Is it possible to use more of our brain?

“Some proof that focus and optimization can improve the brain’s performance comes from research on video gamers. Neuroscientists at the University of Rochester have shown that even novice gamers can improve cognitive skills such as perception and attention by playing action video games. These games can strengthen players’ mental acuity because they require intense concentration and ruthless self-correction (otherwise, your friends shoot you!).”

Via Scientific American

You’re Wired to Be a Leader – Geil Browning

“You were born with seven brain attributes for effective management. How much you turn the volume up or down depends on you–and what you want to accomplish.”

“Research tells us that there are seven brain attributes—thinking and behavioral tendencies—every leader naturally takes advantage of to a greater or lesser extent, and finds they’re effective to a greater or lesser extent depending on the traits of the individuals they interact with.”

Via Inc. Magazine

Reduced Omega-3 Speeds Brain Aging

“Lower blood levels of omega-3 fatty acids are associated with smaller brain volumes and worse cognitive performance, researchers reported.”

“The structural findings suggest that people with low levels of the nutrients — found mainly in fish — have brains that appear to have aged faster than normal, according to Zaldy Tan, MD, of the University of California Los Angeles, and colleagues.”

“And the cognitive findings suggest they also are likely to lose some of their ability to think abstractly and remember some things, Tan and colleagues reported in the Feb. 28 issue of Neurology.”

Via MedPage Today

Phys Ed: How Exercise Fuels the Brain

“Moving the body demands a lot from the brain. Exercise activates countless neurons, which generate, receive and interpret repeated, rapid-fire messages from the nervous system, coordinating muscle contractions, vision, balance, organ function and all of the complex interactions of bodily systems that allow you to take one step, then another.”“

“This increase in brain activity naturally increases the brain’s need for nutrients, but until recently, scientists hadn’t fully understood how neurons fuel themselves during exercise. Now a series of animal studies from Japan suggest that the exercising brain has unique methods of keeping itself fueled. What’s more, the finely honed energy balance that occurs in the brain appears to have implications not only for how well the brain functions during exercise, but also for how well our thinking and memory work the rest of the time.”

Via NY Times

The Second Law of Thermodynamics and The “Med Check”

“What to do with such an individual? My first wish would be to discontinue all medications, assess her baseline, help to redefine her treatment goals, and identify tools to achieve them. But remember, I only have 20 minutes. Even the simplest of maneuvers—e.g., start a gradual taper of one of her medications—would require a detailed explanation of what to expect and how to deal with any difficulties that might arise. And if I can’t see her for another 2-3 months—or if I have only 13 annual visits with her, as is the case in my Medicaid practice—then this option becomes far more difficult.”

“As a result, it’s easier to add stuff than to take it away. It brings to mind the second law of thermodynamics in physics, which (very loosely) says that a system will always develop greater disorder (or randomness, or “entropy”) unless work is done on that system. Stated from a clinical point of view: unless we invest more time and energy in our patients, their care will become more scattered, disorganized, and chaotic.”

Via Thought Broadcast blog

The Body Odd – A whiff of rosemary gives your brain a boost:

“In the study, a cohort of 20 subjects were exposed to varying levels of the aroma, then given a battery of cognitive tests and mood assessments. Not surprisingly, the cognitive performance of the subjects increased, with a corresponding mood increase of lesser magnitude. However, the real surprise came when the blood tests were processed.”

Via MSNBC

Fearless Youth: Prozac Extinguishes Anxiety by Rejuvenating the Brain: Scientific American:

“The research may help explain why a combination of therapy and antidepressants is more effective at treating depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than either drugs or therapy alone. Antidepressants may prime the adult brain to rewire faulty circuits during therapy.”

(Via www.scientificamerican.com)

Remember when you were in first grade and you stood in line in the cafeteria punching your best friend and saying “gotcha last” and waiting for his punch back? OK, OK…so you didn’t do stuff like that? You must be a girl or something.

Remember looking up at the bulletin board in the cafeteria and seeing the words, “You Are What You Eat!”

Your friend said, “”Duuuuuuhhhhhh! What…Ever!”

You punch him back.

Now here’s the weird part. That little message on the board turned out to be true.

Oops!

So if “you are what you eat”, does that means I turned into a Cheeto when I really wanted to be a fast Cheetah! Darn, so many missed opportunities.

Psychiatrist Dr. Drew Ramsey co-authored The Happiness Diet featured on MSNBC:

We know that the typical American diet — filled with processed food and added sugar — is making us fat. But it’s also making us depressed, according “The Happiness Diet,” a new book that links food to feelings.

It’s amazing to think that every cell in our body turns over. What I mean is this: every cell is replaced by a newer cell. Some are replaced fast, fast – like the skin and the lining of the gut. Some are replaced slow, slow – like the nervous system.

Think of it this way: you will replace every cell in your body (even the ones responsible for regulating mood) many times over during your lifetime. What building materials do you want to use for your new cell structure – Cheez Wiz (what IS that?) or fresh, pesticide-free plants. I’m not advocating eating Cheetahs because that’s just weird. Maybe Laughing Hyena though!

Want to Remember High School?

I’ve always thought that the brain’s memory was a lot like that game Connect Four where each player put round tokens in the top of a tower grid in order to try to get four (red or black) tokens in a row. Commonly the game is a draw because you fill up the slots before anyone can win the game. The only way to to put more tokens in the top is to let the existing tokens slide out the bottom.

Memory is a lot like that – we fill up the memory slots and the more we jam memory tokens in the top of our brain, the more the memory tokens come sliding out the bottom.

Push the memory of last night’s restaurant through the top and out from the bottom pops out the name of our childhood best friend. That just doesn’t seem fair!

It appears that memories aren’t toppling out the bottom of the brain afterall, and in fact they can be access if only by tickling the correct part of the brain. This cool brain blogger Neuroskeptic explains:

“A new paper, however, says different. Philadelphia’s Joshua Jacobs et al report that they found a spot in the left temporal lobe of a male patient, stimulation of which evoked memories of the man’s time at high school. The guy was in his 30s at the time, so these are quite distant memories.”

I had a pretty good high school experience, I think. Maybe some commercial application of this will prove otherwise.

The blogger at Music Matters summarizes an article on how the brain processes music. Very interesting stuff if you love music and the brain!

“It’s a persistent myth to think that music is processed solely in the right hemisphere. This week yet another study shows that, even when the processes are restricted to listening alone, virtually the whole brain is involved.”