Your brain is the most complex mass of organic tissue in the known universe. It is three pounds of thriving, mutable, and miraculous biological material that communicates electro-chemically not only with itself, but also with the entire world around it (including your mind/brain/body design). Your brain constitutes only 2% of your body mass but it uses 20% of your oxygen and calories. When people want to improve their brain function they often begin by asking about brain exercises or memory techniques. But your brain does not sit in a bucket and the world does not need a more powerful human information processor. In order to begin building your optimal brain (and yes the biology of your brain will change as you change your daily behaviors), you must learn to both strengthen and nourish the integrity of your central nervous system (of which your brain is the primary structure). This requires daily aerobic & anaerobic exercise, a meditative practice, proper nutrition, positive social relationships, and meaningful mental challenges that engage you fully. All of our behaviors and our thoughts have neurobiological correlates. We exist in a continuous feedback loop of physiology and thought, biology and behavior. Healthy 'loops' can be learned. The biology of mind is affected by the biology of behavior. But ultimately the purpose of developing an optimal brain is nothing less than to enable us to more consciously tp follow our personal meaning-making path in an experience of perpetual wisdom-building. Some of the activities here are designed simply to break you out of the mental ruts of 'habituation.' Any mental activity that requires concentration and mental rotation (playing an instrument, playing chess or bridge, solving a math problem, learning a foreign language or new dance step, meditation) would be considered a mental challenge. Watching TV or gossiping on the phone would not. Active thought requires concentration and that takes effort. You know the difference. The links and activities in this section will be changing in the months to come and they will be increasingly interactive. But remember the brain thrives on oxygen, glucose, meaningful mental challenge, physical activity, social support, stimulus change, and personal harmony. You shape your brain and then your brain shapes you.