Brain work

Brain work

What can we learn from those who have battled addiction and other brain challenges through science rather than sheer willpower alone? This episode of *All In The Mind* zooms in on "brain work" – how training your brain might sharpen attention, memory and everyday thinking, and where the hype outstrips the evidence. Host Lynne Malcolm guides you through conversations with emeritus professor Michael Merzenich, psychologist Professor Robert Wood, and neuroscientist Dr Ji-Huyn Kim.

Merzenich explains brain plasticity in plain language, noting, "all of us can be better tomorrow because your brain is plastic" and arguing that even in later life, the brain can shift "back uphill" with targeted training. He also points to addiction, psychosis and learning disorders as areas where structured brain training programmes may help people regain function and quality of life. Robert Wood brings a more cautious angle.

He breaks down what "brain training" actually targets – attention, working memory and cognitive flexibility – and stresses that improving game scores doesn’t automatically mean your life gets easier. His work on ABC’s Active Memory app focuses on making the training challenging but achievable, interesting enough to keep people playing, and framed as learning rather than a high-stakes test. Dr Kim adds a crucial warning for anyone worried about memory slips.

Forgetting where you put your keys, she says, is often "due to failure to encode" because attention has drifted. She highlights how stress, alcohol and drugs of abuse can damage the brain’s wiring, speeding up the decline in attention, and suggests that protecting this "white matter" and practising focused, flexible attention could delay problems.

You’ll come away with a clearer sense of what brain training can and can’t promise, why everyday habits like social engagement, exercise and challenging tasks matter, and how science is starting to use brain plasticity in conditions including addiction. Ready to ask yourself whether your brain is coasting or actually being challenged day to day?