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Brain Tips

Have you been searching for just the right brain tips, the ones that get you a raise, or fame and fortune?

A magic potion or a magic wand, or like the super villains of cartoon land, the machine which makes your skull twice as large?

Unfortunately,
I have not discovered any brain tips like that either, but I have
learned that the brain can be worked with, exercised, even trained,
fed, and rested, to be the brain which provides the maximum level of
neurons firing in tight synchrony, the kind of brain which grows new
neurons, and new synapsess and dendrites because that brain receives
novel challenge regularly. That is a brain tip that I can use.  For more information, read Brainfit for Life from Simon Evans, Ph.D. or Paul Burghardt, Ph.D., neuroscientists at the University of Michigan,  co-authors of  Brainfit for Life.

Professors Evans and Burghardt have written a fun and interesting and slyly humorous take on the research upon which most brain fitness concepts are taken from.  For nuggets galore,  and really comprehensive information on omega 3 fatty acids, for example, read their book.
The
key brain tips involve awareness of recent discoveries about our brains
which indicate that our brain grows new neurons (neurogenesis). Those
neurons can become part of already existing circuits if we can
challenge them with novel learning experiences within a certain window
of opportunity.

According to what I am reading now, if the
neurons are not challenged within that window, they are pruned, because
the brain is an energy efficient organ, and keeps the operating system
already in place nourished.

The good news is we can provide the
challenge for those new neurons with novel learning experiences. Novel
is the very important word.

What novel learning involves is
learning a new skill, not more of the same skill. In other words, as a
counselor, I cannot read another counseling text, and expect to cement
those new neurons into an existing circuit. I need to learn how to play
chess, play an instrument, or study a foreign language, or I need to
use one of the new computer based brain fitness programs to exercise my
existing circuits.

That is the kind of novel challenge which is key to neurogenesis.

Here is another brain tip. Our brains are incredibly plastic, and just love to adopt themselves to new activities.

In fact, the brain is a data seeking organ, and wants to perceive and learn, constantly.

It
will respond to learning new skills by growing new dendrites on
existing neurons and new synapses on existing dendrites, forming many
new connections, which are the key to your super brain. The more
neurons involved in a perception process, the more likely it is that
our perceptions will be accurate, and the decisions we make in regard
to those perceptions will most likely be effective in our lives.

So
providing my brain what it needs in regards to neurogenesis and
neuroplasticity are the two most important brain tips for today.

Brain Fitness Boot Camp

Ever heard of MindTweaks, a delightful blog that Tori Deaux does?  Well, now you have.  Tori has put together the first brain fitness boot camp that I have heard of.   I found Tori on Twitter late last summer and discovered in one of her posts that she was able to buy words at Walmart, and I was intrigued, and wrote back for sale information and she replied, and we have been been sharing alliteration ever since.

And some information on brain fitness too.   And now Tori is launching a program for those of us who are intrigued by brain fitness.   I am very excited to join up, and to partake.  I plan to be the kid in the back of the brain fitness boot camp who is just shy of detention, and slacking until I have to do all nighters for the final.    Are you prepared, Tori Deaux, for the mind of Michael?  By the way, I now know where to find the words at WalMart.

Best Fish Oil Supplements, EPA, DHA, and ALA: Does Your Omega-3 Source Matter?

As far as the scientists go, there is controversy over the three different kinds of omega 3 and their sources.

Vegetarians
will look to get the omega 3 from plant sources, those of us who are
not vegetarians will look to fish and/or supplements to go with our walnuts and spinach.

I however,
do not want to read through a lot of scientific wrangling about long
chain and longer chain omega 3, omega 6, or walnut vs spinach as my
source.

That makes my head hurt. I want to insure my brain and
heart health with a product that helps me keep my head on straight so I
can parent and and stay functional for my family.

