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Tag: Brain

  • Tips for improving your memory

    Tips for improving your memory

    Andrew Budson and Elizabeth Kensinger, brain scientists, explain how to improve your memory in their book “Why We Forget and How to Remember Better.” Here are some of their research-based solutions.  Why not  give them a try?

    1. If you want to master a new skill (such as tennis or bridge) . . . spend a small amount of time several days a week rather than an extended amount of time less frequently. Our brains process what we learn when we sleep. Our brains also help reinforce what we learn. So, learning something over a longer number of sleep cycles benefits your recall. This rule for what’s called “procedural memory” applies equally to studying for an exam. You’re likely to get better results if you do so over an extended period of time than to cram.
    2. If you want to improve memory . . . consider six weeks of exercise. Exercising expands the volume of our hippocampus, which is vital for our memories; it also releases growth factors in our brains. When you exercise, you increase a “brain-derived  neurotrophic factor” chemical that is thought to boost the number of brain cells in your hippocampus and its volume. Brain cells tend to shrink in number as you age. Exercising is thought to reverse that shrinkage by as many as two years, improving memory function.
    3. If you pay attention . . . you will likely have fewer memory lapses and remember more. To better remember, you need to encode  details. If you don’t pay attention, features are not encoded in your memory.
    4. Calling up a memory . . . can slightly or even radically change the memory. Memories evolve. Your memory of an episode over the long-term is encoded, stored and then retrieved. But, your memory does not end with its retrieval. When you retrieve a memory, you are newly encoding it and updating it with whatever new information you have gathered.
    5. We hold numeric memories in three or four chunks of two numbers. That’s why phone numbers used to be seven digits.
    6. Avoid multitasking . If you multitask, you will weaken your memory. That said, listening to two things at once is harder on your memory than listening and looking at the same time. We have different storage systems for different types of information. Verbal and visual information in our working memory rely on systems in different locations of the brain.  Verbal information is stored in the left part of the brain primarily. Visual information is stored in the right part of the brain.
    7. Relax! Trying to remember someone’s name from a while ago? Think about the last time you saw the person and what you know about the person. Stressing out about the name will make it harder to recall it because stress causes you to think about the stress and deprioritize what you are trying to remember. Interestingly, it is also not helpful to come up with possible names. Having so many names to consider prevents us from recalling the correct name. We often recall the correct name later, after we are no longer caught up in a sea of possible names. (If you’re trying to keep in mind the name of someone you just met, try visualizing it.)
    8. If you want to maximize your ability to store facts in your memory . . . go to sleep. Sleeping frees up memory space in your brain. Your hippocampus, which stores your memories and helps your retrieve them, can only hold so many new memories. But, your cortex takes over from your hippocampus in calling up memories when you are sleeping and stores these memories over the long-term. This also frees up space in your hippocampus for new memories.
    9. If you want to protect your memory . . . don’t take weed. THC in cannabis impairs memory, However, some studies suggest that CBD can improve episodic memory.
    10. If you want a strategy for remembering . . . try this advice from the ancient Greeks. It’s  called a “memory palace” or “method of loci.” Pull up a visual memory of a building or home you know well. Now, in your mind, put things you want to recall into the building in different rooms, in the order that you want to recall them.

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  • Would you want to know the “age” of your heart?

    Would you want to know the “age” of your heart?

    Alex Janin writes for the Wall Street Journal on how, before long, you might be able protect yourself from some serious health conditions by knowing the “age” of your organs. Would you want to know the “age” of your heart?

    Did you know that while you might be 65 based on your birthday, your pancreas could be 70 and your heart 55?  Apparently, researchers say that we can have an organ that is considerably older than our actual age. If so, that could increase our odds of getting certain diseases.

    If you heart or artery or brain or pancreas are “older” than you are, you have a higher risk of dying sooner. So, if you knew your heart were older, theoretically you might be able to act in ways that reduce your chances of heart disease. Similarly, if your brain were older, theoretically you might be able to act in ways that reduce your chances of dementia.

    To be clear, it’s still not possible to know the age of your various organs. It takes identifying the proteins in different organs and then using blood samples to determine the level of these proteins, which are different as you age. And, the science is not definitive at this point.

    Moreover, even if it were possible to determine people’s organ ages, the next question becomes what to do about older organs. And, that’s not always clear. What we do know is that it’s not unusual for people to have organs that are “older” than their chronological age. About one in five people apparently do.

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  • Tips for a healthy brain

    Tips for a healthy brain

    Everyone wants a healthy brain, a brain that functions well. Ayana Underwood, a neurologist, writes for Self on what people can do for the health of their brain. The National Institute on Aging also offers tips.

    You want your brain to do a good job in helping you think, learn and recall information. That’s cognitive health. You want your brain to help with your motor functions, so you have good balance and can control the way you move. A healthy brain can also help you regulate your emotions. And, it can allow you to experience touch, such as pain and other physical sensations.

