Byrdie - The 4 Things This Neuropsychologist Wants You to Do Every Day
The 4 Things This Neuropsychologist Wants You to Do Every Day
Our attitude toward health has never been more holistic—it seems like Western culture is finally syncing with its Eastern neighbours, as our approach focuses more and more on prevention rather than cures. It also means that rather than simply looking after our immune systems, we're now employing a more 360-degree approach to wellness, covering everything from our guts, our hearts and more recently, our brains.
"Health doesn't mean the absence of illness anymore," states neuropsychologist Dr. Amy Serin. "Nowadays people are looking for more ways to feel satisfied, more joyful, more mindful and basically to experience their daily life differently." And she's undoubtedly witnessed a massive change in the way we view brain health. "I think that there's a new emerging neuroscience that's making its way into the mainstream, covering everything from brain-training games and software to brain stimulation devices," she explains. "And this has us all thinking about how we can improve our own brain functioning."
It's a thought that has crossed our minds countless times too, and so we asked Dr. Serin (who's also the co-founder and chief science officer of a pretty insane stress-relieving device—more on that later) to share four easy ways to care for our brains every single day.
Try the Touch Point device
Like a FitBit for the brain, the Touch Point (£122) is a two-part wearable tech device that helps the brain deal with stress—Dr. Serin is the neuropsychologists behind its inception and development.
"Stress turns on like a light switch and turns off more like a dimmer switch—i.e., much more slowly," explains Dr. Serin. "But we've found a way to turn it off more instantly with these devices. They provide a sensory over-ride, giving off static micro vibrations that integrate themselves into the network inside the brain that decides what to do in stressful situations."
Sounds good, right? "It's not a conscious network—you don't even know it's happening—but when you wear the Touch Points, they can actively pull your brain out of a stressful state. Our data shows that it removes 70% off stress in 30 seconds," says Dr. Serin.
Plus, they can help you go on feeling less stressed throughout the day, says Dr. Serin: "Once you've lowered your stress and enter a calmer state, your baseline is lower, so as you go about your day, you're less likely to get irritated or stressed out."
So, when it comes to brain health, it's pretty apparent that we needn't make things complicated. Just be cautious of stress, and employ these tactics to help control it.
*This article first appeared on Byrdie on February 9, 2018, by SHANNON PETER. To read the full article, click here.
