Human brain needs care just like the body
Stress for Success
May 5, 2009

I joke with my chorus-mates that learning the large volume of music we perform annually protects us from Alzheimer’s. This may be truer than I thought.

Conventional wisdom has historically been that the adult brain lacked “neuroplasticity” - the ability to remold itself. But scientists are finding that it’s far more flexible than thought. Our behavior, environment, and possibly even thought patterns can cause the brain to significantly rewire and reorganize. The hippocampus, essential to learning and long-term memory, is one area active in new nerve cell development.

Scientific American Mind, February/March, 2009 reports on six healthy habits to help enhance your brain power based on this new understanding.
1 Exercise: Human studies show that exercise improves the brain’s executive functions of planning, organizing and multitasking probably due to increased blood flow to the brain increasing the delivery of oxygen, fuel and nutrients. Exercise also has mood-boosting effects and helps protect you from developing dementia as you age, even for life-long couch-potatoes. Studies of seniors have shown that just 20 minutes of walking a day is enough.
a. Use music to make your workout more powerful. In a study volunteers completed two workout sessions. In one they worked out in silence; in the other, they listened to Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. After each workout, participants completed assessments of their mood and verbal skills. When exercising with no music both skills were boosted while when exercising to music verbal scores improved twice as much.
b. Research finds that exercise improves sleep quality and immune function.
2 Diet: You are what you eat. Saturated fat is no better for your brain than for your body. Rats fed high saturated fat diets underperformed on learning and memory tests. Humans who consume quantities of saturated fats may also be at greater risk for dementia. Since your brain is mostly fat you do need omega-3 fats, found in fish, nuts and seeds.
a. Populations that traditionally consume high omega-3 fatty acid diets tend to have lower rates of central nervous system disorders.
b. Alzheimer’s disease, depression and schizophrenia may be associated with low levels of omega-3 fatty acids.
c. Fruits, vegetables and some nuts high in antioxidants (e.g., walnuts, blueberries and spinach) seem to be brain super foods countering brain cell damage.
d. It’s also how much you eat. Research on laboratory animals fed 25 - 50% fewer than normal calories live longer with improved brain function, better memory and coordination test performance, and are more resistant to damage from Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and in Huntington’s disease.
e. Babies need enough fat to create healthy neurons. Breast milk is 50% fat.
3 Stimulants like caffeine rev up the nervous system, increase heart rate, blood pressure, energy, breathing, arousal and alertness. One study showed that two cups can boost short-term memory and reaction time and can protect against age-related memory decline in older women; good news to those of us who love our morning coffee.

Next week I’ll cover the other three healthy habits of video games, music, and meditation.

Jacquelyn Ferguson, M. S., of InterAction Associates, is a trainer and a Stress Coach. E-mail her at www.jackieferguson.com or call 239-693-8111 for information about her workshops on this and other topics or to invite her to speak to your organization.