    How can you strengthen your brain health? Underwood explains that your brain powers all your daily activities, be it exercise, cooking, socializing or reading. Your brain literally controls your body. The question becomes how to tend to your brain so that it is as functional as possible for as long as possible.

    Try new things: Engage your brain. That’s how to ensure you have strong neural pathways. Learning something new and challenging requires your brain to rely on new systems, which can keep your brain healthy, possibly even working to counter Alzheimer’s disease and memory loss.

    Do something challenging: You might try learning a new musical instrument. To me, that sounds daunting. But, apparently, playing music offers extra benefits, including helping memory function and adaptive functions. You could also take up painting or dancing or learn a language or master the art of baking.

    Learn a new skill to keep your mind active. You can practice your new skill as you please, but engage yourself. Do it as often as makes sense. You could see memory improvements and feel better.

    How do these mental challenges work? You build protein–a myelin sheath–around your nerves. This myelin sheath helps your brain process and send information more easily.

    The National Institute on Aging recommends a broader approach to what you can do to improve brain health. In addition to keeping an active mind, manage your stress, keep socially active, be physically active, eat healthy, manage your blood pressure, don’t smoke or drink too much alcohol.

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  • Five ways to stay healthy and feel better longer, as you age

    Five ways to stay healthy and feel better longer, as you age

    We are all getting older. And, the older we get, the more likely we are to suffer from one or more chronic conditions, everything from joint pain to cancer. Consumer Reports recommends ways to stay healthy and feel better longer, as you age. It’s all about exercising frequently, eating well, getting enough sleep, and staying socially engaged.

    Of course, many good things come with age. Being older means being wiser. It also usually means being happier. But, a lot happens as to your body as you age. Avoiding alcohol, not smoking and keeping a healthy weight, along with exercise, eating well, good sleep and social engagement can slow down the aging process and improve every aspect of your health.

    How to care for your aging body?

    Your heart: Minimize your risk of a heart attack and heart disease. Keep your blood flowing efficiently. Exercise and healthy eating can help a lot. Don’t smoke. Get a good night’s sleep and a maintain a healthy weight.

    Your brain: Minimize your risk of dementia. By the time you’re 50, you likely will experience some cognitive decline, including slower processing of information. Your eyesight and hearing can also begin to fail. But, you are likely to be more creative and productive as you move into your 50s and 60s because of all the knowledge and wisdom you have accumulated.

    According to the CDC, you might be able to delay or prevent dementia by being good to your heart. Again, exercise, not smoking or drinking alcohol, and eating a Mediterranean diet can make a difference. So can having a positive outlook about growing older and feeling useful.

    Don’t bother taking supplements. There’s no evidence that they help in otherwise healthy individuals, and there’s evidence that certain ingredients found in some supplements can be dangerous to your health.

    Your digestive system: Keep your gut and liver working well. Your liver helps to keep toxins out of your body. And, when your gut is working properly, you have regular bowel movements. You keep constipation and reflux at bay.

    To address digestive issues, you should try changing up your diet. Foods with fiber, such as avocados and oats, could be helpful. If you have GERD, try stopping drinking alcohol, not smoking and having dinner early so that your food is digested before you go to sleep.

    Your hormones: Focus on maintaining growth and sex hormones, which tend to diminish as you age. That can mean you also lose muscle and bone strength. As you lose growth and sex hormones, you might also lose some energy, sleep less well and have less of a sex drive.

    Again, both aerobic and strength exercises can help increase your growth hormone and testosterone levels, along with a good night’s sleep.

    Your muscles and bones: Focus on maintaining muscle and bone strength, as well as keeping your balance and endurance. By the time you’re in your late 30s, you will begin losing bone and muscle strength. However, if you exercise regularly, you can hold onto a lot of that strength. And, you can also keep your endurance. Balancing exercises are also helpful.

    Eating more protein and calcium can help with muscle strength and bone health. You can get protein from quinoa, nuts, lentils and soy as well as from seafood, poultry and meat.

    Your skin: Take care of your skin. Most people will see signs of aging under their eyes with a loss of collagen as they age. You might also get sun spots. No matter what your skin color, sunscreen is really important. You might also try using retinoids at night. They will dry out your skin, while encouraging production of new skin cells and boosting collagen.

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  • Vigorous exercise found to ward off dementia

    Vigorous exercise found to ward off dementia

    Vigorous exercise can help keep your brain healthy and ward off dementia. Rachel Fairbank reports for the New York Times on three recent studies confirming the value of vigorous exercise for your mental health. The good news: Exercise comes in a large variety of forms, including household chores.

