Mark Ford

From Mark Ford, founder, Palm Beach Research Group: For years, we’ve been told you can’t grow new brain cells.

It turns out that claim is 100% false.

In her inspiring TED Talk, “You Can Grow New Brain Cells. Here’s How,” neural stem cell researcher Sandrine Thuret reveals our brains produce 700 new neurons per day.

That means by age 50, we’ve exchanged all the neurons in our brains with completely new sets. In other words, the brain I have today is not the brain I had as a child.

These neurons affect everything from our mood to our cognitive ability.

And it turns out neurons’ rate of production (“neurogenesis”) is closely tied to our life activities. Learning, for example, increases neurogenesis. So does a healthy diet. And exercise. And sex.

Stress, sleep deprivation, and alcohol all decrease neurogenesis.

All of this is to say your mind doesn’t control your life. Instead, your life controls your mind