Nutrition, Physical Activity & Healthy Brain Ageing, Abstract by Professor Aron Keith Barbey, Scientific Innovations for Enhanced Brain Health.
Recent innovations in neuroscience have advanced our understanding of the neural foundations of human intelligence. Rather than engaging a single brain structure or operating at a fixed level of performance throughout adulthood, emerging evidence indicates that intelligence is supported by a distributed neural system whose functions can be significantly enhanced by specific types of intervention. In this presentation, I survey recent advances in the scientific effort to enhance human intelligence, evaluating the efficacy of (1) cognitive training, (2) physical exercise, (3) brain stimulation, and (4) nutritional intervention.
I classify these interventions according to their evidential support and identify a common set of features that characterize the most successful approaches. I highlight the strengths and promise of multi-modal approaches that view the human mind through a multi-faceted lens, incorporating cognitive neuroscience, physical fitness, and nutritional interventions that deliver powerful synergistic effects. I show how the scientific effort to improve the mind is fundamentally changing our understanding of human intelligence – supporting new perspectives about its dynamic and adaptive nature and motivating new insights about how to enhance brain health and reduce the risk of mild cognitive impairment and dementia.
Date and Venue
- Wednesday 2nd December 2015
- 5:15pm (welcome reception) for 6:00 pm start
- Lecture Theatre 2 on Mezzanine Level
- UTAS Medical Sciences Building
- 17 Liverpool Street, Hobart
- RSVP to wicking.enquiries@utas.edu.au or 6226 8510
