Dr. David Eagleman

They had chores.

They were fighting with their sisters.

They were playing games with their fellow sisters.

They were singing songs.

They were doing things all the time.

So they kept their brain active.

So even as their brain was physically degenerating with Alzheimer's disease, they were building new roadways.

They were building new bridges over these areas.

This is one of the big things that tells us that, you know, contrast this with people who retire at 65 and they go home and they sit on a couch and watch the television.

They don't have as good an outcome because they're not challenging their brain anymore.

So it is so important to be doing things.

You know, I once heard the expression that there's nothing as hard that the brain does than other people.

And so for these women living in convents, they were constantly dealing with – because you never know what somebody is going to say or how they're going to react or what they're going to do.

So this is great challenge opportunity for the brain.

Anyway, the point is we need to always find that with ourselves.

Oftentimes people will ask me, like an older person will say, hey, I do crossword puzzles.

Is that good?

Yeah, it's good until you get good at it and then stop and do something that you're not good at.

And constantly find the next thing that's a real challenge for you.

That's the key thing about plasticity.