12 Key Rules for Brain Health That Can Change Your Life

The research of Dr. Amen and his neuroimaging team, combined with their clinical practice, has led to the formulation of 12 simple but fundamental rules that underlie everything we do. Expert says these 12 principles of brain health can truly change your life. Below is a chapter from Daniel J. Amen’s new book, The End of Mental Illness.

Contents of the article:

• 1. The brain is the main participant in every activity you do
• 2. If the brain is functioning properly and you are working on
• 3. The brain is the most incredibly complex organ in our world
• 4. The brain needs certain conditions for its maximum
• 5. The brain is a soft structure protected by a hard skull
• 6. There are many factors that harm the brain
• 7. There are also many ways to support and improve the work
• 8. Your brain works like a single orchestra – all parts must
• 9. Knowing the characteristics of your brain helps you understand specific
• 10. Mental disorders are complex and multidimensional conditions,
• 11. The volume of your “brain reserve” determines your ability
• 12. The main conclusion that neuroimaging gives: you are not doomed

1. The brain is the main participant in every activity you do.

All of your thoughts, emotions, behavior and ability to interact with others depend on the continuous functioning of your brain. He is involved in your every choice and action.

2. If the brain is functioning properly and you are working at full capacity

When your brain malfunctions, it affects your quality of life. A healthy brain promotes efficiency, sanity, creativity and vitality. When the brain functions abnormally, the risk of encountering problems such as depression, anxiety, impulsivity, irritability, rigidity and memory impairment increases. Even subtle dysfunctions interfere with a successful life in relationships, career and finances.

3. The brain is the most incredibly complex organ in our world

It consists of approximately 100 billion neurons and the same number of auxiliary cells, and the number of interneuron connections exceeds the number of stars in the Universe. Weighing only about 2% of body weight, the brain consumes 20–30% of calories and 20% of oxygen, as well as a significant portion of the body’s blood flow.

4. The brain needs certain conditions for its maximum productivity.

Key factors needed for excellent brain function include:

• Healthy blood flow that supplies the brain with oxygen and important vitamins c minerals;
• sufficient level of hydration;
• Physical and mental activity;
• Constant stimulation with new knowledge and skills;
• Proper nutrition;
• Harmonious hormone levels;
• A strong, but not overactive immune system;
• Effective removal of toxins and metabolic products;
• Good quality sleep;
• Meaning and purposefulness in life;
• Social connections and interaction with other people.

5. The brain is a soft structure protected by a hard skull

The brain has the consistency of soft butter and floats inside the skull in the spinal cord fluid. The internal sharp bony protrusions can cause injury to it, so protective measures and careful handling are extremely important.

6. There are many factors that harm the brain.

Very important to know , what substances and situations negatively affect the brain. A bright, colorful version of the special poster is displayed in more than 100, 000 schools, prisons and therapists’ offices around the world.

7. There are also many ways to support and improve brain function.

It is equally important to understand exactly what circumstances and actions contribute to improving brain function. Along with harmful factors, there are also beneficial ones, and knowing them helps develop mental clarity and inner potential.

8. Your brain works like an orchestra—all parts must work together seamlessly to reach your potential.

Different areas of the brain specialize in performing specific tasks and functions:

• The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is responsible for language, concentration, planning, common sense, empathy, impulse control, and learning from mistakes. It is often called the “executive brain” because it coordinates behavior and helps make informed decisions.
• The temporal lobes process visual and auditory information, memory, learning, emotional stability, and responsiveness.
• Within the temporal lobes are two key structures: the hippocampus, which is associated with mood and memory, and the amygdala, which is responsible for fear, emotional reactions, and anxiety.
• The hippocampus is one of the few areas of the brain where new neurons are constantly being produced. It increases in size under healthy conditions, but is easily damaged by toxins and chronic stress.
• The parietal lobes provide spatial orientation, mathematical abilities and design thinking.
• The occipital lobes are the visual processing center.
• The cerebellum is responsible for coordination of movements, emotional balance and cognitive functions, although it occupies only 10% of the brain’s volume, half of all neurons are concentrated in it. It is one of the most under-appreciated areas of the brain.
• The anterior cingulate cortex helps shift attention and detect errors.
• The basal ganglia are involved in feelings of pleasure, motivation, and precision of movement.
• The deep limbic system deals with sensory processing and emotional regulation through gating of signals.

None of these areas function in isolation—the entire brain functions as a complete organism.

9. Understanding your brain helps you understand specific problems and identify which areas need support.

Disturbances in different brain systems often correlate with certain mental and emotional difficulties. Examples:

• Prefrontal Cortex – Difficulty with language, absent-mindedness, inability to plan and make sound decisions, low empathy, problems with impulse control and learning from mistakes.
• Temporal lobes – difficulties with the perception of auditory and visual information, memory impairment, emotional instability and increased irritability.
• Parietal lobes – problems with orientation in space, mathematical skills.
• Occipital lobes – visual processing disorders.
• Cerebellum – impaired coordination of movements, slowed processing of information, emotional disorders and cognitive failures.
• Anterior cingulate gyrus – difficulties with switching attention, anxiety, suppressed emotions, obsessive thoughts, pickiness.
• Basal ganglia – addiction, tremors, decreased motivation.
• Limbic system – sensory overload, depression and negative perceptions.