I do not care
to prepare fish at home, because of the smell, and I am not interested
in having to deal with giving my small children mercury poisoning, so
our omega 3 comes from supplements. (My children are suspicious of
foods that I prepare that might include a sprinkling of flax seed, and
I cannot get them to eat walnuts regularly and spinach unless well
disguised is out of the question, so to keep my brain orderly, I will
give them a supplement).

According to my reading of recent
articles, when looking for a supplement, make sure the long-chain
omega-3s are in your supplements. Check the label for a 3-to-2 ratio—of
either 3 parts EPA to 2 parts DHA or vice-versa (the research suggests
that either ratio produces heart and brain benefits)

Best Fish Oil Information

Brainfit for Life
is my primary source for information on omega 3 and brain health, and my choice for supplements is
xtend-life Omega 3

Why would I choose xtend-life Omega-3 over
an over the counter brand? Good question. I can go to the xtend-life
site and look at some numbers in regards to refinement.

I cannot do that with the OTC product at my local drug store.

Just
recently in my home town, Rockford, Illinois, a number of folks were
made sick when they bought some cheese from street vendors which had
been made with listeria included.

I want to double check what the company says about their refining process and I can do that with xtend-life.

Plus the company is from New Zealand which is an area of the world I love.

Read All About Brainfitness!

Want a cure, want to return to soft pliable, sensual neurons?  You may be able to soften your hardened neurons with omega 3’s.

Another of the benefits of fish oil.   That would be your soft neurons,  which can build new synapses and dendrites more effectively when the neurons they are sprouting from are soft.

Massage might help, but it is hard to massage the human brain,  let alone a neuron.

OK, so I am being a bit facietious.

But we do not function as well as we could cognitively when we do not have the nutrients we need for our brains, and a very important nutrient is long chain omega 3 from ocean going, cold water fish, which have been purified for mercury, for example.  (Look for the words molecular distillation  on the label to indicate that this kind of purification has been done).

The long chain omega 3 can be manufactured in our bodies from the other two shorter chain omega nutrients, but it is an inefficient process and we do much better cognitively and emotionally with the real deal.

But don’t take my word for it.   I go to the authorities, Professors Evans and Burghardt for my information.  Their book Brainfit for Life is where I got this quick synopsis, and if you are interested in brain fitness, their book is a must.

Gotta go get the kids fed for Little League practice.

Those of you who are brain fitness fans, be sure to listen to Blog Talk Radio this Wednesday 4-15-09, at 11:00amCST for my interview of Professor Simon Evans, co-author of the e-book (and hard cover ) titled

Brainfit for Life.

Professor Evans, and his co-author Paul Burghardt, Ph.D. have provided us non-neuroscientist types a wonderful resource for double checking our information before we run off and buy brain fitness tools half-cocked.

I will be talking to Professor Evans this Wednesday about their discoveries.

Lots of the information in the book could be categorized as lifestyle information.

It turns out that our brain fires and wires together quite effectively if we provide it with the correct amount of sleep, exercise, nutrients, stress management, and novel learning challenge.

But before you decide that you are doing just fine on the brain fitness front, better double check with Professor Evans about just what the optimal brain nutrients are and in what amount, and of course,  getting some extra rest at work for your brain fitness  may not inspire your supervisor, so you should look into what constitutes healthy sleep, for example.

What ever you do, do not forget your omega 3 supplements.  And eat lots of blue berries.  And you may be surprised to find out what the necessary kind and amount of physical exercise is.  (More Love, Less Fat)

See you Wednesday.  Mike

Improve Brain Health

Who would have thought that one could improve brain health? I mean, if
I go to the gym and do biceps exercises, or squats, there is a way to
measure my progress.

Muscles grow and can be measured or I can move
more resistance, lift a heavier weight, and I feel better, (because of
the endorphins released when I resistance train) but if I go read
classical literature or  research in a field I am unfamiliar with, I
cannot measure my brain’s health or growth in the same way as I can a
muscle’s growth or health.

(How often have you been complimented on your brain’s definition?  Has someone ever said to you that your axons are really buff?  And how would you have responded?)

