Nelson Calderon: Let’s spread brain fitness knowledge in developing countries

Nel­son Calderon Bonilla

Please tell us about your inter­est in applied brain sci­ence. What areas are you most inter­est­ed in? 
I’m most­ly inter­est­ed in how to har­ness neu­ro­plas­tic­i­ty to dri­ve pos­i­tive and endur­ing changes on the brain.

What excites you the most about your job?
As a tele­com exec­u­tive and coor­di­na­tor of the Brain Inter­est Group in Men­sa Colom­bia, I’m very inter­est­ed in the pos­si­bil­i­ties of apply­ing what we know about the brain to improve qual­i­ty of life on devel­op­ing countries.

What is one impor­tant thing you are work­ing on now? 
Cur­rent­ly we’re work­ing on a Think Tank to dis­cuss lat­est about the brain and gen­er­ate projects to spread brain fit­ness knowl­edge among Men­sa mem­bers and the gen­er­al population.

What are 1–2 key things you’d like every per­son to under­stand regard­ing his/ her own brain and mind, that you think is com­mon­ly mis­rep­re­sent­ed or not addressed in the pop­u­lar media? 
First, that reg­u­lar exer­cise is one of the best ways to have a sharp brain, fit body and over­all health. Sec­ond, that we can train and trans­form our brains in a sim­i­lar way as we train our bodies.

Where do you see clear “low-hang­ing fruit” to enhance behav­ioral and brain health based on neu­ro­science and innovation? 
I see two imme­di­ate oppor­tu­ni­ties: Expand and improve exer­cise pro­grams in schools, and spread cog­ni­tive train­ing tools via com­put­ers and smartphones.

What sur­prised you the most at the 2013 Sharp­Brains Vir­tu­al Summit? 
The vast and ambi­tious scope of the Human Brain Project.

Final­ly, what do YOU do to stay sharp? 
I exer­cise and med­i­tate dai­ly, and do my best to keep learn­ing chal­leng­ing things (neu­ro­science!). I also pro­tect time to relax, unplug and chill out.

—This con­ver­sa­tion is part of the inter­view series with Speak­ers and Par­tic­i­pants in the 2013 Sharp­Brains Vir­tual Sum­mit (Sep­tem­ber 19–20th). Pre­vi­ous inter­views include:

• San­dra Chap­man: Using inno­v­a­tive think­ing, and brain train­ing, we can rewire the brain at every level
• Dhar­ma Singh Khal­sa: Why are yoga and med­i­ta­tion often over­looked for healthy brain aging?
• Sheri Osborn: We should all live a cre­ative life
• Cori Lath­an: It’s time for an annu­al brain check-up, a “brain thermometer”
• Tere­sa Kennedy: Total health includes phys­i­cal AND men­tal fitness