NEW LEARNING

Neuroscientist Michael Merzenich, Ph.D., of PositScience Corporation in San Francisco, has important information about brain fitness through aging. I like his perspective, as he describes the brain as a learning machine which must be engaged in new learning. He has created a brain fitness program which may reverse memory loss. Dr. Merzenich stated, “The brain can outlive the body.”

As I wrote in the blog on language, our perspective can be dictated by our cultural clichés. In these daily blogs, I will continue to encourage a new perspective: one in which our ideas about what is possible for the future continue to expand. Have you thought about the brain as a magnificently developed machine, even in the skull of a 90 year old? I challenge you to imagine this scenario now.

What activities might this person engage in, as a vibrantly active member of the community? I would love to work with women and men in their ninth or tenth decade of life who have continued to challenge their minds, find solutions, solve puzzles, and integrate their experiences and knowledge. I’d love to sit at a table with these great minds and let our imaginations inform us about possible solutions to our current global challenges. What might we invent together?

More tomorrow,
Suzanna