Here?s the lightly edited tran?script of the Jan?u?ary 4th online Q&A ses?sion with Dr. San?dra Chap?man, Direc?tor of the Cen?ter for Brain?Health at UT-Dallas and author of the new book Make Your Brain Smarter?(Free Press; Jan?u?ary 2013). Enjoy!
1:59
AlvaroF: You can start writ?ing ques?tions so we have a few to choose from as we start in a cou?ple of min?utes. Thank?you!
2:03
AlvaroF: Just one sec?ond and we?ll be ready. Already get?ting great questions!
2:05
AlvaroF: Let me first thank Dr. San?dra Chap?man for being with us today. She was one of the best speak?ers at our 2012 Sum?mit, and since then we wanted to share her research and think?ing with all Sharp?Brains readers.
2:05
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Hello! Look?ing for?ward to thought?ful ques?tions and discussion.
2:05
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Thank you, Alvaro. It was truly a plea?sure to con?nect with you and be a part of the suc?cess?ful 2012 Summit.
2:06
AlvaroF: Dr. Chap?man, let me kick?start the con?ver?sa?tion with a cou?ple ques?tions, before we intro?duce all oth?ers. 1) What dri?ves your great work at UT-Dallas?, 2) what would you like read?ers to get from the book you just released, Make Your Brain Smarter?
2:09
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: I?m dri?ven by knowl?edge that our brain is the last, newest and most impor?tant fron?tier to advance health glob?ally. My goal with Make Your Brain Smarter was to empower indi?vid?u?als to put their brain health in up front and cen?ter focus every sin?gle day. We are each pow?ered by our brain; it is ours alone to con?di?tion and care for and now we are begin?ning to learn how to do so. Spe?cific tips to max?i?mize your cog?ni?tive poten?tial are within the book and the web?site for the book ? makeyourbrainsmarter.com.
2:09
Com?ment From Julian
I am a 78 year?s old retired pub?lic accoun?tant and a ser?ial entre?pre?neur. My last ven?ture (num?ber 5) is the trans?la?tion of a book about brain fit?ness from Eng?lish to Span?ish. The lat?ter is my native lan?guage. The tar?get pop?u?la?tion of the trans?la?tion is the neo?phyte reader. Con?se?quently, not only I have to trans?late but explain com?plex terms and ideas into sim?ple phrases. ? Am I cor?rect in assum?ing that the men?tal activ?ity involved in trans?lat?ing is a frontally medi?ated cog?ni?tive com?plex think?ing process? ? Is the fact that I have to trans?late and explain com?plex terms and ideas a fac?tor in ame?lio?rat?ing the ten?dency of the brain to become less active as we increase our pro?fi?ciency in a par?tic?u?lar activ?ity? ? How could I access SMART?
2:11
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: What an under?tak?ing! Absolutely. To be able to trans?late requires deeper level pro?cess?ing because you have to trans?form lan?guage to new words and new ideas which draws heav?ily on com?plex frontal net?works. The only caveat is that the topic must be of inter?est to you to ignite your pas?sion and moti?va?tion and not be a dreaded chore.
2:11
Com?ment From Dee ONeill
Hi Dr. Chap?man, a?plea?sure to have vis?ited the cen?ter and look for?ward to the oppor?tu?nity to work together. Won?der?ing what your long term vision for the cen?ter and future offer?ings might be? thank you Alvaro for hav?ing this won?der?ful event avail?able for?us?
2:12
Com?ment From Bar?bara Robin?son
Mov?ing for?ward what do you see as core com?po?nents for the advance?ment in brain health?
2:12
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: The nine spe?cific strate?gies of SMART are out?lined in the book, Make Your Brain Smarter, with spe?cific exam?ples for each gen?er?a?tion across the lifespan.
2:13
AlvaroF: Sandi, I com?bined the ques?tions by Dee and Bar?bara, as they are sim?i?lar. Let me add mine to them: what of those 9 strate?gies is often overlooked?
2:15
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Hi Dee! Our goal is once the dis?cov?er?ies are sci?en?tif?i?cally val?i?dated at the Cen?ter for Brain?Health and in the field of brain sci?ence to be made widely avail?able to as many peo?ple as pos?si?ble as quickly as pos?si?ble ? across the lifes?pan, whether indi?vid?u?als are healthy or with brain injury or brain disease.
2:17
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Unfor?tu?nately, most of the strate?gies out?lined are over?looked because peo?ple are over?work?ing and overus?ing their brain and tak?ing infor?ma?tion in and regur?gi?tat?ing it with?out syn?the?siz?ing new ideas. The last three strate?gies out?lined for inno?va?tion are at an all time low in young indi?vid?u?als and older individuals.
2:17
Com?ment From Lau?rie
Does the risk of Alzheimers greatly, mod?er?ately, or not effect the increase for a teenage ath?lete who has incurred one major concussion?
