Instead of studies that test the benefits of one specific lifestyle change, supplement, or variable, I wonder if there are any that utilize all of them? If someone exercised like crazy, had lots of social interaction, had the optimum diet, slept well, and did everything else right, could it even reverse moderate to severe cognitive decline? I remember reading about a doctor that has severe MS who was already bound to a wheelchair that decided to do something about her condition. She started by eating as many leafy greens as she could and getting some sunlight. Over time, she began exercising little bit by little bit. Eventually, she ramped everything up and became totally liberated from her wheelchair. I wish I could remember her name, but now she has a program that includes the same protocols.
There’s a recent massive study showing walking can slow down rate of dementia and improve studies. Similar evidence around diet too.
Unfortunately for more complex combined interventions you need coaching/dietary advice which end up costing lots of money (which academia doesn’t have).
Unfortunately very little money to be gotten from the big players (pharma etc.) to fund more studies because understandably there’s no profit motive for them.
Is there any current research on why getting more sleep actually reduces neuroplasticity? It seems paradoxical that getting excessive sleep would lead to lower cognitive outcomes, this is a very interesting component to me.
Thank you for sharing - great read. I am very thankful for neuroplasticity. I've been healing from Complex PTSD for several years now and I found good "brain hygiene" such as these six habits increased the benefits I gained from other trauma processing exercises - both in magnitude and longevity. I personally found getting enough sleep to bea game changer for me to keep healing from being only temporary
Love this breakdown, because neuroplasticity really is the brain’s version of lifelong software updates, and half the time all it needs is good sleep, some movement, and a little curiosity to stop running yesterday’s operating system. Honestly, the brain ages slower when we give it something new to chew on.
Honestly I can’t say enough about sleep. I remember in high school I wanted to max out my productivity, so I’d start studying at 6am and work till 12am. Easy to calculate that i was getting max of 6h of sleep. When I tell you I was not remembering a single thing I was studying, and it felt so discouraging because of how much energy I’ve put into it. Only when I started having proper sleep (turns out I need 9 hours) is when I felt happy and productive. Don’t underestimate your sleep everyone 🙂↕️
Due to circumstances in my life I am unable to get more than a few hours of sleep per night. This has been a chronic problem for many years. I have tried most everything and have been to sleep doctors. If I can’t sleep seven hours they can’t do a sleep study. I’m told to do the best as I can and sleep when I can. They can’t help me and all the articles I constantly read say if you don’t sleep well you will get cognitive decline or worse. The advice that is given is always the same, things that I have tried and have failed. This is frustrating and scary. What do I do now?
Love this — six solid levers, all backed by evidence.
One pattern I’ve been documenting is that all six of these work much better when you stop trying to force the brain/body and start negotiating instead.
Turns out the same “cooperation > control” principle that’s showing up in neuroscience (predictive processing), clinical outcomes (cooperation-framed interventions winning), AI alignment, and even physics (emergent gravity) in 2025 is exactly how neuroplasticity actually happens in real bodies.
The accessible entry point (why forcing change often backfires):
Instead of studies that test the benefits of one specific lifestyle change, supplement, or variable, I wonder if there are any that utilize all of them? If someone exercised like crazy, had lots of social interaction, had the optimum diet, slept well, and did everything else right, could it even reverse moderate to severe cognitive decline? I remember reading about a doctor that has severe MS who was already bound to a wheelchair that decided to do something about her condition. She started by eating as many leafy greens as she could and getting some sunlight. Over time, she began exercising little bit by little bit. Eventually, she ramped everything up and became totally liberated from her wheelchair. I wish I could remember her name, but now she has a program that includes the same protocols.
There’s a recent massive study showing walking can slow down rate of dementia and improve studies. Similar evidence around diet too.
Unfortunately for more complex combined interventions you need coaching/dietary advice which end up costing lots of money (which academia doesn’t have).
Unfortunately very little money to be gotten from the big players (pharma etc.) to fund more studies because understandably there’s no profit motive for them.
Neuroplasticity WORKS! I am using it to end my migraines and chronic fatigue 🪫🤕
I write about it on my profile ✍️
Thank you I’ll check it out!
Hope you liked it ♥️ 🧠
@Cecilia Winter thought you might appreciate this article :)
You know me too well darling. This is right up my alley 🤓🧠♥️
Thanks for sharing!
Great article. I really appreciate your format and how accessible the information is. Thank you 🤗
Thank you so much!!!
Love the simple things we can do to keep our cognition active at any age
Thanks!
Fascinating write up, thank you for this.
Is there any current research on why getting more sleep actually reduces neuroplasticity? It seems paradoxical that getting excessive sleep would lead to lower cognitive outcomes, this is a very interesting component to me.
It is very interesting and sleep is very much an under researched topic.
Interestingly it’s not just your brain but also you body in general as ‘too much’ sleep is associated with a higher biological age too.
Part of me thinks those who are more sick may sleep more (reverse causation) but subjectively I do feel more groggy if I sleep for too long.
Not sure there’s a clear answer yet
Like the idea of trying small new things.
Thank you for sharing - great read. I am very thankful for neuroplasticity. I've been healing from Complex PTSD for several years now and I found good "brain hygiene" such as these six habits increased the benefits I gained from other trauma processing exercises - both in magnitude and longevity. I personally found getting enough sleep to bea game changer for me to keep healing from being only temporary
Love this breakdown, because neuroplasticity really is the brain’s version of lifelong software updates, and half the time all it needs is good sleep, some movement, and a little curiosity to stop running yesterday’s operating system. Honestly, the brain ages slower when we give it something new to chew on.
Honestly I can’t say enough about sleep. I remember in high school I wanted to max out my productivity, so I’d start studying at 6am and work till 12am. Easy to calculate that i was getting max of 6h of sleep. When I tell you I was not remembering a single thing I was studying, and it felt so discouraging because of how much energy I’ve put into it. Only when I started having proper sleep (turns out I need 9 hours) is when I felt happy and productive. Don’t underestimate your sleep everyone 🙂↕️
No mention of psilocybin at all?
Due to circumstances in my life I am unable to get more than a few hours of sleep per night. This has been a chronic problem for many years. I have tried most everything and have been to sleep doctors. If I can’t sleep seven hours they can’t do a sleep study. I’m told to do the best as I can and sleep when I can. They can’t help me and all the articles I constantly read say if you don’t sleep well you will get cognitive decline or worse. The advice that is given is always the same, things that I have tried and have failed. This is frustrating and scary. What do I do now?
Love this — six solid levers, all backed by evidence.
One pattern I’ve been documenting is that all six of these work much better when you stop trying to force the brain/body and start negotiating instead.
Turns out the same “cooperation > control” principle that’s showing up in neuroscience (predictive processing), clinical outcomes (cooperation-framed interventions winning), AI alignment, and even physics (emergent gravity) in 2025 is exactly how neuroplasticity actually happens in real bodies.
The accessible entry point (why forcing change often backfires):
https://open.substack.com/pub/nwlehmann90/p/when-bodies-say-no-what-happens-when
The cross-domain convergence write-up:
https://open.substack.com/pub/nwlehmann90/p/negotiated-allowance-a-november-2025
Curious if this deeper layer resonates with what you’re seeing in the research!
Hello 👋
https://open.substack.com/pub/nwlehmann90/p/when-bodies-say-no-what-happens-when
Thank you for the tips, Dominic! I enjoyed this read very much and will continue to eat fish and legumes as a staple in my diet
What a great read. Excellent points and suggestions!