If I am still thinking, creating words in my brain, then my brain  must be healthy, right?

Not
necessarily. Changes in my brain’s health are subtle and cumulative,
and we are not sure that once things like Alzheimer’s disease have
begun that cognitive function can be regained.

It turns out that I need to take care of improving my brain’s health just like I do my musculature and skeletal health.

There
are four or five areas of concern, including physical exercise, which
many say is the most important area, nutrition, stress management,
sleep, and novel learning challenges.

When those concerns are
addressed I am making it possible for my brain to grow new neurons,
which is called neurogenesis, and I am asking my brain to be plastic,
which allows it to reorganize itself frequently.

Neuroplasticity is the wonderful way my brain has of keeping itself fired up and curious about the things outside of itself.

While I cannot measure neuroplasticity like I can measure weight lifting resistance, I want to encourage it anyway.

And
if you want the book on improving your brain health, here is a link to
a wonderful tool, which you can purchase for immediate download, the
whole book, or by the chapter. It is my brain bible.

Brainfit for Life

Nutrition

Just no way around it
folks, to improve brain health, you must eat lots of fruit and
vegetables, and give up processed foods, which are filled with appetite
stimulants and msg anymore.

That means no more hamburger helper or cereal from the box.

Even
the vegetables you eat need to be bought from local growers if at all
possible, because if they are picked green and shipped to you without
ripening on the vine, they will lack the necessary phytochemicals that
develop in the fruit or vegetable when it reaches full maturity on the
vine.

It is the vitamins, minerals, fiber, glyconutrients,
antioxidants, and phytochemicals that neurons need to keep the
neurogenesis and neuroplasticity going strong.

In particular,
neurons need omega 3 from cold water ocean going fish if at all
possible, which means eating fish, (not farmed fish, which are subject
to the same kind of disease issues as farmed pork or beef) and those
fish may have lots of mercury in them, so a supplement may be in order
here.

The brain is about 2% of your weight, but uses 20% of the
energy your body uses, so it must get a steady supply of energy from
the food you eat, as it cannot store a supply, which means that you
have to make each meal count to improve brain health.

Antioxidants
are very important for brain health. The brain uses 20% of the energy
we consume per day, which means there are a lot of chemical reactions
happening in and around those neuronal mitochondria, which means free
radicals from oxidation.

Free radicals seek to stabilize
themselves by grabbing a nearby electron from a stable molecule,
destabilizing that molecule. It is possible that a cascade of unstable
molecules could result, so eat your blue berries, which provide
antioxidants to sop up free radicals.

Your reward? A square or two of dark chocolate, filled with good chemicals, or perhaps you like coffee or tea?

Green tea is very good for your immune system, and coffee delivers antioxidants too.

Sleep

Good news for you who like naps. You have been taking care of your
brain’s health by doing that. Well, actually you need a good nights
sleep.

There
is a evidence indicating that the brain prunes some of the new
connections formed during the day while you are asleep, and important
hormonal events happen at night which need to be completed for improved
brain health the next day.

The bad news is that we as a society
are getting about 1 and 1/2 less hours of sleep than we used to a few
decades ago, and I am sure many are losing sleep over current economic
conditions.

Physical Exercise

The single best thing we can do to improve brain health is exercise.

Do you need to buy an expensive gym membership to get the right kind of exercise for your brain?

No.
The kind of exercise that is good for your brain is the kind that makes
you breathe deeper for ten minutes a couple of times a day.

The measurement is usually deep enough breathing that you cannot continue the exercise and talk at the same time.

Since I have been doing this kind of exercise, I have been amazed at how breathless you can get.

What
I am talking about is HIIT or high intensity interval training, which
can be done at home in the utility room of your basement by doing 30
second intervals of jumping jacks, burpees, push-ups, skipping rope,
using an exercise ball, for example, at your level of intensity and
expertise, at your pace, so long as the interval lasts 30 seconds.

I like to include trips up and down the stairs too.