    The studies involved hundreds of thousands of people over many years. They each concluded that ongoing exercise of myriad types can “substantially” reduce your risk of developing dementia. They further found that the benefit of exercise for brain health extends to people with a family history of dementia.

    The British study of more than 500,000 people published in Neurology took a deep dive into the kinds of physical activity people engaged in routinely. After 11 years, about one percent of the participants had developed dementia. Participants who worked out or played a sport had a 35 percent lower risk of developing dementia. Participants who undertook household chores for an extended period had a 21 percent lower risk.

    An appropriate goal is still 30 minutes of exercise five days a week or a total of 150 minutes of exercise that has you breaking a sweat.

    A meta-analysis of 38 studies of the effects of leisure activities on brain health was published earlier this month in Neurology. These studies, over at least three years, involved more than two million people who did not have dementia. During that time, 74,700 developed dementia. Researchers found that participants who walked, ran, swum, danced, engaged in sports or worked out reduced their risk of developing dementia by 17 percent.

    The third study followed young children over a 30-year period. The researchers found that kids who are active end up with greater brain health in midlife.

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  • How to boost your brainpower

    How to boost your brainpower

    Ready to boost your brainpower? Consumer Reports advises that you keep your weight normal and eat foods rich in nutrients. Whether or not the advice works to improve your memory and thinking, you can’t go wrong trying it.

    Eat foods rich in flavonoids. Flavonoids decrease the likelihood of inflammation and damage to cells. They also help blood flow. One long-term study found that people who eat apples, berries, pears and other foods rich in flavonoids had a greater likelihood of not having their thinking slip than people who did not.

    Avoid supplements. As a general rule, supplements offer no benefit to people who are otherwise healthy. Some supplements contain ingredients that are dangerous or otherwise not good for you. At the same time, be sure you have enough vitamin B12, D and folate.

    Eat salad. Some experts say that eating one cup of salad or a half cup of cooked leafy greens can keep your mind from slipping as fast as it otherwise might. One study found that people who ate leafy greens daily had brains that worked at the same level as people more than a decade younger.

    Eat lots of fatty fish. Studies find a lower risk of dementia among people who eat tuna, sardines and salmon several times a week. These fish contain a lot of omega-3 fatty acids which reduce the likelihood of inflammation in the brain. Eating a lot of these fish also reduces intake of red meat which has a lot of saturated fat and is bad for your health. Note: Tuna, swordfish and halibut can have high mercury levels, so you might want to avoid eating too much of these fish.

    Follow a DASH, MIND or Mediterranean diet. You should eat a diet rich in whole grains, less fatty proteins and produce. For example, you might eat lots of green vegetables, avocados, nuts, grains, fatty fish and olive oil. Berries and greens could be particularly helpful to your brain function.

    Drink coffee and tea. Coffee and tea contain a lot of flavonoids. Studies show a 30 percent reduced risk of dementia and stroke among people who drink two or three cups of coffee daily as well as tea.

    And, don’t forget to exercise!

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  • The benefits for your brain of eating colorful fruits and vegetables

    The benefits for your brain of eating colorful fruits and vegetables

    Nicholas Bakalar writes for The New York Times on the value of flavonoids, the chemicals that make your fruit and vegetables colorful. A new study published in Neurology finds that colorful fruits and vegetables may have benefits for your brain. So, if you’re feeling forgetful or confused or wanting to stave off forgetfulness and confusion, it could help to eat more brussels sprouts, peaches and tomatoes!

    Researchers studying subjective cognitive decline found that brain health can be a product of the right nutrition. Flavonoids in fruits and vegetables might delay or reduce the likelihood of becoming confused and forgetful as you age. The researchers undertook a large and long observational study covering more than 100,000 participants in their early to mid-70’s on average, over around 20 years. So, the findings give more weight to the theory that nutrition can affect the health of our brains and keep your memory strong. But, it cannot show causality between eating colorful fruits and vegetables and reductions in confusion and forgetfulness.

    Researchers looked at study participants’ consumption of more than 20 types of flavonoids found in carrots, strawberries, spinach, avocados and other fruits and vegetables. (N.B. Mushrooms do not contain flavonoids although they do have beneficial properties.) It asked participants seven questions with yes or no responses regarding their ability to recall recent events, short lists, spoken instructions and finding their way around different locations, as well as their sense of their ability to recall things.

    The researchers found that the participants who were among the top 20 percent in their ability to recall things had the highest consumption of flavonoids. And, they were 19 percent less likely to say that they were forgetful or confused. The researchers concluded that the earlier in life people eat a rich array of flavonoids, the better for the health of their brains and their memory.

