As a neuroscientist who struggles with my brain wellness and health, I’ve developed a checklist for my own self-assessments: 1. How is my sleep? 2. Am I limit

As a neuroscientist who struggles with my brain wellness and health, I’ve developed a checklist for my own self-assessments: 1. How is my sleep? 2. Am I limiting caffeine intake? 3. Anything else affecting my sleep? Room temperature? Lights? White noise? Eating too late? Alcohol? Sleep is how the brain repairs damage caused by daily life. Not enough or poor quality means you will drag, not just over days, but weeks and months is exactly a downward spiral. 4. Checked my Vitamin D levels recently and supplementing with D3/K? Circadian rhythms and cognition are poorly studied, but there’s good evidence on Vitamin D and mood and seasonal affective disorder. 5. Managing stress? Too much stress affects key brain functions like learning, memory, and attention. Too little sleep leads to more stress. 6. Exercising enough? Am I getting outside daily, going for walks or runs, etc. 7. Nutrition Am I making good food choices that give me sustained energy or am I eating mindlessly? The pandemic was the last piece on nutrition for me. I saw how one bad meal (e.g. burger and fries) affected me for 2 days.