For
a great model that you and your partner can do, look at the program
that Angie and Scott Tousignant have put together called More Love, Less Fat 
Scott and Angie provide a pragmatic and uncomplicated program, and even
though they are rippling with muscle now, they did not start there.

Physical
exercise means increased blood flow to the brain, which means more
small blood vessels built to bathe those new neurons in nutrients and
remove waste.

Yes, the waste removal plumbing is very important to improve brain health.

As
I mentioned above, exercise means endorphins, your brains own pain
killer, is released, which leaves us feeling good after physical
exercise, and I like that reward.

Stress Management

Stress is the name we give to the chemistry created in our body when we are surprised or perceive danger.

Unfortunately,
we have gotten in the habit of cuing that chemistry inappropriately, or
sustaining it, and our brain, being the good learner that it is, will
comply and keep adrenaline and cortisol flowing.

Stress hormones are great for battling dragons when they appear, but they are not good for helping my brain stay healthy.

When
a dragon appears, I do battle, or freeze, or run for my life, until
there is a resolution of some kind, and if that resolution is in my
favor, I rest and resume a more sedate life.

However, that fight
or flight response locks me into a very limited behavioral repertoire,
fight or flight or freeze, and it is very hard to create a novel
solution to a problem when my body is running, or frozen, or prepared
to fight.

In order to create novel solutions, I need to learn
to cue the opposite of stress, which is relaxation, and I need to
practice that using another free tool, called deep breathing, which
could be part of a biofeedback practice called HeartMath.

HeartMath is a tool I have used for about nine years, and taught to hundreds of domestic violence and anger management folks.

Novel Learning and Improved Brain Health

Ten years ago we did not know that neurogenesis happened in our brains, and now we are using tools to increase it.

What will they think of next?

There are a lot of marketers creating incredible sales copy to sell improve brain health tools.

So,
being a 61 year old guy with young children worried about not being
healthy enough to be part of their lives, I have tried out some of the
available programs, based on my reading of the literature about them,
like the IMPACT and ACTIVE studies testing the impact of the Posit
Science tool on Seniors, and the Bueschkall and Jaeggie studies in
regards to the dual nback task, I tried three of the programs and
really enjoyed them.

Posit Science made a difference in my
ability to recall words, and the Mind Sparke program made my focus much
better, very nice for an ADD type of brain that has been scattered for
a lifetime.

I also use the Lumosity program as a brain brightener between phone calls and clients.  You can click the link below for a free trial,  and have fun with improving your brain health.

Flex Your Axons and Stretch Your Dendrites!  Mike

Brain Improve

Brain improve? Who doesn’t want to improve their brain? I mean, almost
all advertising in our culture implies that with just a bit more mental
oomph, another degree, a harder workout, or this or that potion or
pill, you too can own the Mercedes, or the mansion, or be a super hero
kind of guy.

So we are taught that we should seek out brain improvement tools, among other things.

It
turns out that there are some things we can do to improve our brains,
but brain improvement actually is not what one would think it is
initially.

Brain improvement is actually about neurogenesis and
neuroplasticity, concepts about which there was no knowledge perhaps a
decade or so ago.

It turns out that my brain actually grows new
neurons, which overturns neuroscientific dogma that has been around for
decades if not centuries, and that those new neurons can be cemented
into existing neural networks if they are challenged by a novel
learning experience.

Novel learning experiences help existing
neurons grow new dendritic branches which will sprout new synapses,
which mean more connections between neurons, which means greater
computing power, perhaps fluid intelligence, which is brain
improvement, which is now available to help solve problems in the
external world in novel ways, which could translate into increased
income or fame and fortune. (That is an improved brain).

What does a novel learning experience
consist of?   Well, if you are a counselor, reading another counseling
book will not provide a novel learning experience, but learning a new
language will, or learning to play a musical instrument will.

