Better Brain Health For All

Dr Em Wong
Nov 13
7 min read

Many of us live with chronic conditions like high blood pressure, heart disease or chronic pain. And these all have an impact on our brain health, whether now or in the future. Consider the last time that your back (or knee, or whatever) pain was acting up. Your ability to work may have been partially impaired if you were distracted by pain, or perhaps you had to take time off for a day or two.

Our mental or emotional health also affects our brain function. Like when you’re a little stressed with a deadline, you might actually be the type that can work a bit more efficiently. But when you’re too stressed or overwhelmed, it can be virtually impossible to get any work done at all.

So what exactly is brain health?

The World Health Organization (WHO) defines brain health as being “the state of brain functioning across cognitive, sensory, social-emotional, behavioral and motor domains, allowing a person to realize their full potential over their life course, irrespective of the presence or absence of disorders.” So let’s break that down a bit.

First of all, there’s a “now” component that’s about how well your brain is functioning in this moment across multiple domains, like cognitive, sensory and so on. We’re usually most attuned to the “cognitive health” component, which comprises executive function, language, attention, processing speed and memory. But it also includes other aspects of our brain function—like how we are feeling and moving, as well as our mental health.

Second, there’s a “future” component that talks about how the brain serves us across the lifespan. That means when we choose habits that support our brain health, we aren’t just boosting brain function in the present, we’re also protecting our brains so that we can stay sharp and active well into our juicy futures. After all, who doesn’t want to be their best juicy self as they get older?

The third component notes that our state of brain health doesn’t exist in a vacuum. But rather, that it has to be considered more holistically in the context of whatever underlying health condition any one of us may be living with. This component is pretty important, because it acknowledges that our cognitive health sits on the foundation of our mental health, which in turn depends a lot on our physical health (See Fig 1 above).

Stay sharp and active well into your juicy future

In neuroscientific terms, what we’ve been calling brain health is actually “brain resilience.” Brain resilience refers to the brain’s ability to adapt and recover from stress or injury. You’ve probably heard some remarkable stories of recovery from brain injuries like stroke or trauma, but the truth is that not all brains have the same capacity to adapt or recover.

Turns out that the brain’s ability to adapt or repair itself seems to depend partly on biological mechanisms such as neuroplasticity, efficient connectivity, and emotional regulation. Scientists are still working on understanding how some of these factors contribute to risk for neurodegenerative or brain ageing conditions, and how others help us to build resilience. Lifestyle and behaviour, like nutrition, sleep and exercise, appear to play important roles, as do social, emotional, and environmental factors.

No one size fits all

I’m often asked, “What’s the one thing that I can do for my brain?” People are usually looking for a pill or supplement they can take, because that seems much easier than getting to bed earlier or starting a new exercise program. But the answer is that there’s no quick fix, nor is there a single silver bullet that works for everyone. In fact, when it comes to brain health, experts agree that the best approach is one that is customized to the individual.

We are each the architect of our own brain-healthy lifestyle

After all, our brains are as unique as we are. Our personal risk profiles are all different—some of us may have high blood pressure, while others may be smokers. And when it comes to lifestyle choices, some will prefer gardening rather than a free weights session at the gym, and yet others love dancing. Some people like seafood and others prefer tofu and chickpeas.

So this is kind of a good-news, bad-news situation then:

The good news is that we get to each become the architect in charge of designing our own brain-healthy lifestyles. The bad news is that that can feel like a lot of responsibility. Because there’s a ton of information out there about brain health, and it’s up to us to figure out what is most helpful for us.

Fig 2 - Lifestyle components for brain health

What’s clear is that lifestyle measures are very much an entourage phenomenon (meaning: the more healthy habits we have, the better off we’ll be). And there’s often synergy at play. For example, if I enjoy walking with my friend, I get to check the boxes for physical movement and being outdoors, as well as the box for social connection. I call this a triple-score move — like when you manage to take advantage of landing your word on those triple-word squares on the Scrabble board!

Support helps

Results from the US Pointer Study were published just a couple of months ago in JAMA. This randomized controlled trial involved 2,111 participants who were considered to be at risk for dementia (i.e. they were noted to have a sedentary lifestyle and suboptimal diet, as well as at least two additional risk factors like family history or cardiometabolic risk [high blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol]).

One group was randomized to receive intensively structured education and coaching on the multi-domain lifestyle interventions, including physical and cognitive exercise, and adherence to the MIND diet. The control group received similar information, but their course was self-guided.

The headline on these findings emphasize that the more intensive approach provided more structure, support, and accountability, which it absolutely did. Over the two-year period, participants from the structured program showed statistically significantly higher scores on cognitive testing compared to the self-guided control group.

But what I find to be even more compelling is how well the self-guided control group did in improving their cognitive scores.

The self-guided participants had received the same guidelines for what to do, and participated in only five team meetings over the two years to keep them on track. The structured group, by contrast, had 71 contact points, including 26 dietary review calls, seven health coaching sessions, and 38 team meetings.

What that tells me is that we don’t all have to rely on professional help. Intensively structured support is good for some people, but it wouldn’t be necessary nor even desirable for many others.

I love how empowering this message is for the vast majority of people, who may just need a little education and minimal support.

So you are not only the architect of your own life and lifestyle, but you get to decide who you want to have on your support team and what skills you may want to pick up on your own. It can feel like a lot to be responsible for your own brain health. But like anything to do with your personal health, you get to choose which approach suits you best.

“Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.”

The arrow on the left in Fig 4 (above) shows that our health lies on a spectrum that ranges from sickness to wellness at any given point in time. There may be times when an accidental injury proves to be an ankle fracture that requires surgical intervention. And at other times the injury may be more minor, like a sprain that may need just a little physical therapy or acupuncture.

When there is no injury at all, we may still be wanting to build strength or prevent future injuries, in which case it may make sense to take a class or hire a coach or even learn from online videos or books. Mental or emotional health also exists on a similar spectrum from sickness to wellness, with different options for support ranging from medication and professional therapy, to life coaching, to journaling or meditation.

Building a brain-healthy lifestyle is about figuring out how to make incremental gains across multiple domains. After all, we mostly know WHAT we are supposed to be doing (moving more, sleeping better, eating healthy, social contact, and so on). Our challenge is in figuring out HOW to keep doing these things consistently.

As Johann Von Goethe famously said, “Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.” We each get to decide the most helpful approach for ourselves. So what would be most helpful to you as you consider how to take the next step on your journey to better brain health?

Perhaps just reading this blog or following social media posts has been enough to keep you going. If so, that’s amazing!

If not, ask yourself if it would be helpful to join me for one or two online group coaching sessions? My secret door online coaching sessions start in January 2026. Watch this space for more details. Or, add yourself to the info. list here (click on “keep me updated.”)

Dr Em coaching tips

Take a moment to consider how satisfied you are with each of the 7 key domains of your brain health habits, as shown in the Brain Health Web diagram below.
- How satisfied are you in terms of your movement and exercise, neutral, or somewhat dissatisfied? Check the emoji that best represents your level of satisfaction.
Now draw a line between each of the check marks. Your completed web diagram should look something like this sample scoring.
- So for example, you may not be eating or moving as well as you’d like, and your sleep needs more work. But you are quite satisfied with the level of meaning in your life and the intellectual challenge.
- How do you feel about the overall score and balance of your Brain Health Web? What action would you want to take