Everyone a Changemaker of his or her Brain: Why Volunteer Programs can Improve Brain Fitness

Copyright (c) 2009 SharpBrains

There are dozens of environmental awards, but none like the Goldman Prize, which just celebrated its 20th birthday. I had the fortune to attend its most recent Award ceremony, which featured interventions by Al Gore, Tracy Chapman, Robert Redford, and the founder of the awards 20 years ago, Richard Goldman, and was impressed about the stories of seven grassroots pioneers.

The BBC recently published an Op-Ed by Mr. Goldman on the story behind the Awards themselves: article Here. He explains how...

- "One morning in 1989, as I sat with my daily breakfast and newspaper, I read about the most recent Nobel laureates and wondered if there was a comparable award for environmental work. We asked a staff member at our foundation to do some research and he found that nothing yet existed to recognise environmental work on an international stage, thus the Goldman Prize was born. Our choice to focus specifically on grassroots environmental leaders was unique at the time."

Mr. Goldman, and the seven winners, are clearly helping improve the state of the world.

Now, the "state of the world" does include their very own brains - a recent study showed how volunteering can provide health benefits - both physical and cognitive. From a recent article in Medical News:

- "She and her colleagues found that EC volunteers showed greater improvements in memory and executive function than those who did not participate in the program. Both studies highlighted above show that everyday activity interventions (e.g., EC) can appeal to older adults' desires to remain socially engaged and productive in their post-retirement years. These activities can bring -at the same time!- clear physical and mental benefits."

And those benefits do not accrue only for older adults, but may help all of us gradually build our Cognitive Reserve through the added novelty, variety and challenge.

Talk about win/ win!

So the question becomes, "How do I build a Cognitive Reserve?"

Emerging research since the 90s from the past decade shows that individuals who lead mentally stimulating lives, through their education, their jobs, and also their hobbies, build a "Cognitive Reserve" in their brains.

Stimulating the brain can literally generate new neurons and strengthen their connections which results in better brain performance and in having a lower risk of developing Alzheimer's symptoms. Studies suggest that people who exercise their mental muscles throughout their lives have a 35-40% less risk of manifesting Alzheimer's.

Further, better brain scanning techniques are allowing scientists to investigate healthy live brains for the first time in history. Two of the most important findings from this research are that our brains are plastic (meaning they not only create new neurons but also can change their structure) throughout a lifetime and that frontal lobes are the most plastic area. Frontal lobes, the part of our brains right behind the forehead, controls "executive functions" --- which determine our ability to pay attention, plan for the future and direct behavior toward achieving goals. They are very important to learn new realities. We offer them the best exercise by learning completely new things, by mastering new tasks.

That brain region is particularly vulnerable: our frontal lobes wait until our mid to late 20s to fully mature. They are also the first part of our brain to start to decline, usually by middle age.

Not enough young and middle-aged people are benefiting from this emerging research, since it has been perceived as something "for seniors.Of course, we need more research. But, this does not mean we cannot start caring for our brains today.

What are some options to work on our frontal lobes? We can summarize recommendations by focusing on the four main pillars of brain health: physical exercise, a balanced diet, stress management, and brain exercise.

Is there an easy way to hit several of these pillars at the same time? Well, what about volunteering for a cause you truly care about?

Ashoka, an innovative non-profit organization, best summarizes it by saying "Everyone a Changemaker". I'd add... "Everyone a Changemaker of his or her Brain."