Brain Aerobics

Brain Aerobics

Welcome from Mike Logan

This article was written by Sharon Begley, the author of Change Your Brain, Change Your Mind, which is a wonderful book about the potential for our brains, and changing them for the better.

Her article is so clear, concise and articulate that I am really tempted to cut and paste it, but that is not a good idea in Google's eyes, so I will comment on it as we go. Please find a link at the bottom of the page.

Near the end of the article, Ms. Begley speaks to the mechanism involved, which I am grateful for, as it gives me confidence in the efficacy of the research.

When the author talks molecules of IGF crossing the blood brain barrier, I am more confident that what we are seeing is research, not commentary or advertising.

"The key to keeping intellectually sharp as we age may not bemental gymnastics, as commonly recommended, but realgymnastics.According to a new study, the brain's long, slow decline maynot be inevitable. For the first time, scientists have foundsomething that not only halts the brain shrinkage that starts in aperson's 40s, especially in regions responsible for memory andhigher cognition, but actually reverses it: aerobic exercise. Aslittle as three hours a week of brisk walking -- no Stairmasterrequired -- apparently increases blood flow to the brain andtriggers biochemical changes that increase production of newbrain neurons.As brains age, normal wear and tear starting in middle agecauses them to process information more slowly, which meansit takes longer to make judgments and grasp complexinformation. Older brains also take longer to switch from onetask to another and are less adept at "multitasking" (such asdriving while simultaneously tuning the radio and checking thetailgater)."

Brain Aerobics Means Deep Breathing?

Popular wisdom, as well as somescientists, had long held that the way to stay mentally sharp wasto do mental gymnastics.

Crossword puzzles, reading, taking upa musical instrument and generally challenging the mind weresupposed to stave off the mental ravages of old age.

That has been hard to prove. But support for the brain benefitsof physical exercise has become stronger. A number of earlierstudies showed that elderly people who take up aerobic exerciseshow improved cognitive function after a few months, saysArthur Kramer of the University of Illinois, Urbana: Theirworking memory is better, they are nimbler at switchingbetween mental tasks, and they can screen out distractionsbetter than people who did not get exercise training.

Now he and colleagues have discovered what may be the basisfor these improvements. As little as three hours a week ofaerobic exercise increased the brain's volume of gray matter(actual neurons) and white matter (connections betweenneurons), they report in the November issue of the Journal ofGerontology: Medical Sciences. "After only three months," saysProf. Kramer, "the people who exercised had the brain volumesof people three years younger."

Until 1998, neuro-dogma held that old brains do not grow newneurons. A study on patients in Sweden overturned thatassumption. But researchers did not know whether people coulddo anything to boost this "neurogenesis," or even whether doingso would have cognitive benefits. The Illinois study is thereforethe first to discover that older brains can indeed rev up theirproduction of new neurons (no one has studied whetheryounger brains can), and it is apparently enough to make a real worlddifference. Studies in both people and animals havelinked increases in brain volume (which occur with some drugs)to improvements in thinking, remembering, cognitive flexibility(thinking outside the box) and perseveration (not getting stuckon one thought)."This is a great emerging story," says Fred Gage of the SalkInstitute, La Jolla, Calif., who was not involved in the Urbanastudy but led the 1998 discovery of human neurogenesis. "Youcan do something to influence your mental fate as you getolder."The Urbana scientists had 59 adults, age 60 to 79, get aerobicstraining, non-aerobic stretching-and-toning training, or nothing.

