There’s a great series of posts over at Dr. Ellen Weber’s Brain Based Business blog about aging and mental exercise to keep your brain healthy. Dr. Weber writes about a book, Inside the Brain by Ronald Kotulak.

Here’s an excerpt: Contrary to conventional wisdom…Kotulak said… people do not lose brain cells… in huge numbers… because of age. So why does it appear otherwise at times? Too many seniors allow their brain functions to stick… slog… and rust out… because of disuse.

Brain cells are now found to be sustained and stimulated by physically changing your brain through experiences and education well beyond the golden years… a new concept…

So my question to you readers is: "What have you done lately to exercise your brain?"

I’m learning to play World of Warcraft with my husband. Computer games are a great way to work out your brain, especially there there is some sequential reasoning involved, along with visual spatial organizing and hand-eye coordination. (So far I have completed some quests and advanced to level 9; and I’ve avoided getting killed by a couple of scary beasts.)

And you? What are you doing to keep your brain healthy?

They keep turning up research that shows there is electro-magnetic stimulation to your brain caused by holding a cell phone to your ear, yet most people ignore it.

To me, it’s like knowing cigarettes cause cancer, and continuing to smoke. It reminds me of how people deplore the price of gasoline, while filling up their huge SUVs.

But maybe that’s just because I feel a little holier-than-thou, having given up cell phone usage a while back. I only use it for out-going calls in cases of urgency. I’ll admit it can be a great help for communications while out of the office. But to use it for casual conversations, or while driving: no-no.

Here’s more research to deter you from frequently using a cell phone, from the Brain Based Business blog:

A recent study on cell phones shows the side effect still excite parts of the brain. Is this good or bad…? Unfortunately researchers can’t say for sure. Check out the IBN Live reports.

Read the rest of this entry »

This post comes from Laura Ricci, who has a neat blog about Winning Ideas at work. Here’s an excerpt from a post on May 5, 2006:

Burnout is a biologic reality, not a psychological weakness.

The brain works by creating pathways for specific projects. Communication is passed between cells along these synaptic pathways by electrical charges. The gap between cells has a conducting property. Think of it as a gel that holds a charge, similar to a battery.

Synaptic pathways wear out. When the synaptic pathway is fired continuously, like your last proposal, the gel loses its charge after awhile. Communication slows. By the time you notice a slowdown, burnout has already occurred.

The gel will re-charge, but it takes a day or several, and the pathway must be closed to most traffic.

Laura recommends taking plenty of time at lunch, eating well, even a 20 minute nap.

Gosh this is the 3rd post recently about taking breaks; do we see a theme here? When is my next vacation? Oh yes, June 2. Gotta go take a break now.

Rats do it, why shouldn’t we? Scientist are learning what goes on in the brain of rats while learning to successfully complete a maze. And, this explains why all those time outs in sports pay off.

The experiment: Put lab rats into unfamiliar mazes and monitored their behaviors upon completion of their exploration.

Findings: The rats routinely rested after each ‘test.’ But their short-term memory neurons were busy at work repeatedly reviewing the maze’s path - in reverse - at speeds up to 10 times faster than the original experience.

Interpretation: "This implies that it’s not just during an experience that learning occurs," says David Foster, head of the research team. "If we’re right, the period after the experience is just as important, but maybe more important."

"Don’t feel guilty about the breaks you’ve been sneaking at work - they could be helping you learn." So reports Elise Kleeman in her May 2006 article in Discover magazine, titled, "Relax and Think Like a Rat," based on the work of some neuroscientists at MIT.

Next time you look at Roger Federer during a changeover, you know what his brain is doing during those 90 seconds: learning what he needs to do next.

(This post was originally seen in Barry Zweibel’s Gottagettablog! under the title "In favor of (yet another) coffee break" .)

Barry writes, "All of those late-morning or mid-afternoon Starbucks’ run might not be such a bad thing. Not only do they provide that added caffeine kick, but they might also be providing us the opportunity to integrate the day’s learning into our longer-term memories."

Makes sense to me. I didn’t really need another excuse for taking a break, but this will do nicely.

