there are stars in the sky. The human brain is the most complex thing that we know about – and we are learning more about it every day. All things that we do and are as human beings comes from the human brain. It writes our greatest stories, builds our most complicated machines and buildings, creates music and art, plays games, builds social networks, lets us fall in love and directs us to do all the good and not so good things in life.

The brain remembers everything that happens to a person and stores little bits and pieces of those happenings in different parts – we call that memory. The brain takes information from the environment and checks that information against its memory. Then the brain decides what it will do. Every thought we have, every feeling we have, and everything that we do is decided by our brains. It is really important for us to keep our brains healthy.

Here are some ways to help your brain to be healthy.

• Eat proper food. A healthy diet is important for a healthy brain.
• Gets lots of sleep. Your brain needs sleep to grow properly and to remember things better.
• Don’t use drugs. Drugs damage the brain.
• Get lots of fresh air and physical exercise. Your brain needs oxygen to work properly and physical exercise is good for your brain because it reminds the brain to send “feel-good” messages to itself and to the body.
• Spend time enjoying music, dance or art. Your brain uses these things to help it work better at all sorts of activities.
• Take time to learn things. The more you practice skills or lessons the better your brain will be at doing what you want to do.
• Learn how to decrease stress. Your brain can be hurt by too much stress. Learn what makes you relax – such as exercise, hanging out with your friends, playing music, etc. and when you are feeling stressed out try to do those things that decrease your stress.
• Make good friends. Your brain develops best in a social network. Good friends are important.