Is health the absence of sickness, or is there more to it? 

This question is crucial in today’s healthcare, and nowhere more relevant than in the area of brain health. So it is no wonder that Kim and Alessia have picked to discuss it as the conclusion of this journey called BrainHealth podcast.

 As a co-founder and CEO of Brain+, Kim has a lot to share about the topic. The app-based cognitive rehabilitation platform his company makes is equally concerned with developing healthy habits (via a feature called BrainCoach, found in Enhance and Recover apps), as it is with cognitive training. 

In our 8th episode, prof. Eero Castren explains that we need to keep the brain active for it to stay healthy.
However, in this one, Kim goes beyond discussing neuroplasticity, and touches upon general lifestyle issues that affect brain health:
- is there such a thing as healthy brain food?
- how socialization affects the brain?
- what is it that mindfulness meditation does?

Additionally, Alessia and Kim also share some knowlegde about what happens with the brain during sleep, and discuss the concept of deliberate practice, developed by the psychologist Anders Ericsson.

This is the 2nd half of a two-part interview - listen to the 1st one here.

Kim Baden-Kristensen is the co-founder and CEO of Brain+, a digital therapeutics company that helps people with brain disorders and injuries to recover their fundamental cognitive brain functions and daily life capabilities by using an app-based cognitive rehabilitation platform, which is developed in close collaboration with patients, clinicians and researchers.https://www.linkedin.com/in/kbadenk/ |

Alessia Covello is a life science IT consultant working in the field of healthcare technology implementation, and advocating for better services for people with brain conditions and learning disabilities.https://www.linkedin.com/in/alessiacovello/

Discussion points:

8.39 The dangers of retirement - what it does to brain plasticity

11.01 Training the brain as a whole vs. training skills?

15.18 “Deliberate practice” - what makes champions special, and what it tells us about the brain

25.56 Lifestyle and the brain - key areas we can improve on a daily basis:

• 26.41 Sleep
• 31.06 Social life 
• 34.33 Physical exercise
• 42.56 Diet

55.51 Meditation and mindfulness - out of spiritual practices and into our everyday lives

Disclaimer:

All references to products, companies, and organizations in this podcast and the article that accompanies it are included with the purpose to inform, rather than promote or advertise. The podcast authors do not receive financial compensation for any of these references.