2:17
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Our brain was wired to be inspired, but we are burn?ing it out and exhaust?ing?it.
2:20
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Hi Lau?rie, we do not know the answer to that yet, but we are involved in the longest run?ning lon?gi?tu?di?nal study fol?low?ing pedi?atric brain injury. We do know that later emerg?ing deficits can occur in teens, but we do not know the extent to which they are linked to Alzheimer?s dis?ease devel?oped later in life. We do know that if we rebound the brain after injury at any age, the brain will have the great?est chance of build?ing cog?ni?tive reserves.
2:21
AlvaroF: I under?stand you?re pub?lish?ing a very rel?e?vant JAMA study next week, correct?
2:21
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: We are show?ing tremen?dous gains in cog?ni?tive func?tion after brain injury whether the injury was suf?fered one year ago, two years ago or 10 years?ago.
2:21
Com?ment From Nikhil Sri?ra?man
Thank you for host?ing this Alvaro and Dr. Chap?man! Build?ing on the ques?tion of entre?pre?neuri?al?ism and your work at the Cen?ter for Brain?Health, Dr. Chap?man, what oppor?tu?ni?ties do you see for bring?ing some of the ground break?ing research from labs and health cen?ters into the homes of early adopters seek?ing to opti?mize their cog?ni?tive capa?bil?i?ties through reg?u?lar prac?tices and rit?u?als? For exam?ple, do you see a greater adop?tion and need for com?mer?cially avail?able devices that enable mind?ful?ness train?ing through neurofeedback?
2:22
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Yes, we have been work?ing with ath?letes and the arti?cle will pub?lish 3 pm on Mon?day Jan?u?ary 7 in JAMA Neu?rol?ogy. The study was led by Dr. John Hart, our med?ical sci?ence direc?tor at the Center.
2:24
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: My work focus on strate?gies that can be read?ily adopted into your every?day think?ing to build brain capac?ity, not where you have to take 30 min?utes or one hour a day to prac?tice. We are show?ing that the nine strate?gies out?lined in Make Your Brain Smarter are improv?ing brain func?tion at all lev?els of orga?ni?za?tion from increas?ing brain blood flow, to func?tional con?nec?tiv?ity, to increas?ing white mat?ter con?nec?tions in young and old and in injury and in health.
2:25
Com?ment From John Demand
Do you think it is pos?si?ble through brain train?ing to make humans react and process infor?ma?tion faster? I train police offi?cers and am attempt?ing to do just?that.
2:25
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: One of the key strate?gies is the brain?power of none ? which empha?sizes how deeper level think?ing comes when you calm your mind, which is a key ele?ment of mind?ful?ness training.
2:27
AlvaroF: Sandi, did you see John?s question?
2:27
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Faster is not always bet?ter; we want to train indi?vid?u?als to know when to make deci?sions faster and when to make them slower. When indi?vid?u?als are able to quickly sum up a sit?u?a?tion, they can respond more quickly, if they know the best actions to take. That?s what my brain train?ing pro?gram teaches. We?re work?ing with the spe?cial oper?a?tions com?mu?nity, includ?ing Navy SEALS, and one of the ben?e?fits of train?ing that they have voiced is the abil?ity to make quicker deci?sions. We?d love to be able to work with police officers!
2:28
Com?ment From John Demand
We encour?age breath?ing tech?niques for exam?ple when respond?ing to a call to calm the body and brain. Would that the type of strat?egy be what you are recommending?
2:30
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Your heartrate and brain-rate can be linked. Know?ing how to calm the brain down, despite a rapidly chang?ing sit?u?a?tion, is key to mak?ing the most timely and appro?pri?ate actions. If you can train them to slow the brain down using the brain?power of none, it will rein?force a slower heartrate.
2:30
Com?ment From John Demand
I would be very inter?ested in work?ing with you to improve my train?ing. My web?site is: www.observationondemand.com It would be great to col?lab?o?rate on this essen?tial training.
2:30
Com?ment From Jane Wash?burn
How do you know how much is too?much?
2:31
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Great! I will look at your website.
2:32
Com?ment From Wendy
Hi. I have a 10 year old daugh?ter that had a stroke in utero. She has visual pro?cess?ing issues and has been doing cog?ni?tive train?ing with the Arrow?smith pro?gram. Have you seen suc?cess with cog?ni?tive train?ing in peo?ple with stroke?
2:32
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Jane, are you ask?ing how much is too much information?
2:33
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Wendy: YES! That is actu?ally where my work in brain health began 30 years ago, from young kids to adults. Most peo?ple that do brain train?ing after stroke or injury focus on lower level cog?ni?tive skills; I?ve found tak?ing a top-down, more com?plex cog?ni?tive train?ing repairs the brain faster and more extensively.