Positive human-to-human contact reduces the blood levels of the stress hormones epinephrine, norepinephrine, and cortisol.

Science is studying the effects of spending time online and have found higher levels of depression and loneliness in people who spend even a few hours per week connected to the Internet. Now, I have lots of questions about that study, mainly that this doesn’t prove any cause and effect. If you are a person who is lonely, you might want to spend extra time on the computer anyway.

And I know some computer gamers who go online to feel the strong effects of stress through online games such as World of Warcraft… I won’t go into the addiction thing here.

But here’s my point: When people are spending most of their time online, or communicating via email versus face-to-face, the brain is not exposed as much to conditions that trigger the release of certain hormones: oxytocin, vasopressin, dopamine, and serotonin.

These chemical are known to enhance trust, bonding, attention and pleasure. And serotonin reduces fear and worry.

Think about how much less time you spend interacting with humans face-to-face. And then consider that taking a people-break might enhance your mood.

Most of you know I started this blog as a companion to the Mind-FX Science website, to share with readers ways of keeping the brain healthy, including an emphasis on the Mind-FX product line. But I don’t want to sound like an ad or a commercial either.

Every once in a while I come across an advertisement that is well written. It may not be a great ad to purists, because it is a far stretch from the copy to the actual services it is promoting. In that view, it stinks. But here it is:

There are three pictures, a swimmer, a rock climber and a football player, with the accompanying text that appears when you hover your mouse over a photo:

Determination:
Muscle gives you the power,
but determination gives you the will.
That’s how you make it happen.
Make it happen

Tenacity:
Be prepated to hang in there.
That’s how you make it happen.
Make it happen.

Focus:
Size and strength are nothing
without direction and focus.
That’s how you make it happen.
Make it happen.

What great copy! Would you believe this is promoting a bank? Royal Bank of Scotland.

Well, my point is that most advertisements for health supplements focus on muscles, or power, or losing weight, etc. I love this ad because it calls attention to three most important things essential to success in any sport: determination, tenacity and focus.

Mind-FX Science develops products that will help you build on those three things, by keeping your brain healthy. (See our product descriptions on the website.)

As an experiment, yesterday I had a non-sport day, with a straight 12 hours of work to accomplish. I took two of our Mind-FX products, MaxxImpulse for sustained energy, and 2 NeuroCharge for maintaining focus and concentration. I usually take these before a tennis match.

I am happy to say that I was able to work productively and creatively for the whole day without having to go through a pot of coffee. I took a break every 90 minutes to refresh the creativity centers of my brain.

Although we originally created healthy supplements for the brain for better sports achievement, we are now encouraging its use for work, and for any long stretches where you need focus and energy. And it makes sense that these products would work for working. After all, the brain consumes an enormous amount of calories to operate.

I read a great post over on Kathy Sierra’s Passionate Users blog April 17, about how negative people are bad for your brain. It’s worth the read.

An interesting section in the post cites research about "mirror neurons." Evidently the old saying "monkey see, monkey do" has scientific relevance. We learn from seeing other people, then copying them. As a survival tool, this served us well, back in the day.

It does not serve us well when we are around angry, negative people. Sometimes our brains pick up on things best left not repeated or mirrored. This resonates with the research in organizations that shows emotions are contagious, and the mood of the leader permeates the culture of the group.

When’s the last time you became aware, as your mood was changing, that you might have picked up some ‘bad vibes’ in your environment?

Well, sometimes we generate our own bad moods ourselves, and the only negative person around is…ourself! Just remember, you can spread positivity just as easily as negativity, and it’s a lot more fun.

This post comes from Robert Krakoff, founder of Mind-FX.com, based on the book, Making a Good Brain Great, by Daniel Amen.

If you want a healthy brain stay away from caffeine. Large doses of caffeine constricts blood flow to the brain and many other organs. A little caffeine a day is probably not a problem, but more than a cup or two can certainly be trouble.

New coffee shops seem to spring up on every street corner every day, selling highly caffeinated drinks full of sugar and fat. As a society we are going from one to two cups a day to one or two cups three or four times a day.

Understanding the drug’s actions will help understand why we consume so much caffeine and why we should significantly curb our use.

