People tend to slip up and go along the old road before they realise what they've done and climb out of it again.

When we had to survive on our wits, gather and kill our food from scratch and be more at the mercy of our environment than we are today, we probably had enough challenge to keep our brains healthy.

The trouble is if we take no new steps to try a new challenge, our comfort zone doesn't seem just to stay still, but retract.

Neurogenesis continues throughout life and we have the capacity to establish new neural pathways and strengthen existing ones.

Meditation is focused attention and the more we practise focusing our brains the more connections we build up.

We don't have to have suffered brain damage to take advantage of the plastic nature of our brains.

If we keep practicing mental skills it is likely we can strengthen neural connections and make new connections.