2:34
Com?ment From mary ras?mussen
Is there any?thing new for migraine treat?ment or pre?ven?tion, espe?cially for a very old?lady?
2:36
Com?ment From Wendy
Is your web?site and/or book the best place to find your results from cog?ni?tive train?ing for pedi?a?triac post-stroke?
2:36
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Yes, some of the mil?i?tary ser?vice mem?bers we?ve worked with have severe migraines and they have said learn?ing how to quiet their mind and stop infor?ma?tion influx has been very mean?ing?ful in reduc?ing fre?quency and sever?ity of migraines. Be sure to read chap?ter 4 in Make Your Brain Smarter to learn about the brain?pow?ers of none, one and two. Check out centerforbrainhealth.org for a story from AOL fea?tur?ing Josh Lewis, a for?mer marine who strug?gled with migraines when he returned to civil?ian?life.
2:38
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Chap?ter 11 in the book dis?cusses regain?ing cog?ni?tive func?tion after brain injury and many arti?cles included are ref?er?enced in the book as well as on centerforbrainhealth.org.
2:39
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Peo?ple always think that it takes a long time to rewire the brain, but my team and I are doc?u?ment?ing brain changes after just hours of train?ing over one?month.
2:40
AlvaroF: Let me ask my own ques?tion. Do you think health?care sys?tems and providers should be doing a bet?ter job at monitoring/ protecting/ enhanc?ing the brain and cog?ni?tion, or do you see that pri?mar?ily as individual?s job? (I am wor?ried where we may be if 5 years if health?care doesn?t take this seri?ously, pro?vid?ing valu?able help to con?sumers and patients)
2:40
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: For me, one of the sad truths is that we start los?ing cog?ni?tive capac?ity start?ing in our early 40s by our own actions or lack of action. That does not have to be the case! Our brain is uniquely designed to be the most adapt?able and mod?i?fi?able organ in our entire body.
2:41
AlvaroF: Every?one: please sub?mit more ques?tions and com?ments! When you do so, please make sure not to ask for indi?vid?ual med?ical advice, but for gen?eral thoughts on gen?eral prob?lems based on her research and?book
2:42
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Alvaro: I agree. Health?care is always far behind lead?ing edge sci?ence. We?re liv?ing longer with?out increas?ing our brain capac?ity and it is going to be at a great cost to the indi?vid?ual and soci?ety. That?s why I coined the term ?brain?omics? to account for the high eco?nomic cost of lost brain?power and the immense eco?nomic ben?e?fit of max?i?mized brain function.
2:43
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: We have not even begun to test the lim?its of how far we can stretch our brain per?for?mance. The major?ity of us are per?form?ing in the lower range of our per?sonal ?brain zone.?
2:43
AlvaroF: Agreed. What is your best guess? Will con?sumers be bet?ter served by out?sourc?ing this to their health providers or do they need to take their own proac?tive?care?
2:45
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Every?one is their own worst enemy; we absolutely need to be respon?si?ble for our own brain health as it is a daily respon?si?bil?ity that is ours to man?age that no health?care sys?tem can enforce. That is why I wrote Make Your Brain Smarter to give indi?vid?u?als a brain fit?ness plan that is action ori?ented across the lifes?pan. You are never too young or too old to adopt healthy brain habits. That being said, it would be nice to reward indi?vid?u?als and physi?cians for pro?mot?ing brain health fitness.
2:46
Com?ment From Wendy
What types of assess?ments / imag?ing do you use to deter?mine where there is cog?ni?tive injury or decline?
2:46
Com?ment From John Demand
Do you see an over depen?dance on tech?nol?ogy, com?put?ers, cell phones, gps as detri?men?tal or dumb?ing peo?ple?down?
2:48
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Wendy: I encour?age indi?vid?u?als to get brain health bench?marks so we can mea?sure, main?tain and mit?i?gate decline as soon as detected. Chap?ter 3 in Make Your Brain Smarter dis?cusses the impor?tance of a bench?mark. At present, scans are used more for research to show change than on an indi?vid?ual basis, but that is chang?ing rapidly.
2:49
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: John: when peo?ple ask me if tech?nol?ogy is good or bad for your brain, I say YES. Nobody would go back to less tech?nol?ogy, but we need to learn how to man?age it rather than it becom?ing our biggest addic?tion that robs us of deeper level thinking.
2:49
Com?ment From Nikhil Sri?ra?man
Dr. Chap?man, you?ve done a great deal of work with ath?letes that have expe?ri?ence brain injury, for exam?ple due to con?cus?sion on the sports field. What oppor?tu?ni?ties do you see specif?i?cally for healthy ath?letes that sim?ply want to max?i?mize their men?tal game (e.g. men?tal tough?ness). Is there a large over?lap between the activ?i?ties that apply to both of these groups? Any that would apply specif?i?cally for the lat?ter? For exam?ple, it?s been said that sev?eral Cana?dian Gold Medal?ists at the Van?cou?ver Olympics ben?e?fited from mind?ful?ness training.
