Dr. Marian Diamond, a professor of neuroscience who studied Einstein’s brain, helped us to understand the positive effects of traveling on the brain. She argued that new experiences boost our cognitive powers. But what does this mean exactly? Let’s start with a little story. In the year of 1964, Dr. Diamond made a groundbreaking experiment that completely changed our understanding of the brain. Her experiments with curious laboratory rats have produced the first hard evidence of brain plasticity - that is, the brain’s ability to grow and change over time. “It was thrilling,” Dr. Diamond said in the documentary My Love Affair the Brain. “Nobody else had made such measurements and found these results. We were terribly excited about it.”

How Do New Experiences Benefit Your Brain?

What if we said you can change your brain?

Not so long ago, the idea that life experiences could affect the brain was considered radical. Scientists believed that genes determined intellect, meaning the brain's potential was inherited rather than developed. You were either born lucky or not, end of story. But now, thanks to groundbreaking findings in neuroscience, we understand that the outside world can enhance cognitive performance. The scientific term for this is neuroplasticity. So what does this mean for us as people? In the words of Dr. Diamond, it means we're capable of making our brains better and healthier.

But how can you improve your brain function? The secret lies in your environment. Dr. Diamond discovered that rats raised in enriched environments (with plenty of toys and other rats to interact with) had a thicker cerebral cortex than those raised in impoverished environments (with no other rats and objects to play with). The same principles apply to the human brain.

Enrich your environment whenever you can