Brain games, social activity, constant learning, exercise. Surely, they’re mentally and physically stimulating, not to mention they can be extremely enjoyable. But can a stimulating environment go beyond enjoyment and enter the realm of affecting something like your brain’s ability to combat the tolls of ageing like mental decline or protect itself after injury?
The Effects of Environmental Stimulation
Research in animal studies has shown that mental and physical stimulation can actually play a part in aiding your brain’s protective reserve. There are two types of reserve, cognitive and brain reserve . The two are very similar and intricately linked; cognitive reserve is the brain’s ability to resist and protect against damage while brain reserve is its ability to combat age and disease-related defects. Furthermore, the research has shown that this overall reserve plays an active role in reducing the risk of dementia and slowing the rate of memory decline. Additionally, these types of reserve have been linked to the brain’s capability to repair itself after a trauma.
Find Your Personal Environmental Stimulation
A stimulated environment can look different for everyone. Activities like knitting or board games might stimulate some while boring others, but the premise of stimulating your brain should nonetheless remain generally understood. Given that new research shows environmental stimulation can lead to increasing important brain function, it is arguably important to determine what exactly mentally stimulates you. Mental stimulation can be different from mental enjoyment, however. For example, watching Netflix for hours can be extremely relaxing and enjoyable, but often mindlessly watching television programs necessitates very little mental stimulation. Things like higher learning, attending social events, and playing instruments requires more mental exertion, and life experiences like these are said to grow the brain’s protective reserve. So, finding activities that not only you enjoy but that also cause your brain to “work harder” can prove to satisfy you both regarding entertainment and your long-term mental health.
The Science
Many portions of the brain have shown to be affected by environmental stimulation both at the cellular and molecular level.
At the cellular level: processes like neurogenesis, gliogenesis, angiogenesis, and synaptogenesis are promoted. Neurogenesis is the brain’s ability to produce new neurons from neural stem cells. Support has been shown for its role in the hippocampus of adults to increase the ability to acquire new memories. Gliogenesis is the process that makes glial cells, which include astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, Schwann cells, and microglia. These together play vital roles in regulating neurotransmission, modulating learning and neurogenesis, and providing structural and functional support to neurons. Angiogenesis is the process that develops new blood vessels, which is vital for proper brain function as oxygen and nutrients are required by neural tissue. Lastly, synaptogenesis is the creation of synapse connections between neurons, which is imperative in improving existing connections and making new neuronal connections.
At the molecular level: environmental stimulation can affect both early and late gene expression of the neocortext. This leads to changes in gene transcription that codes for particular proteins involved in neuronal transmission. The two main areas affected are changes in neurotransmitter and neurotrophin activity.
Regarding neurotransmitters: stimulation causes enhanced sensory, cognitive, and motor activity by changes to extracellular neurotransmitters, membrane transporters, and receptor levels many systems (for example, serotonergic and noradrenergic systems).
Regarding neurotrophins: neurotrophins bind to the p75 and Trk trans-membrane receptor proteins and they regulate neuronal development and function. Stimulation can affect the processes they’re involved in, like “cell proliferation and differentiation, axonal and dendritic growth and remodeling, synaptogenesis, and synaptic function and plasticity”. (To read more about this study, click here.)
