Ep. #218: Curiosity & Brain Health, with Dr. Julie Fratantoni
Feb 14, 2024
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Dr. Julie Fratantoni, a cognitive neuroscientist, discusses how curiosity contributes to brain health and the science of neuroplasticity. Topics include enhancing brain health, the role of curiosity in aging, connection between curiosity and kindness, cultivating kindness as a skill, the Great Brain Gain movement, and analogies of curiosity with ice and radio.
Embrace curiosity to maintain brain health by stimulating neurotransmitters and creating new neural pathways.
Focus on cognitive skills like executive functions and metacognition to exercise the brain and promote overall health.
Deep dives
Take control of your brain health
The podcast discusses the importance of realizing that individuals have agency over their own brains, allowing them to shape their brain health. Comfort and autopilot behavior can lead to decline, while curiosity plays a crucial role in keeping the brain healthy. Curiosity stimulates neurotransmitters like dopamine and norepinephrine, creating a favorable brain chemistry. The podcast emphasizes the need to be lifelong learners as a way to exercise the brain and maintain its health.
Understanding brain health and cognitive skills
Brain health is defined as the ability to thrive within one's life context, going beyond the absence of disease. Alongside the traditional focus on diet, sleep, and exercise, the podcast emphasizes the importance of cognitive skills, specifically the executive functions and metacognition involved in the day-to-day use of the brain. The Center for Brain Health has identified a set of nine strategies called 'training smart,' which include being strategic with your brain, managing mental energy, and fostering flexible thinking to increase innovation and creativity.
The connection between curiosity, kindness, and brain health
Curiosity and kindness share a sense of openness towards others and the ability to explore the unknown without fear. The podcast highlights how curiosity contributes to brain health by stimulating neurotransmitters and creating new neural pathways. It also emphasizes the importance of ongoing curiosity as people age, as complacency and a lack of challenge can lead to faster decline. Research conducted by the Center for Brain Health highlights the positive effects of curiosity on brain health and its connection to innovation. Additionally, the podcast explores the cognitive aspect of kindness, viewing it as a cognitive skill that can be strengthened and practiced.
The folks at The Center of Brain Health at the University of Texas, Dallas, want to empower people to be the architects of their own brains.
At the heart of the the Center's work is the science of neuroplasticity – that our brains are works in progress, capable of remarkable continuous growth and strengthening.
How might curiosity contribute?
Dr. Julie Fratantoni is a cognitive neuroscientist, with a specialty in making neuroscience approachable. She is head of research integration and partnerships at the Center and leads the user experience and content creation for the Center's 10-year long Brain Health Project.
Check out the Center for BrainHealth and the Great Brain Gain movement: https://centerforbrainhealth.org
Find Julie Fratantoni on Instagram at @drjuliefratantoni
Theme music by Sean Balick; “Mind Body Mind" by Bodytonic, via Blue Dot Sessions.
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