Train Your Brain Like You Train Your Body
Let's talk about brain health
Today I walked into the ICU after 6 hours of sleep.
I could feel it…. Slower recall, less patience, more irritated, more tempted to scroll conspiracy theories on Reddit instead of think about my patients.
And it hit me: if I can feel that difference after one mediocre night… what does a decade of mediocre habits do?
Because here’s the thing: Your brain is not static. It is metabolically active tissue with blood flow demands, inflammatory sensitivity, hormonal signaling and structural plasticity. And it is adapting to whatever you repeat
Welcome to Neuroplasticity..
Neurons are the little electrical guys that make your brain work. And neurons that fire together wire together. Your brain responds to repetition.
Habit Formation Is Neurological
Your brain prefers “make it easier.”
When you repeat a behavior in the same setting..like a lil walk after dinner or reading before bed, your brain starts building a shortcut.
Those little neurons strengthen the pathway that gets used most and then the decision requires less effort and the internal debate gets quieter.
That’s how habits form.
A 2009 study in the European Journal of Social Psychology found that habits don’t form because you go all in for two weeks. They form because you repeat the same behavior in the same context long enough for it to feel automatic. On average, that took about 66 days but for some people it took much longer.
Translation: consistency beats intensity.
From a brain standpoint, here’s what’s happening:
When something becomes a habit, it requires less mental energy
When it requires less energy, it feels less stressful
When it feels less stressful, you’re more likely to keep doing it
That’s why early habit building feels diff or uncomfortable. You’re still using active decision making every time and this requires effort.
If every healthy behavior feels like a negotiation in your head, it’s not because you lack discipline. It’s because the wiring hasn’t happened yet.. You just have to keep repeating it guys. That’s how the brain learns.
How to Build Habits That Actually Stick
1. Decide in advance
Don’t rely on how you feel in the moment. Instead, use what researchers call “implementation intentions”: basically an “if–then” plan.
“If I finish dinner, I walk for 10 minutes.”
“If it’s 9 pm, I plug my phone in across the room.”
“If I wake up, I put on my running shoes before I check anything.”
When you pre-decide, you reduce the internal debate. That debate is your emotional brain trying to win.. I definitely struggle with letting my emotions win sometimes!!
Pre-deciding strengthens the planning part of your brain and makes the behavior more automatic over time.
2. Make things efficient
Your brain is energy efficient. It will always choose the lower effort option..so make the healthy behavior the easy one.
Put your shoes by the door, keep your phone out of reach, meal prep your protein, keep your book on the nightstand…
Make the good choice obvious and the bad choice slightly inconvenient. That small gap matters.
3. Add challenge slowly
You don’t go from couch to marathon in a week…Your brain is the same.
Add one new behavior at a time, then let it settle and let it wire. Being overwhelmed increases stress hormones, and stress hormones impair learning.
4. Reward completion, not perfection
Dopamine reinforces repetition. Every time you complete the behavior, even imperfectly, your brain registers it as worth repeating.
Missed a day? That’s ok. But resume the next.
Cognitive Reserve
There’s a concept in neurology called cognitive reserve.
It helps explain why two people can have similar levels of Alzheimer’s pathology on imaging, but very different symptoms.
One struggles. The other is still sharp, conversational, independent.
Why?
Because earlier in life, one of those brains built more wiring. That’s cognitive reserve.
It’s not about avoiding pathology entirely. It’s about having enough neural flexibility to compensate when changes occur.
So what actually builds cognitive reserve?
Lifelong Learning
In the Nun Study, researchers analyzed early life writing samples from nuns and found that those with greater linguistic complexity in their 20s had significantly lower dementia risk decades later.
Same genetics, same environment, different cognitive engagement.
Translation: your brain responds to intellectual challenge long before you’re thinking about aging
Cognitive Training
The ACTIVE trial (published in JAMA) followed older adults who underwent reasoning and processing speed training.
The benefits lasted 10 years later.. That’s wild. Targeted mental effort changes long term cognitive trajectory.
This means that your brain is trainable, even later in life.
Travel & Novelty
Now let’s talk about something more fun.
New environments stimulate the hippocampus (the brain region heavily involved in memory and learning). Animal studies show that enriched environments increase synaptic density and even neurogenesis.
Translation: complexity changes structure.
Travel and new experiences force your brain to work.
You’re navigating unfamiliar streets, interpreting new cues, regulating emotions in unfamiliar settings, adapting socially. Even something as simple as taking a different walking route activates different neural pathways.
Your brain thrives on complexity. Comfort makes it efficient but challenge makes it adaptable… And adaptability is what protects cognition over time.
