As we know, different parts of the brain are involved in different functions. Just as there are parts of the brain involved in depression, there are parts responsible for positive emotion. Further, mounting research suggests that the adult brain is changeable, or “plastic” as opposed to becoming fixed in adolescence. What this means is that although you may be born with a predisposition toward gloominess or anxiety, with a little training, you can coax a fretful mind toward a happier outlook. It would be like Feng Shui for the brain and mind. The emotional floor plan can be altered so that the brain’s furniture can be moved to a more felicitous arrangement. Read more about the science of happiness here….

It is now well known that, for rodents, physical exercise is beneficial for brain health. Indeed, mice allowed to freely run on an exercise wheel grow more new neurons that mice not allowed to move freely. Importantly, these new neurons grow in an area crucial for memory formation: the hippocampus.

Neurogenesis (the birth and development of neurons) is difficult to estimate in the human brain as there are no way to directly count new neurons…
Recently, Small and his colleagues (2007) were able to use neuroimaging to study the effect of physical exercise on neurogenesis in humans. Their study involved a group of 11 middle-aged adults who had been exercising about four times a week, for three months. Results show exercise-related changes in the hippocampus, suggesting neurogenesis in this area.

This new study adds to the numerous results showing that physical exercise is good for the brain. Let’s keep moving then!

Read the original article here.
Read a report on the original article here.

Young brains are plastic. This means that they can change and reorganize to adapt to deficits. Is it the case for older brains as well? Recent research suggests that the answer is yes!

Dilks, from John Hopkins University, and his colleagues, studied the brain of a stroke patient (B.L.). Behavioral and brain imaging evidence showed that reorganization had occurred in B.L.’s visual cortex following his stroke. This study, published in September 2007, was the first to show plasticity in this part of the adult brain.

Evidence for plasticity in the adult brain is great news for brain fitness! Healthy and fit brains may be more plastic, and thus more resistant to deficits caused by age and age-related diseases.
So… keep exercising your brain!

Read the original article here

Have you ever wondered why you remember so vividly that argument you had with your boss 3 months ago or the first time you kissed your husband or wife?

If yes, you may have thought that your memory for these events was vivid because they occurred when you were experiencing a strong emotion: anger or happiness.
And you were right! Emotionally charged events are usually much better remembered than less emotionally charged events.
But why would that be the case?

A study published this month seems to have the answer: a state of high emotion triggers the release of norepinephrine, a hormone that increases the activity of nerve cells. This results in unusually strong memory circuits in the brain.

Read more here…

Brain Activity Reduces risk of Developing Neurodegenerative Diseases

A new study now confirms our beliefs: Train your brain on a regular basis and you should be able to considerably reduce risks to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

In Chicago, a major 5 year project that studied over 700 patients aged 80 and over has just come to an end and the medical team’s findings are unequivocal: an elderly person not practicing a brain activity is 2.6 times more likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than a person with regular and stimulating brain activities such as reading, writing, listening to music or any other cultural activity.

The study also emphasizes the fact that these observations still apply when the activity is only taken up at an advanced age.

So it may never be too late to start training!

source: Reuters Health, Neurology 27, 2007

The right kind of cocoa might be great for your brain.

“This raises the prospect of using flavanols in the treatment of dementia, marked by decreased blood flow in the brain, and in maintaining overall cardiovascular health”.

Read all about the benefits of cocoa here

Here is a recent study out of Princeton University that tries to link sleep and brain cells.

“Losing sleep may cause the brain to stop producing new brain cells, a study conducted by New Jersey’s Princeton University has found”

To read more click here

Researchers at the Rush University Medical Center in Chicago have assessed loneliness and dementia. 

“In human beings, loneliness has been associated with impaired social skills. Thus, neural systems underlying social behavior might be less elaborated in lonely persons and, as a result, be less able to compensate for other neural systems compromised by age-related neuropathy,”

Click here to read the full artice.

The BBC reports on a study by UK organization Foresight that makes futuristic predictions in the brain health area. According to the report, scientists predict that healthy people, including children, might one day take drugs to boost their intelligence.

The Foresight report states: “In a world that is increasingly non-stop and competitive, the individual’s use of such substances may move from the fringe to the norm, with cognition enhancers used as coffee is today”.
But the availability of such drugs would open up a range of social and ethical questions, including whether it should be permitted for people to use them to gain advantage over others.

How they should be monitored would also be an issue.

Additional information on the report is also available on the Foresight web site as well as this related article from one of the study’s researchers based at the University of Bristol.