Is YOUR Brain Made of Plastic or Concrete? [Start Your Week]

Dr. Dennis Charney, a researcher and expert in neurobiology and the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders at Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York said, “The Brain is Plastic, the more you use it, the better it gets. The more you use it, the better it functions. And the secret to maximizing your brain’s function and improving its performance is to use it. You need to utilize the plasticity of your brain by giving it practice. 

When I joined our local volunteer fire department, I knew nothing about fighting fires. They trained two nights a month, but when you’re starting at zero like I was, that isn’t enough. In the first three months, I went on several major fire calls that included a 3-story group home, a large grocery store and several house fires, all total losses. That summer, because I was new, I was sent to State Fire School, the only one out of the 25 firemen on our department who was sent to State school. I just figured all of the other firemen had done plenty of practicing and had their brains stretched enough to know everything they needed to know about how to fight fires. But I was wrong. Many of those brains were actually concrete and hadn’t been stretched in years.

What I learned during the three days at State Fire School really stretched my brain...