There have been so many discussions regarding helping our brains to be better throughout our lives. What I do want to relay to you are several things you should do. Before I do that, if you’re in your teens and all the way to 28 years old, then definitely read this. You see, our brains continue to grow way past our teen years. In fact, the area of the brain that deals with higher level thinking will grow all the way to when you’re 28 years old. That’s the prefrontal cortex.

For it to be the most effective, you’ve got to read, write, learn, challenge it in every way you can. The connections made during your teen to late 20’s are very important. Part of that is making decisions. If you’re young and your parents continue to make decisions, then you stand to lose much of the executive function of what is known as the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC).

The ACC is important for functioning in rational thinking, decision-making, empathy, and emotion. Oh, and it includes some autonomic functions as well: like heart rate & blood pressure. In fact, there is a close relationship between how you think and the how your heart rate/blood pressure reacts. The ACC is located in the center of prefrontal cortex and wrapped like a collar around the corpus callosum.

When you challenge yourself and even learn more, the better functioning your ACC will be. When you add in exercise and good nutrition, this will help for good blood flow to this area of the brain. It also helps the rest of your brain too.

Do you want to make it really work better? Then when you do something right, reward yourself. Yes, women, that includes you too. The ACC is very effective in learning and decision-making when a reward is given for the accomplishment of a specific task. It’s less effective when the reward is given randomly.

There’s much more to the ACC than what I’ve presented here. And cognitive neuroscience is working to fully understand that area as well as the less known Area 10. What is known is that when certain area of the brain that have changes from the norm will affect the response of the ACC. For example, the amygdala is larger, then a person’s political orientation tends to lean to the right and when the ACC is larger, then it tends to lean to the left. So, there is a difference in thinking processes. We’re not going there in this discussion.

What is important is challenging your brain towards better thinking. When you do that, then you’ll make better decisions in your life. I’m not saying to completely think on something. In fact, you’ve also got to take action in order for real growth to occur.

Have fun with this, even though I added a little neuroscience for you.