At one of the companies producing computerized brain fitness programs, the Posit Science Company, on Fridays, employees switch departments,  so the marketing guys would go to the shipping department,  for example,  and vice versa, so everyone gets a chance to learn what the other guy does.  The company is building in novel learning experiences and I am sure the goal is neurogenisis and neuroplasticity.

Novel learning also could include using any of a number of commercially computerized brain improvement programs.

Please remember, brain improvement means increased numbers of dendrites and synapses and new neurons.

It does not happen overnight after finding a meteorite from Planet X in your back yard, or taking a potion or pill.

And that brings us to our next topic, neuroplasticity, another of your brain’s inherent capacities which can be encouraged.

Learning
a new skill invites the neurons in your brain to fire together in new
or perhaps subtly different patterns, which is a very good thing for
your neurons. If neurons are left idle, the brain, being an energy
consuming organ of the highest order, will pare unused neurons and even
circuits to be energy efficient.

So doing ordinary things like
brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand is a good way to
disrupt the tooth brushing brain map in a healthy way. Neurons will
re-organize quickly which is teaching the brain to re-organize quickly
which is a good thing for brain improvement.

If you look at what
the scientists are saying about brain improve, (not the marketers),
they are saying that for brains to improve, several things need to be
attended to on a regular basis, like physical exercise/activity, sleep,
nutrition, stress management, and novel learning experiences.

Perhaps
the most important of those areas is physical exercise, which does not
need to be of the go-to-the-gym-and-get-all-sweaty type of exercise,
although that is very good.

It can simply be walking in the
neighborhood more, and more briskly, so that some deeper breathing is
initiated, or you can take a look at the program Angie and Scott
Tousignant have put together for couples, called
More Love, Less Fat.  Please
do not be put off by the rippling abs and bulging biceps, they did not
start there, and their program is wonderfully economical. No potions or
pills, just interval training done in ten minuter intervals. Can you
find ten minutes to improve your brain this way?

If you are searching for an overarching resource, then you need to look to
Brainfit for Life
by Simon Evans, Ph.D. or Paul Burghardt,Ph.D. which goes into great
detail about the various aspects of brain improve, but in a readable
way. They leave the neuroscientific jargon in the laboratory.

However,
they do not talk in great detail about any of the brain improvement
computerized programs that we can include in our brain improve regimen.

I
have used four of them, and really enjoyed all four. Here are links
which will take you to their sales sites for further information, or in
the case of Lumosity, a free trial.

Want your kids to try this out? Their is a version for them.

There are brain articles popping up all over the place, as marketers
and scientists and commentators and consumers discover that there are a
lot of things we can do to help our brains do what they do so well,
process sensory data.   We can increase the effectiveness of neurons doing what neurons do,  which is electrical and chemical in nature.  It is unlikely your SAT scores will be perfect because of brain articles, or brain fitness endeavors.

Be wary of the brain article which promises
something for nothing, like increased IQ without any work. It is not
quite that simple.

The experience of vision and the experience of
hearing and touch and taste and smell all involve tens of thousands of
neurons firing in close synchrony all the time, in parallel rather than
sequential processing, and that experience exists only inside my brain.

What
we call thought, or the self-talk that runs somewhat in concert with
the activity of neurons, is happening at the same time all those
neurons are busily passing along electrical activity and neurochemical
activity. That thought usually is trying to explain our sensory
experience, and may utilize explanations we learned as kids, which may
not always be appropriate to our current situation. See the rest of my
site for information on cognitive behavioral therapy or rational
emotive behavioral therapy.

Who would have known that there are
some trainings we can do with computerized programs which make possible
improvements in processing speed or hearing or vision or short term
memory or even IQ? Those trainings enhance neurogenesis and
synaptogenesis and neuroplasticity, which are life long processe that
we did not know about even ten years ago.

Of course, those
trainings will work best in a brain which is well fed, well oxidized,
well rested, challenged by physical activity, and has its stress
managed effectively.

For an extraodinary look at what researchers are teasing out of their work, see
Brainfit for Life
by Simon Evans, Ph.D. and Paul Burghardt, Ph.D.

