This year, World Brain Day—a World Federation of Neurology annual event held on July 22 to promote awareness of and education about neurologic disorders—is dedicated to brain health. We have reported on this subject for the past decade, bringing you regular stories about preventing neurologic disease. To mark World Brain Day, this issue includes a feature that condenses today's understanding of this field and offers practical tips from experts to optimize your brain health from the moment you wake up until the time you go to sleep.

One bit of advice we don't want you to ignore comes from Steven T. DeKosky, MD, FAAN, endowed professor of Alzheimer's research at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville: Get your eyes and ears tested. Unaddressed hearing loss, for example, often causes people to become less social later in life, a situation that may hasten the development of dementia. Treating hearing loss is so fundamental to good brain health that we have made it the subject of another feature in this issue. Frank Lin, MD, PhD, director of the Johns Hopkins Cochlear Center for Hearing and Public Health in Baltimore, adds another reason to take care of hearing problems. “Untreated hearing loss can distort speech and sound signals by the time they reach the brain, demanding additional effort from the brain to process them,” he says. As a result, fewer resources may remain for tasks like thinking and memory.

I have had regular audiometric testing since 2008, when I developed Ménière's disease—an inner ear disorder that causes vertigo, tinnitus (ringing), and hearing loss. Over the past year, I noticed that it was becoming increasingly difficult to hear my colleagues in conference rooms, especially when they whispered or the acoustics were poor. Getting fitted with hearing aids has helped not only in those environments but also in enjoying meals with friends at crowded restaurants.

My attacks of vertigo—which first happened while I was driving on a busy highway to get to work—have become less frequent. (Fortunately, I was near an exit and could pull over.) Vertigo can have many causes besides Ménière's disease, as described in our cover story. In this feature, TV journalist Deborah Roberts describes her first episodes, which may have been caused by vestibular migraine. The disorder is usually diagnosed after at least five episodes—lasting five minutes to 72 hours—of symptoms such as vertigo, unsteady gait, and intolerance to head movement, along with a history of migraine. Roberts and I have both been able to identify and avoid our triggers, making it easier to reduce and manage flare-ups.

The American Academy of Neurology, which sponsors this publication, is also investing in your brain health. Our public mission, “Brain Health for All,” is our new North Star. To that end, we have a large committee of experts working to execute this goal through new research awards—Sacco Scholars—in partnership with the American Heart Association to advance the field and an annual Brain Health Summit that brings together leaders in the field to collaborate on finding ways to improve brain health.

As I often do, I am asking readers for a favor. Tell us what you did on World Brain Day. Did you accept our challenge to spend one day following the advice in our article? Did you find other ways to incorporate brain-healthy habits into your life? Please share your experiences with us by sending an email to BrainandLife@wolterskluwer.com.

Orly Avitzur, MD, MBA, FAAN; Editor-in-chief