According to a recent study carried out by neuroscientists, and published in Nature Neuroscience magazine, the human brain can rewire itself at almost any age, making it more efficient. The study showed that juggling balls or small objects seem to have the best therapeutic effect on a person’s neural network.

Neuroscientists scanned the white matter of the brain (which comprises the axons) using MRI technique, which showed that juggling objects for even short intervals regularly increased blood flow to the axons and brought about some discernible changes to the wiring of the brain. “We tend to think of the brain as being static, or even beginning to degenerate, once we reach adulthood…. In fact we find the structure of the brain is ripe for change. We’ve shown that it is possible for the brain to condition its own wiring system to operate more efficiently”, commented Heidi Johansen-Berg, lead researcher of the project.

One more interesting discovery that the researchers noted was that the improvement in brain performance was not linked to the skill level of the test subject, but rather on the time spent on the activity. Thus, a person may not be good at juggling, but if he spends an hour or so every day with the activity, his brain should perform better during the later years of his life.