10. Mental disorders are complex and multidimensional conditions that require an individual approach to treatment

Using the same universal method for all cases invariably leads to failure and disappointment. For example, depression is a symptom, not an independent disease.

Each mental disorder has multiple components and requires a unique treatment strategy.

11. The volume of your “brain reserve” determines your ability to cope with life’s challenges or feel more vulnerable

There is evidence that the adult brain loses an average of about 85, 000 neurons every day. During childhood, the brain actively creates new neurons and synaptic connections, but with age, the rate of this activity decreases. Like muscles that lose tone if not exercised, the brain ages—a process that can be either accelerated or slowed by lifestyle choices and daily habits. With the right strategies, you can keep it functioning at an optimal level and resist aging.

I often talk to my patients about the concept of “brain reserve.” is a kind of buffer that helps withstand stress and strain. The higher the reserve, the more resistant the brain is to age-related changes and the risk of developing mental disorders. For better understanding, I show an image demonstrating the relationship between age-related changes in the brain, its activity and lifestyle. The graph shows when a critical threshold is reached, after which anxiety, depression, memory loss or angry outbursts may occur.

What determines the size of this reserve? Modern research confirms that even before you were conceived, your parents’ lifestyle set the stage for your physical and mental health. Your brain already has a certain potential at birth, but if your mother smoked or was a passive smoker, drank excess alcohol, ate a poor diet, experienced chronic stress, or had infections during pregnancy, your brain reserve was reduced even before birth. On the contrary, a healthy lifestyle of parents, reception vitamins and the absence of severe stress lead to an increase in this reserve.

From the moment you are born, the process of either accumulation or depletion of brain reserve continues throughout your life until its end. If you have a history of chronic stress or domestic violence, it will reduce your brain capacity. Even a simple head injury, such as from falling off a bicycle in elementary school, could reduce the reserve, despite the absence of visible consequences. Smoking marijuana during adolescence further reduced brain storage. In addition, regularly hitting your head while playing football also negatively affected your brain. However, all these factors may not have caused any noticeable symptoms – at least not yet.

Imagine two soldiers in the same tank on the battlefield being simultaneously hit by an explosion at the same angle. Both of them were left without serious physical injuries, but their subsequent conditions are very different: one of them faces post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, and the other does not experience such difficulties. Why is this happening? Not a coincidence – a much more likely reason is the difference in the levels of brain reserve of each of them. The first soldier had great reserves – he carefully took care of his brain, had extensive educational opportunities, his parents provided proper nutrition and did not allow him to play football. The second suffered from lower reserves due to an unstable family environment, a triple concussion from playing football, poor nutrition and teenage drug use. Both were good at their tasks, but differences in brain reserve played a key role. Despite the decrease in reserve after the explosion in both, the one who initially carried the larger reserve avoided mental illness, while the soldier with the smaller reserve crossed a critical threshold of exhaustion, becoming vulnerable to mental health disorders such as PTSD and depression.

The recovery process is not just relieving the symptoms of “mental illness,” but first of all replenishing the brain reserve and returning its functionality to normal levels.

In order to increase your brain reserves, it is recommended to adhere to three basic rules:

• Truly appreciate and take care of your brain.
• Minimize impacts that are harmful to his condition.
• Perform activities that promote brain development and health.

Your daily choices and habits either improve and expand your brain reserve, or, on the contrary, deplete it. They affect the rate of aging or, conversely, promote brain renewal. Once you understand this concept, it becomes clear that you are largely responsible for the health and age of your nervous system, and therefore for the state of your mental health, and you have the opportunity to overcome “mental illnesses.”

12. The main conclusion that neuroimaging gives: you are not doomed to live with your brain in the form in which it is now

You are capable of changing and improving it, and this can be proven. This is perhaps the most inspiring and hopeful lesson we have learned. We all need to work hard to improve our own brain function, because with every improvement comes not only better brain function, but also a better quality of life and mental well-being.

The most exciting discovery, based on the analysis of almost 170, 000 brain scans, is the fact that you can transform your brain, change your life and improve your mental health!

Once you understand the 12 principles, it becomes clear that mental health problems are fundamentally problems of brain health. Therefore, restoring mental health is associated with optimizing brain function and increasing its reserves. In further chapters of the book, you will become familiar with the approaches and techniques that will help you achieve this. It is important to understand the need for a holistic approach to healing because it provides a solid foundation for applying the strategies discussed in Part 2 of the book, making them more effective for you.