2:52
AlvaroF: Every?one: time for your last questions!
2:52
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Most of my works is with healthy peo?ple ? ath?letes, war?riors, cor?po?rate exec?u?tives, teens. Max?i?miz?ing the abil?ity to zoom out to the big pic?ture and zoom in to focus allows indi?vid?u?als to sharpen their men?tal edge and build cog?ni?tive resilience. Chap?ter 5 in Make Your Brain Smarter out?lines the strate?gies spe?cific to this very question!
2:52
Com?ment From Steve Zanon
Hi San?dra, Thanks for the Q&A oppor?tu?nity. I?m inter?ested in get?ting your thoughts on the biggest hur?dles asso?ci?ated with get?ting the great research around brain health into broader pub?lic use, either via influ?enc?ing gov?ern?ment pol?icy and/or devel?op?ing com?mer?cial ven?tures ? You men?tion eco?nomic ben?e?fits. How can gov?ern?ments and com?mer?cial com?pa?nies bet?ter under?stand the eco?nomic ben?e?fits so they are more enthu?si?as?tic to act upon it ? Wel?come any ideas you might have on?this.
2:55
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Steve: that is some?thing we have to con?stantly be think?ing of as sci?en?tists. I?ve been instru?men?tal in writ?ing the first state plan on brain health fit?ness for the state of Texas because I believe whole?heart?edly, that every year we wait to make peo?ple aware of what they them?selves can do to trans?form their brain health, we are slip?ping back?wards. Nobody wants to go back?wards in terms of their cog?ni?tive func?tion. We have to get our brain span more closely aligned with our lifes?pan ? right now it is not even half. With?out brain health, you do not have health.
2:56
Com?ment From Jane Wash?burn
What kinds of brain activ?i?ties have you found less help?ful or dam?ag?ing to a stressed brain and what activ?i?ties are most helpful?
2:56
Com?ment From Deane
Do you think using a brain train?ing pro?gram is bet?ter than hon?ing life skills such as learn?ing a lan?guage, play?ing an instru?ment, or cre?at?ing?art?
2:56
Com?ment From Wendy
Do you have a twit?ter feed where we can fol?low the work you are?doing?
2:57
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Jane: Try?ing to take in more and more infor?ma?tion and mul?ti?task?ing is dam?ag?ing to a stressed brain. For the brain, less is?more!
2:58
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Deane: it is not good to do ran?dom things and be a jack-of-all-trades. You want to develop exper?tise to build brain?power. Unless you are pas?sion?ate about a new lan?guage or instru?ment, it is a brain drain more than a brain gain. Our brain only has so much energy; think?ing con?sumes energy, so you have to decide what you want to spend your brain energy towards that is going to make a dif?fer?ence if your?life.
2:59
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Wendy: yes, you can fol?low my work on Twit?ter at @brainhealth or on Face?book at facebook.com/centerforbrainhealth
2:59
AlvaroF: Sandi, may I ask what you do per?son?ally to ?Make Your Brain Smarter??
And what role, if any, did writ?ing such a great book?play?
3:03
AlvaroF: We are wrap?ping up with Dr. Chapman?s last answer. Thank you every?one for par?tic?i?pat?ing! You can learn more about her new book Make Your Brain Smarter.
3:03
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Great ques?tion, Alvaro! Per?son?ally, I drive peo?ple crazy by never let?ting sta?tus quo be an option; I?m con?stantly chang?ing and ramp?ing up what I do and push?ing my brain to think smarter, not harder. Con?dens?ing 30 years of research into a book across the lifes?pan, was reward?ing and inspir?ing to see how many peo?ple had low expec?ta?tions for their brain per?for?mance. When the veil was lifted, like for a recent Navy SEAL I worked with, he was no longer lim?ited in poten?tial and defined by an old label of ?not?smart.?
3:04
AlvaroF: ?never let?ting sta?tus quo be an option?
great advice 
3:04
Com?ment From Julian
Dr. Chap?man I am look?ing for?ward to read your book. Maybe one day I will be able to trans?late it. Thank you Dr. Chap?man and thank you Alvaro. Great presentation.
3:05
AlvaroF: Sandi and every?one: thank you for a great Q&A ses?sion! I hope the book becomes a bestseller!
3:05
AlvaroF: We cer?tainly need it
3:05
Dr. San?dra Bond Chap?man: Thank you for this tremen?dous oppor?tu?nity. Alvaro, thank you for your deep think?ing, lead?er?ship and for inspir?ing?us!
3:05
Com?ment From Wendy
Thank you for your?time!!
3:05
Com?ment From Deane
Thank you! Con?sider me part of the brain health move?ment?. I?ll be rec?om?mend?ing your book on my website
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