What happens if the brain is not stimulated

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I want to get healthier. Close Health Alerts from Harvard Medical School Get helpful tips and guidance for everything from fighting inflammation to finding the best diets for weight loss Close Stay on top of latest health news from Harvard Medical School. Nor are these problems new. But public funds are being wasted on poorly conducted research that cannot be reproduced, which means the results are questionable.

Such poor research is tarnishing the genuine efforts of researchers to improve human brain function. The main reason researchers engage in questionable researcher practices is the continual pressure to publish scientific papers to gain funding or to progress scientific careers. If results are statistically significant, researchers are more likely to be published. So, researchers may consciously, or unconsciously, resort to questionable or fraudulent research practices.

Awareness of bad science is on the rise — and recommendations and guidelines are emerging to deal with this. But there needs to be more education and true incentives for scientists to conduct better, reproducible science.

If not, some scientists will continue to do as they have always done. Incentives to improve the culture of research include promoting researchers who do more open science , and funding projects that adhere to open science practices as well as those that attempt to replicate studies. The responsibility to improve the quality of our science lies with research institutions and universities, funding agencies , scientific publishers and individual researchers. Our goal of clinically useful brain stimulation techniques is a worthy one.

But our progress is limited by findings of often variable and small effects currently reported, as well as the poor quality of some of the studies that claim any effects at all. Portsmouth Climate Festival — Portsmouth, Portsmouth. For example, lack of enough deep sleep could be preventing us from flushing harmful beta-amyloid from our brains. While scientists have always known that the brain cleanses wastes, much like the body, the sophistication of this cleansing system was investigated in by Maiken Nedergaard of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine at the University of Rochester.

So, exactly how far away do you need to keep your smart devices? Ultimately, keeping our brains healthy takes willpower and resilience, just like with any other part of our bodies.

But as research shows, staying sound of body and mind as we age is certainly possible—with a little effort. Correction: A previous version of this piece cited research regarding the effects of Wi-Fi on sleep patterns that was inconclusive.

It has been updated with research regarding the effects of blue light on sleep patterns. By providing your email, you agree to the Quartz Privacy Policy. Skip to navigation Skip to content.

Discover Membership. Editions Quartz. More from Quartz About Quartz. Follow Quartz. These are some of our most ambitious editorial projects. From our Series. By Vivian Giang. Published March 1, Last updated on October 27, This article is more than 2 years old.