Brain Science

"An animal is only as smart as it needs to be." - Dr. Richard Coss

In Magic Trees of the Mind : How to Nurture Your Child's Intelligence, Creativity, and Healthy Emotions from Birth Through Adolescence, professor of brain anatomy Marian C. Diamond states findings from her research on how the perception of one's environmental affects the development of the brain, anatomically:

"Increase the level of environmental stimulation and challenge, and you will increase the branching of the dendrites and the thickness of the human cortex."

Simply and inaccurately, more dendritic connections in the brain correlate to a faster processor, so to speak; in this case, being dense (having a well-connected brain) is a desirable thing.

Okay, so what can I do to become more dense?

Want more dendritic connections? Well, nature is efficient; what isn't used, doesn't expand and evolve. Use it or lose it.

In practical terms, people learn and retain things when they are actively involved. BE by DOING, and vice versa. Choose to socialize with people who are going places; interact with those who challenge you and with whom you enjoy speaking or playing sports or whatever. Go to the places that feel good to you. Create the conditions that create you.

You can also alter the body's physiology to achieve a change of emotional state: we feel whatever we FOCUS on (i.e., what we say to ourselves, what we picture, what we expect), and what we DO with our bodies.

Dance, relax, hug, play, create works of YOU. Be a huge tool -- I mean, be the tool and the toolmaker -- in other words, be the master and the masterpiece. 'Cause you are, so enjoy your natural state of being and see what happens. Live like you're dying; take a page from the book of Kris Carr and give yourself permission to actually LIVE; screw the excuses -- what's your alternative?