This brain article is an excited brain article, both personally and professionally.

I
have read about and tried a number of brain fitness trainings and have
experienced positive improvements in my ability to focus, recall words,
(which is important in my profession, and not quite as good as it used
to be in my 61 year old brain), and memory.

When computerized
brain fitness is coupled with physical fitness, good nutrition, good
sleep, and stress management, I am much more confident about my ability
to maneuver through my senior years with dignity.

In regards to
the physical challenge mentioned in brain articles, it is not necessary
that I be working out like a dervish to provide my brain the most
important ingredient for neurogenesis, or the growth of new neurons.

What
I need to be doing is exercise that makes me breath deeply enough that
I cannot exercise and sing or exercise and talk at the same time, and I
can do that in measured increments, perhaps 10 minutes at at time, and
the equipment required is no more extensive than an exercise ball
and/or a couple of dumbbells.

I do not need a coach or an expensive exercise club to provide my brain what it needs.

If
you and your wife would like to exercise together, then here is a
couple you can model, Scott and Angie Tousignant. Please do not be
fooled by the rippling abs. Try out their More Love, Less Fat
program and adopt it to your own style. That is what I have done with it, and I hope you do to.

Nutrition is a very important component of effective brain functioning, as are antioxidants.

Basically,
do not eat anything that comes from a box. Processed foods are filled
with msg, and excitotoxins, which make the pleasure centers in the
brain work overtime.

The food that can spoil is milled out of
processed foods, so that they have a long shelf life, but they diminish
our shelf life, because without all the fiber, vitamins, minerals,
phytochemicals, (like lycopene), and glyconutrients for example,our
brains do not have all the chemical letters for their cellular words,
and cannot communicate with each other clearly. The neuronal talk is
garbled, and decisions about sensory data becomes inefficient.

So
eat lots of fruit and vegetables, and lots of colors. And be sure to
use a high quality multi-vitamin, and supplement with omega 3’s from
ocean going cold water fish, not the farm grown variety.

Evans
and Burghardt make quite a case for the importance of sleep, reporting
that many important cognitive consolidation and hormonal activities
happen at night, and when those activities are not completed, our brain
suffers.

So any brain article has got to talk about exercise,
nutrition, sleep, stress management, and novel learning experience to
be of value.

The novel learning experience can involve learning a
new skill, like a new language, an instrument, a new hobby, which
trains something called fluid intelligence. Since we already have an
area of expertise, we do not need to train that, which is usually
called crystallized intelligence. That means that as a counselor,
reading another counseling book, no matter how good it is, will not
train my fluid intelligence. Fluid intelligence is the intelligence I
bring to new situations where my old intelligence cannot help my solve
a problem. Like parenting, where the tool that worked so well yesterday
doesn’t work anymore because the kids have grown overnight.

If
you are not up to a new language, then I suggest that any of the
following computerized brain fitness programs will be effective for
you. I have tried them and enjoy them and they have benefited my 61
year old brain.

The Best Brain Tips

I have been looking for good brain tips for a long time.  Part of the reason for that is growing up in a home that was very chaotic, and at times dangerous.

One of the skills I learned as a kid, which had some survival value, was reading peoples non-verbal communication very fast and very accurately, especially in regards to anger.  In fact, there were times when I was a kid, when I stuck my head in the front door of the house, and without seeing anyone I could sense how angry my parents were, and if it was too dangerous, I left and stayed away as long as I dared.

So I always had a very strong interest in how people communicate non-verbally, and I read everything I could get my hands on over the years about communication, and that interest slowly evolved into an interest in perception, and that interest slowly became an awareness that perception happens in my head, and happens continuously, and that my hormonal state (stress hormones like adrenalin and cortisol vs DHEA, the anti-aging hormone) follow from my interpretations of sensory perception as quickly as 1/18th second, which means I may change internally 18 times per second.

