Neuroscientist Dr Sabina Brennan argues that while we may be increasingly aware of the importance of physical health, we neglect the value of brain health.

By giving our brains the right stimulation, she believes, not only can we increase our odds of either avoiding or delaying serious diseases such as Alzheimer’s, we may actually be able to build in resilience and slow down the ageing of our brains.

Sabina discusses the research that shows how essential it is that at every stage of our lives, our brains receive the right input at the right time. And she argues that we completely fail to understand the teenage brain. Our brains are not fully formed until we are around 24, and due to this, in our adolescence we are more like to indulge in risk taking, and are also at high risk of addictive behaviour. Yet she believes that neither society nor the way parent our teenagers really takes this into account.

Sabina was responsible for running Trinity College, Dublin’s Brain Fit, a study of brain health, lifestyle, genetics and dementia.  And she has published a number of books about brain health including 100 Days to a Younger Brain and Brain Fog. Sabina also has a website Superbrain with advice on how to enhance brain health and has a particular interest in promoting the public understanding of science. 

https://superbrain.ie/

The host of the podcast, Liz Tucker is an award winning medical journalist and former BBC producer and director.  You can follow Liz on Twitter at https://twitter.com/lizctucker and read her Substack newsletter about the podcast at https://liztucker.substack.com

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