#7 Brain Bite - 86 Billion Neurons At Your Service

Your brain isn’t fixed—it’s rewiring with every choice you make. We dive into how neurons connect to form powerful networks and share simple, science-backed ways to strengthen those connections using varied learning, movement, and everyday nutrition. From walking on a treadmill while reading aloud to typing quick summaries and self-quizzing, you’ll hear a practical multimodal study routine that transforms passive review into durable memory. It’s not about working longer; it’s about learning smarter.

We also zoom out to what fuels plasticity: steady energy, omega-3s, colorful plants, and solid sleep. When you pair smarter practice with better fuel, attention sharpens and recall improves. Then comes the spark that keeps growth going—novelty. You’ll get a weekly challenge to try something new, whether it’s a different walking route, a fresh recipe, or a small skill you’ve been putting off. Each tiny change nudges your brain to form new pathways and stay adaptable under stress.

To make these habits stick at home, we share a simple three-question ritual inspired by Kim Perell: one gratitude, one failure to normalize learning, and one thing you did even though you didn’t want to. It’s a fast reset that builds emotional flexibility, courage, and a growth identity—for kids and adults alike. If the number 86 billion neurons sounds huge, good. The point is choosing which connections to strengthen and mold next. 

I'd be ever grateful for if you could 1- Subscribe, 2- share this Brain Bite with a friend who you think would enjoy this unshakeable brain stuff. 

I'm sure loving brining it to you. Aren't these Brain Bite episodes fun? They'll be around every Thursday with full episodes airing every Tuesday. Enjoy!

Note: This podcast episode is sponsored by Dr. Rewire's Brain DNA test. Learn more at Unshakeablebrain.ai. If you're a practitioner and you're interested in adding this at-home lab test to your toolkit, go to Unshakeablebrain.ai/expert.

I, Dr. Kylie, no longer work with clients in any endeavor. If you'd like more support for your health, I recommend working with the physicians at the EllieMD telemedicine platform. To get started, go to https://elliemd.com/?bp=drkylie. For health and wellness experts looking to provide this resource to your clients, get started at https://elliemd.com/join-us/?bp=drkylie.

Thank you for joining the Unshakeable Brain community. Dr. Kylie

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:02):
This is Brain Bites.
Tiny insights, big brain power.
I'm Dr.
Kylie, your host of UnshakableBrain, and today you'll get a
fact, a story, or a tip to makeyour brain stronger and more
resilient.
Here's your brain bite.
Let's dig in.

(00:25):
Neurons, the building blocks ofyour brain.
Today's brain bite is aboutneurons, the cells that make
your brain work.
Each neuron can connect withthousands of others to form
networks that handle everythingfrom thinking and learning to
feeling and moving.
When neurons communicateeffectively, your brain

(00:47):
functions at its best.
Strengthening these connectionsthrough learning, movement, or
healthy nutrition keeps yourbrain resilient and adaptable.
One of these examples of yourneurons, your building blocks of
your brain, and the way I wouldwork them from many angles at
school is when I studied forwhen I studied during school, I

(01:11):
would do rather than just likereading the text or going
through it multiple differenttimes, I would find many
different or a variety of waysto go through the content.
And as I prepared to regurgitateit for a test.
That's honest, honestly thetruth, right?
I would read it aloud while Iwas at the gym walking.

(01:34):
It was in Portland, Oregon.
So it rained all the time.
We'd go, my husband and I wouldgo to the gym, he'd do his
workout.
I would stand on the treadmillwith my capers in front of me,
and I would walk and I would gothrough all of the content.
If I couldn't walk, I would typeit up as I read.
So there are simple things Ilike typing, speaking it out

(01:56):
loud.
All of these were addingconnections, adding neurons and
their connections, strengtheningthose connections as I did went
through the same content, only Idid it in a variety of ways.
So what can you learn?
How strong can your connectionsbe when you add movement,

(02:18):
learning, and nutrition to yourunshakable brain path?
Your challenge for the week isto try something new.
It could be learning a newskill, cooking a new recipe, or
taking a different route on yourwalk.
Every time you try somethingnew, you're forming new
connections between your neuronsand keeping your brain active

(02:41):
and flexible.
Fun fact Did you know the humanbrain has roughly 86 billion
neurons, each connecting withthousands of others?
That's a mind-blowing networkworking constantly to help you
think, learn, and grow.
86 billion neurons.

(03:02):
Now, as you're trying somethingnew, one of the questions I
started asking my kids after Iread Kim Perel's book.
Something about it's called TheMistakes I Made.
The mistakes that made me amillionaire.
There you go.
There's the book.
She talked about how her dadwould ask them three different

(03:26):
questions at the dinner table.
And the first question was aboutgratitude.
The second question was aboutfailure.
He wanted to make sure thatfailure was okay in their
household.
And then the third one was, whatdid you do that you didn't want
to do, but you did it anyway?
So what's something hard thatyou did it anyway?

(03:46):
So I started to ask Easton thosethree questions because he's
under, he can understand themenough.
We haven't gotten the failureone because he's only eight.
But I've started to ask themwhat they're grateful for.
And then specifically for him,because he's like, Mom, I don't,
you're just having such a hardtime with this third year, third
grade year that it's like, okay,buddy, every day, even dad and

(04:07):
I, we do something that we don'twant to do.
It might be hard, but we stilldo it anyways.
And so we now ask him, like,what was something that you did
today that you didn't want todo, or you thought it might be
hard, but yet you did itanyways.
So, simple, simple things thatwe can do to help our brains

(04:27):
become unshakable and reallywork on strengthening those 86
billion neurons and theirconnections to each other.
That's your brain bite for theweek.
Try something new, and I'll seeyou next time for another quick
insight into how your brainworks so that you can have an
unshakable brain no matter whatyour age is.

(04:47):
I'm Dr.
Kylie.
Until next time.