So on the one hand, I do not have a lot of time to manage thoughts and perceptions, and on the other hand, I have learned that you can learn to manage parts of your physiology, like the time between your heart beats or the temperature of your hands with some regular practice, which can keep you feeling very relaxed.

Your can even learn to manage brain waves, and the style of attention you want to have.  This is a good skill if you are ADD, or ADHD, and it has been used with success in epilepsy and alcoholism too.

However, since the advent of scanning technologies like SPECT scans and  fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging), we are getting more sophisticated in our ability to look at brains in action and figure out where certain activities like love or addiction happen in brain, so our brain tips are getting better, and we are understanding that our brains can actually grow new neurons and we now know our brains are very adaptable or plastic, and even want new challenges.

In other words, we can engage in certain activities to improve our brain, flex its axons and stretch its dendrites if you will, which is where brain tips are particularly useful.   (Remember the book FLOW by Csikszantmihalyi, where he described key elements of the flow experience in the hope that we might duplicate them routinely?)

Well, now it is possible to exercise your brain using computer programs, and increase your knowledge about how your brain works by reading books like Brainfit for Life.

There are thousands of brain tips in Brainfit for Life, drawn from research, which means they are not just anecdote or folk wisdom, but have been tested a bit, or a lot, depending on the size of the sample.

Some of that research has been done on the Mind Sparke Brain Fitnss Pro program, which uses a task called the dual n back task to challenge auditory and visual perception,  and increase IQ.

Far cry from a kid hoping to read his parents expression in order to stay alive, however that is where my brain tips journey has taken me.

Turns out that the most important brain tip of all is to get lots of physical exercise.  That is the one activity that stimulates neurogenesis or the growth of new brain cells, and neuroplasticity, the brains ability to adapt to new chores.

Want to check out the home grown fitness program I follow?  I do the Scott and Angie Tousignant program called More Love, Less Fat, because it takes 10 at home,  and I do not need anymore equipment than an exercise ball and/or dumb bells.  I want neurogenesis, so I follow their program.  It is actually for couples, and my wife has on occasion joined me.  Her brain is not quite as old as mine though, so I am more diligent about the workouts.  More brain tips coming soon.

Prevent Age Related Cognitive Decline

Can it be that our brains begin a slow descent much earlier that we expected?

Researchers at the University of Virginia say that our work to sustain cognitive fitness needs to begin much earlier than we thought.

From the Daily Mail-

“According to scientists, our mental abilities begin to decline from the age of 27 after reaching a peak at 22.

The researchers studied 2,000 men and women aged 18 to 60 over seven
years. The people involved – who were mostly in good health and
well-educated – had to solve visual puzzles, recall words and story
details and spot patterns in letters and symbols.

Similar tests are often used to diagnose mental disabilities and declines, including dementia.

The
research at the University of Virginia, reported in the academic
journal Neurobiology Of Aging, found that in nine out of 12 tests the
average age at which the top performance was achieved was 22.

The
first age at which performance was significantly lower than the peak
scores was 27 – for three tests of reasoning, speed of thought and
spatial visualisation. Memory was shown to decline from the average age
of 37. In the other tests, poorer results were shown by the age of 42.

Professor
Timothy Salthouse said the results suggested that therapies designed to
prevent or reverse age-related conditions may need to start earlier,
long before people become pensioners.

So brain fitness needs to be attended to by even the young?  Amen.

I would suggest that the best place to begin with accentuating cognitive performance, rather than waiting for a slow decline, is with the work of Simon Evans, Ph.D. and Paul Burghardt, Ph.D, and their excellent book,  Brainfit for Life.

Their work,  the purpose of which is to  bring to light all the tidbits about how to enhance cognitive function hidden away in research papers, describes some of the excellent and challenging programs we can begin to use at any age to keep cognitive enhancement going.

In fact, one of the areas they are most adamant about attending to is the need for good sleep.  So read their book, and go back to bed.  After all, it is Sunday morning.  After you get up later, be sure and try the Mind Sparke Brain Fitness Pro, which has been tested on students.