Adenosine, a chemical in the brain that causes drowsiness by slowing down nerve cell activity, is a key to understanding caffeine addiction. When we are tired adenosine triggers the brain to slow down so we will go to sleep and naturally rejuvenate brain function. The purpose of sleep is to replenish certain chemicals in the brain to help with efficient nerve cell firing. Adenosine tells us when we need to sleep.

Caffeine blocks the effects of adenosine by occupying the adenosine receptor sites and preventing the brain from seeing it. So even if you are tired and are in need of sleep to rejuvenate your brain chemistry, caffeine tricks the brain into thinking it is wide awake.

We are a sleep deprived nation and caffeine addiction is a leading cause. Caffeine, a stimulant, causes the release of adrenalin from the adrenal glands, putting the body into a fight-or-flight mode, where the pupils dilate, the heart beats faster, blood vessels on the skin surface constrict to slow blood flow from cuts and also increase blood flow to muscles … blood pressure rises, blood blow to the stomach slows, the liver releases sugar into the bloodstream for extra energy, and muscles tighten up, ready for action. Caffeine puts us in a ready state for trouble.

Read the rest of this entry »

Here’s some irony: People are loving coffee and other caffienated beverages, yet we are a nation of stressed out individuals. The new energy drinks are really jolting us. Caffeine…stress…caffeine…anxiety…could there be some connection?

You see people in Starbucks, working excitedly on their laptops, or conversing with high animation. Love that coffee buzz. You see energy drinks sold everywhere, 7-11s and supermarkets alike.

Forty years ago, people were loving martinis; thirty years ago it was pot, twenty years ago valium, and throughout history we’ve had a love affair with beer and wine. There was a time when doctors freely dispensed diet pills. Then lately there’s been a period of Prozac, Paxil, and anti-anxiety meds. Just because we accept something and it becomes popular, doesn’t mean it isn’t harmful in the long term.

This is nothing new. As soon as we feel down, we want up. Then we want down again. Caffeine has enjoyed a long history of acceptability, mainly because too much of it really doesn’t feel good. Nothing worse than an overdose of it.

But what about the slow-drip technique of a little caffeine all day long? There is no addiction per se, and no overdose here, no bad side-effects…or at least we think not. What are the long term effects on our brains? We already know that long term stimulants on the heart have long-lasting deleterious effects.

For sure, the brain habituates and continues working the way we want it too even after a drug is withheld. I think people are actually adrenalin junkies, and coffee is just a way of jump starting that whole process. The adrenalin pumping does the rest.

Here’s an interesting report on the caffeine content of popular beverages.

Download caffeine_jolt.doc

What do you think about this issue? Hit the comment link below and reply.

 
An Effortless Effort (Wu-wei)
Posted by Zack Lynch at Corante Brain Waves Blog

We all work hard at what we do, yet some of us seem to be continually moving forward with amazing ease while others appear to be fighting a daily grind. I am always searching for tools, ways to look at reality, through which I can obtain a higher level of continuous contentment in my never ending life-work.

One perspective I’ve been working with lately comes from the Taoist concept of "effortless effort." A short piece Fortune magazine last week summed it up amazingly well:

Wu-wei (the state of effortless effort) describes a state in which the world seems to be working for us. We feel calm yet alert, focused yet receptive, drawing force from the storm while standing in its eye. Like the marathoner who feels pulled forward, we accomplish the most with the minimum of energy. In this state hard work does not feel like hard labor. Nor does it feel like play.

It feels a lot like the Aristotelian concept of doing. Edison and his researchers felt it at Menlo Park. They didn’t get much sleep, but many would later look back at the periods as the happiest of their lives. "There is no substitute for hard work," Edison said. And indeed, we go rotten without it.

For me, this state of Wu-Wei is when we are "in the zone," whether during sports, work, or just living life. If only we could get the formula right, and package it, we’d have another healthy product to sell at Mind-FX Science!

For now, our NeuroCharge supplement is about the closest we’ve come to finding a way to artificially stimulate the brain towards wu-wei, or "the zone." Not to be getting up on my selling soap box, but two NeuroCharge 1/2 hour before a tennis match works for me.