Your Attention Is Trainable… let’s talk about doom scrolling
Dopamine gets blamed for everything.. But it’s really just the signal that tells your brain, “Hey, that was interesting. Let’s do that again.”
The issue isn’t dopamine.. It’s how often we’re triggering it.
When you scroll constantly, your brain gets used to fast rewards.. new post, new headline, new opinion, new hit of stimulation. And when your brain gets used to speed, slower things start to feel harder. Reading feels harder. Even sitting quietly can feel uncomfortable. Sometimes I get so anxious just sitting still.. yes this is a red flag!!
It’s not because you suddenly lost discipline. It’s because you trained your brain for quick hits instead of sustained attention.
Focus works a lot like endurance. If you never practice it, it weakens. The part of your brain that helps you plan, regulate impulses and think long term gets stronger when you use it and weaker when you don’t
The good news is you can retrain it.
Start small:
Delay checking your phone in the morning
Read a physical book instead of scrolling
Go for a walk without a podcast or music
Let your brain sit in a little boredom.
Low stimulation is where your brain consolidates memory, regulates stress and rebuilds focus.
Metabolic Health Is Brain Health
The same patterns I see in critical care.. insulin resistance, uncontrolled hypertension, chronic inflammation are strongly linked to cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease.
High blood sugar affects how neurons use energy. High blood pressure damages the tiny vessels that supply the brain. Chronic inflammation interferes with how neurons communicate.
Your brain is only about 2% of your body weight, but it uses about 20% of your energy at rest. It needs stable fuel and healthy blood flow to function well.
When you look at long term dementia data, the protective factors are:
Control your blood pressure.
Improve insulin sensitivity (lift weights and walk)
Sleep enough.
Stay socially connected.
Limit heavy alcohol use.
Runner’s high
When you move your body, especially with consistent aerobic exercise, your brain changes.
Exercise increases chemicals that support neuroplasticity, meaning your brain becomes better at adapting and forming new connections.
In a 2011 study published in PNAS, older adults who participated in regular aerobic training actually increased the size of their hippocampus and improved memory performance.
Beyond that, exercise improves blood flow to the brain, reduces inflammation, supports executive function and lowers the risk of depression. It is one of the most consistently protective behaviors we have in cognitive research.
If exercise were a drug, it would absolutely be first line therapy.
What You Eat Shows Up in Your Brain
Berries (Especially Blueberries)
Blueberries are rich in antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties.. Longitudinal data show higher berry intake is associated with slower cognitive decline and improved memory performance.
Omega-3 Fatty Acids
Low omega-3 status is associated with higher risk of depression and cognitive decline.
Sources:
Fatty fish (salmon, sardines, mackerel)
Walnuts
Chia seeds
Flax
If you don’t eat fish regularly, this is one supplement that actually has reasonable evidence behind it.
Leafy Greens
A 2018 Neurology study found individuals consuming ~1 serving of leafy greens daily had a significantly slower rate of cognitive decline compared to those who rarely consumed them.
Alcohol
Yes, a lot of you have seen me 4 white claws deep on a Friday night… alcohol is a fun time. BUT in moderate intake.
Heavy intake is consistently associated with:
Brain atrophy
White matter damage
Executive dysfunction
The brain does not regenerate white matter easily.
Caffeine
Caffeine can improve alertness and reaction time acutely. But chronic sleep restriction plus caffeine is not brain optimization. If your cognition relies entirely on stimulants, the root issue is likely sleep.
What Cognitively Sharp Older Adults Tend to Have Done
• Lifelong physical activity
• Intellectual engagement
• Strong social ties
• Controlled vascular risk factors
• Purpose
• Moderate alcohol consumption or low intake
They repeated boring, protective behaviors, for decades.
Final Takeaway
Your brain is adapting- to what you eat, to how you sleep, to how you move, to what you scroll, to what you avoid.
You don’t build cognitive resilience in your 70-80s. You build it now.
One little note…
If you’re still with me after this long post, thank you! I am running the 2026 Chicago Marathon in October. I am fundraising for a Catholic church on the West Side of Chicago that helps feed and support thousands of homeless people every year. They really do amazing work. Feel free DONATE HERE!
I would greatly appreciate it!!!
References
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Gottesman RF, Schneider ALC, Zhou Y, et al. Midlife hypertension and 20-year cognitive change. JAMA Neurol. 2014;71(10):1218–1227.
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For the Omega-3 Fatty Acids - there’s that brand “fishwife” that has a variety of canned fish. Does it count or is that not recommended?