    One other noteworthy conclusion: The researchers found that some vegetables and fruits appeared to lead participants to have less confusion than other vegetables and fruits. So, if you’re open to eating raw spinach, winter squash, strawberries and brussels sprouts, that could potentially further reduce your likelihood of being forgetful and confused as you age and, perhaps, even the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

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  • Air pollution and your mental health

    Air pollution and your mental health

    Nicholas Bakalar writes for the New York Times on a new study that finds a link between the air you breathe and your mental health. Polluted air, even in small doses, can affect your mental acuity. It speeds up the aging of your brain.

    Living in areas where the air is polluted for any amount of time is bad for your health. Over the long-term, it not only can affect your mental functioning, it can increase your chances of getting dementia.

    The study looked at the effects of short-term exposure to air pollution on older adults. It tested their ability to answer very simple questions, such as the current year and season when air levels of PM 2.5, soot particles, averaged 10.77. The Environmental Protection Agency considers that level acceptable.

    Although the researchers conducted an observational study and not a study that can find a causal link between air pollution and mental acuity, their findings were striking. Small increases in the PM 2.5 air levels resulted in people, whose average age was 69, performing less well on the simple test.

    The lead author believes that the effects of air pollution on people’s mental functioning could be reversible. In effect, when an older person moves from an environment with more polluted air to an environment with less polluted air, the person’s brain gets reset at normal functioning. But, long-term exposure to air pollution can cause permanent brain damage.

    It’s worth noting that some air pollutants are always in the air. There are pollutants in soil, pollen and sea salt. But, other air pollutants that are man-made are far more toxic. New technology could remove a lot of the most harmful toxins in the air and make it cleaner.

    N.B. The researchers also found that participants on aspirin and NSAIDs were less affected by air pollution. And, living a healthy lifestyle–exercise and a healthy diet–always helps your mind and body.

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  • Exercise can help an aging brain

    Exercise can help an aging brain

    We might be getting older but exercise can help our aging brains. Exercise works wonders for our mental and physical health. And, if you’re feeling as if your memory is not as good as it once was, Gretchen Reynolds reports for The New York Times on a new study showing that regular mild exercise can help.

    Yes, even walking at a good clip several times a week can strengthen memory or reverse cognitive decline. The researchers studied middle-aged and older adults who showed signs of memory loss. After walking frequently for a year, their cognitive scores improved.

    The researchers believe that regular exercise helps ensure that blood is flowing at a good clip to your brain. A healthy blood flow means your brain’s neurons are getting the oxygen and nutrients they need. It should have benefits for people with mild or serious memory issues.

    Older people typically have less blood flow to their brains. As you age, the less you exercise, the more likely that your arteries harden

    Unfortunately, it’s pretty typical for people to experience declines in the flow of blood to their brains with age. Exercise helps keep arteries from stiffening and hearts from weakening so that blood flow declines more slowly. Arteries can become less stiff from exercise. Active people, even when at rest, tend to have better memories and thought processes than people who are sedentary.

    Over the course of a year, the study looked at changes in memory and thought processes of 70 people who were 55 and older and had a diagnosis of mild cognitive impairment. Half of the study participants were expected to exercise more than they had been exercising–usually walking for 30 minutes five times a week–in a way that increased their heart rates. The other half were expected to engage in stretching and toning exercises without increasing their heart rates.

    The group that engaged in aerobic exercise did better on executive function–planning and decision-making tests–than the group that stretched and toned. But both groups saw their memories and thinking improve some. The study did not determine that aerobic exercise would have greater beneficial effects than stretching, but the researchers assume so.

    The better the blood flow to the brain, the better your recall and thinking ability.

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  • Avoid brain-boosting supplements

    Avoid brain-boosting supplements

    Brain-boosting supplements, much like weight-loss supplements, are extremely popular. But, as all dietary supplements, they are not well regulated and they can have dangerous ingredients. Elizabeth Cooney reports for Stat News on new research out of Harvard Medical School that should give anyone thinking about taking brain-boosting supplements pause.

    Dr. Pieter Cohen studied five different brands of brain-boosting supplements. As he reported in JAMA Internal Medicine, they all contain piracetam, a drug which is not FDA-approved and cannot be sold in the US. Cochrane looked at 24 studies of piracetam and found that there was not sufficient evidence to show that it improved people’s memory, or their ability to learn or to understand.

    A standard dose of piracetam has been found to cause anxiety, agitation and depression. People who take supplements with piracetam have no way of knowing the dosage they are taking. It could be way more than the standard dose. And, it could be dangerous to their health.

    But, the FDA is doing nothing to stop its sale. Moreover, the FDA is doing nothing to warn the public about the dangers of piracetam. However, the federal government’s dietary supplement law prohibits companies from selling supplements with piracetam, because it is considered unsafe.

    The FDA has limited resources for oversight. And, it is not using those resources to monitor supplements to the extent needed. Instead it is proposing a new rule that would require dietary supplement manufacturers to notify the FDA of all their products.

    For now, you are better off eating a healthy diet and avoiding supplements.

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