My brain can still run!
How to Eliminate Brain Anxiety from a World-Renowned Neuroscientist

The question, "Why isn't my concentration and memory as good as before?" continues throughout life, regardless of age.
Life is full of things to learn and achieve, and at each opportunity, you can't help but feel your own limitations.
But those who know the truth hidden in the brain have a different way of dealing with it.
The brain is a system built to keep trying and changing.
Just by getting rid of the misconceptions you've had about the brain and discovering its positive possibilities, your current unnecessary anxiety will disappear.
Professor Lee In-ah, who is at the forefront of brain cognitive science research, is delving into the mysteries of 'memory and forgetting' and will guide you into 'the world of the brain's infinite possibilities.'
From now on, let's start incorporating brain-friendly habits into our lives one by one.
Through those small changes, you will find yourself breaking free from the lethargy of everyday life and taking control of your life.

The brain's ability to change, its plasticity, is truly remarkable.
The famous "London Taxi Driver Study," which showed that driving a car by memorizing London's streets led to an enlarged hippocampus, as well as research showing that other brain regions actively take over the functions of damaged areas during stroke recovery, demonstrate the brain's remarkable plasticity, allowing it to change like a chameleon.
The research on older nuns and the brain changes that occur during regular meditation, as described in this book, are also based on the principle of plasticity.

--- p.10

All of this 'retrieving my experiential memories' of everyday life is a shortcut to building an adaptive brain that can respond to unpredictable changes.
The brain's natural learning doesn't happen at a desk.
Rather, it would be good to remember that in the world, we encounter various stimuli, people, environments, and events, and through the process of utilizing and responding to our own experiences, we naturally and ultimately come to a complete form.

--- p.24

As we age, individual differences in the brain's cognitive abilities become more severe, making it difficult to say roughly what level of brain performance will be at a certain age.
(…) Just as some of the elderly people you meet at the gym can lift heavy plates that even young people find difficult to lift, while others break out in a sweat after lifting only a few light dumbbells, our bodies, including our brains, can perform very differently as we age depending on the type of training we have received.

--- p.32

If "place + time + object + value" were simply stored as one, like taking a photograph, it would seem unlikely that the contents would be misassembled and retrieved, much like pulling a photo from an album. But why does our brain's episodic memory system operate in such a way that it's so prone to error? Perhaps it's because our brain, when imagining and creating something new, builds upon a combination of things we already know from experience.
Perhaps that's why the hippocampus, which creates combinations of memories, is also mobilized when we imagine.

--- p.68

Speaking by moving only the lips and vocal cords is considered movement, and typing or touching with the fingers is also considered movement, but it is more likely that learning will be best experienced through large-scale movements of the body moving through space than through these small movements.
The reason has to do with the principles of how the brain operates its energy.
That is, the greater the body's movements, and the more elaborate and organized the movements, the more energy is required, but the brain is extremely reluctant to spend energy on unnecessary things.

--- p.76

The rapid depletion of energy when using the hippocampal system is similar to how the battery on your smartphone quickly dies when you watch videos or take a lot of pictures with the camera.
Conversely, activities like reading an e-book don't drain your smartphone's battery very much, similar to how our brain's procedural learning system works unconsciously and without using energy.
For those who must intensively utilize narrative learning systems for their work or tasks, replenishing energy through so-called recharging is crucial to consistently perform those tasks or tasks well without burnout.
Park Wan-seo and Hermann Hesse chose gardening as a means of recharging.

--- p.100

Most people probably think that this busy state is when our brains work most efficiently.
(…) However, brain science research strongly suggests that the human brain needs adequate rest.
I believe that even when resting, especially when doing nothing, and being in a state of blankness, allowing the mind to wander freely like a leaf blowing in the wind, is essential for maintaining the human nature of the brain.

--- p.107