The first two groups exercised for one hour three times a week,walking around a gym at a little more than three miles an hour.The researchers used MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) before and after the program to measure the volunteers' brains.Neither the stretchers-and-toners nor the couch potatoes showed any brain changes. But "theaerobic group showed a substantial increase in brain volume," says Dr. Kramer.Gray matter increased most in the frontal lobes, the seat of high-order thinking such asattention and memory. White matter increased most in the corpus callosum. This is the bundleof neurons that connects the right brain and the left, and whose deterioration with age isthought to be responsible for slower thinking. With better connections, the hemisphere that iscarrying out some task can send signals to the other side to pipe down, making for bettercognitive efficiency."This is the first time anyonehas shown that exerciseincreases brain volume in theelderly," says Dr. Kramer. "Itsuggests that aerobic exercisecan stave off neural decline,and even roll back somenormal age-relateddeterioration of brainstructure."Because the volunteers wereall healthy, the study does not address whether exercise might slow down, let alone reverse,age-related brain diseases such as Alzheimer's. And because the scientists did not put theirvolunteers through a tougher regimen, they cannot say whether more strenuous exercise wouldboost neurogenesis even further, or whether the benefits top out at some point.Although the study included relatively few people, scientists not involved in it say it fits with agrowing body of evidence about the aging brain. "Different people from different labs arefinding the same thing: evidence of an increase in cognitive capacity with exercise," says Salk'sProf. Gage.Animal studies confirm the connection between moving your body and pumping up your brain.When lab mice get a lot of exercise, such as in a running wheel, the connections amongneurons grow longer and more numerous. And in a harbinger of the Urbana results, says Prof.Gage, neurogenesis occurs in the bewhiskered runners' brains. "Even in mice who don't startexercising until they're elderly, exercise doesn't merely prevent decline in neurogenesis, butreverses it," he says. "There is activation of neural stem cells, which suggests that these cellsare always there but become dormant with age." Exercise wakes them up, and they start givingbirth to neurons that improve the mice's thinking and memory.How might exercise work this magic? Studies in lab animals show that exercise raises bloodlevels of a molecule called IGF-1 (for insulin-like growth factor). Normally, IGF-1 does notcross the blood-brain barrier, explains Prof. Gage, but "with exercise it does." IGF-1 increasesblood flow, which is good for brain neurons. Even more important, it induces neural stem cellsto morph into actual neurons and other functional brain cells. The hippocampus, a structure thatis crucial to forming new memories, is especially amenable to the benefits of IGF-1.With more gray matter and white matter, "the brain is more interconnected, more plastic andmore adaptive to change," Prof. Kramer says. Kramer's work and Begley's article follow with what another source reports that I trust, what Simon Evans, Ph.D. and Paul Burghardt, Ph.D, report in their e-book called Brainfit for Life report, and what I experience.

Although I am hardly an unbiased source, I notice a qualitative change in my ability to focus and generate ideas when I do not exercise.

My workouts over the years have always been of the hot sweaty variety, which I still enjoy at 60, but I am learning that even 10 minute workouts following the HIIT formula, or High Intensity Interval Training can leave me with all the IGF crossing the blood brain barrier that I want, but I do not need special clothes, tools, a personal trainer, a gym, or fancy equipment.

If fact, my wife and I are working on the HIIT formula of Scott and Angie Tousignant, following their formula for success. Here is a link.... High Intensity Interval Training-Brain Aerobics

Brain Aerobics of the Software Kind

It is possible to enhance the neurogenesis that Sharon Begley speaks of above by giving your brain novel challenge, so a combination of software and hardware workouts is very helpful to the older brain. I would say somewhat worn, but my wife delights in making that observation for me, so I will leave it to her.

Here are links to programs I have tried and like for their ability to enhance my physical workouts.

Lumosity

Mind Sparke Brain Fitness Pro

Posit Science Brain Fitnes Program

The Wall Street Journal Online

Would You Share Something That You Are Grateful For?

When I was beginning my personal growth journey, a wise person told me that when I was feeling resentful or afraid or sad, that I should remember the phrase "gratitude is the attitude" when I was ready to feel better. That phrase has helped me feel better tens of thousands of times.

Would you share what you are most grateful for? Your story could be just what another person is searching for to renew themselves? Thanks.


Have a question and want to talk with a therapist? Call 815-316-2621 for Julie Logan, LCSW, RN. 7121 Windsor Lake Parkway, Loves Park, Illinois 61111 jlogan7264@myway.com