Brain Building

homersimpson wallpaper brain from http://www.simpsonstrivia.com.arI’ve been sitting here for the whole evening building a set of slides for my talk here at the Cambridge conference (that I still have not got around to telling you about because I’ve been, well, attending it). My talk is at the start of the Wednesday session and so I’m starting early (yeah, I know) so as to build up all the introductory slides with the fancier graphics to lull the viewer into that comfort zone before bombarding them with technical results. You may well know the sort I mean.

(image above right: click-to-enlarge-able “scan” of Homer Simpson’s brain, which I got from here.)

Anyway, I was sitting here thinking that what I could really do with right now (what with the jetlag, the sitting through five one hour talks – all great) is a rapid hike up to the top of Runyon Canyon or up to the top of Mount Hollywood in Griffith Park – two of my favourite pick-me-ups (or is it picks-me-up…?). This would get the blood flowing and give me that jolt I need to stay smart and alert for a few more slides before packing in for the night (and then panicking tomorrow that I did not do enough). All of this was running through my head when an email arrived* with this article about how exercise can boost mental function – actually promote the growth of new neurons. The studies […] Click to continue reading this post