Mind360 Blog

Why fight back when you can play back? Indeed, with Alzheimer’s disease making the news headlines more frequently (a no-brainer considering this terrible disease is claiming so many victims), increasingly more organizations are coming up with new ways to supposedly combat memory-loss problems.

Which methods actually help slow down or prevent the onset of memory loss is widely contested, unsurprisingly, though time will certainly tell which ones do indeed have any positive effects.

New Alzheimer’s Diagnosis Every 70 Seconds

According to The Alzheimer’s Association’s latest report, “5.3 million Americans are living with [Alzheimer’s] today, which translates into a new case of Alzheimer’s every 70 seconds. And as the oldest baby boomers are due to reach age 65 over the next two years, that rate will balloon by midcentury, so that someone will develop Alzheimer’s disease every 33 seconds.”

Read the entire article:

10 Things You Should Know About Alzheimer’s Disease

Strength in Numbers

While the general public is understandably skeptical about the various memory improvement games on the market - and other remedies claiming to stave off memory loss and other cognitive abilities - the number of new science-based enterprises entering the brain improvement game, like Mind360, is certainly a reason for hope.

Steve Daitch is the Social Media Manager at Mind360.com - a leading scientific brain training games developer for boosting your memory, attention, executive functions, reasoning, and other key cognitive skills. As a Mind360 visitor you simply select your own Personal Training Program, which comes complete with a personal coach and constant feedback to ensure your swift and visible progress.

Check out this week’s leading cognitive science news item:

According to the Los Angeles Times, “researchers have long noted that most depressives have a wide range of other cognitive problems: They often have trouble concentrating, they frequently fail to pick up on social cues - such as facial expressions - that don’t conform with their negative thoughts, and their memories sometimes seem full of holes.”

The study conducted by researchers at Columbia University also determined that on average, people with a family history of depression appear to have brains that are 28 percent thinner in the right cortex (the brain’s outermost layer) than those individuals with no known family history of the disease. That cortical thinning, claim the researchers, was on a scale similar to that seen in Alzheimer’s and schizophrenia patients.

“These are really impressive anatomical differences,” says Dr. Bradley Peterson, study’s lead author. However, he added that the greater the anatomical differences among patients, on average, the more severe were their symptoms of cognitive impairment.

Helping people improve their cognitive abilities in fun and pleasurable ways is what Mind360.com is all about. Enjoy Mind360’s free brain training games by clicking here.

Read the entire LA Times article.

The mellow elderly

Many elderly people seem sweet and happy, don’t they? Well, it is not your imagination. Science confirms that they are for a very specific reason.

Negative memory reduction

A research project between members of Alberta and Duke Universities reveals that brain activity in older people specifically causes them to remember fewer negative events than younger people. Further, the events they do remember do not seem so bad, or strike as much of a negative emotional reaction as in younger people.

Changes in brain activity

This is because seniors actually use their brains differently than younger people in storing memory, according to the scientist heading the study. Age related changes were discovered in elderly brain activity when participants of an average age of 70 years old were shown images of either neutral or strongly negative events.

Changes in interaction within the brain

The study, just published this month in the December edition of Psychological Science, clarified that there was no structural change in the emotional center of the brain among the different age groups. The emotional reaction in the elderly is altered as a result of changes in how those emotional centers interact with other parts of the brain such as memory.

Less stress

Another related effect is that when elderly people do remember negative events they are clinically proven to tend to view them as less stressful than younger people do. As far as negative images and memories are concerned, research observed a generally lower response in older people.

The older the memory, the better

In other words, it’s true: we don’t just mellow with age, we get happier.

Feeling sluggish even though you been conserving your energy? That’s your brain talking. We all know how important it is to get a good sleep, but new studies continue to show more and more cognitive benefits from regular sleep patterns.

Recent studies have identified sleep as essential for learning a diverse set of new complex tasks, ranging from spatial and visual memory skill acquisition to learning motor sequences.

Studies also indicate that not only is it important to get good sleep before performing a task, but it is essential to get good sleep after learning a task as well. In fact, empirical observations have demonstrated that among test groups of people learning new tasks, those who slept after learning the new task performed the task much better than those who stayed awake over the same time period before performing the task.

In effect, we need to break up our tasks with sleep.

Learning a new task, or preparing for a new task, each requires sleep afterwards. Sleep allows the brain to rest and absorb the new lessons or challenges that have been put before it.

So don’t just wait until you are tired. Nourish your brain with strategically-timed sleep, such as sleeping through the night to let a lesson sink in, or taking a quick nap after task set-ups. Incorporate well-timed sleep into your schedule for optimal brain performance when you are awake.

Reaction time

Reaction time has always been important in daily life. Today it is more than a trendy expression. Science is identifying the specific ways in which brain training can contribute to acceleration of reaction speed, which can help us with daily functioning activities such as driving.

Improve performance

Whatever our cognitive needs and whatever cognitive stage we are in, research reveals that processing speed enables us to perform the daily activities that our lives demand of us more effectively. And the higher the level at which an individual functions, the more success and fulfillment that individual experiences, no matter what age.

Lasting results for all

New research has confirmed that cognitive training of processing speed has a visible positive impact on daily activities of older adults, with reaction speed one of the key benefits. Further, the positive results of training cognitive speed were observed to have at least a two year impact and proved adaptable to all ages and education levels.

The daily grind

Think about all the challenges that come your way during the day, from your workplace to your home to your driving environment: imagine how much more fulfilling these tasks would be if you performed them at maximum efficiency.

Increase happiness

Science has verified that older adults can benefit as much as the general adult population from having their brains trained. Better results give all of us an increased sense of gratification from our individual tasks. And the satisfaction a job well done brings can make us all a whole lot happier.

The Brain Diet

Ok let’s get right to your brain diet. Spices such as turmeric and sage or minor munchies such as walnuts have been proven to be effective brain food. But don’t worry, there are more substantial (and tasty!) forms of brain nutrition.

Entree

First there’s wild salmon (sushi anybody?). Wild salmon is one of the healthiest forms of nutrition across the board for anybody to eat. It is an essential source of Omega 3 fatty acids, as well as a source of non-animal protein, which the brain loves. Salmon improves your brain matter, and reduces your risk of stroke and Alzheimer’s among other things.

Complements

As for drinks and dessert, the cacao bean is loaded with high concentrations of cognitive enhancers. Yes, that means that chocolate is brain food! But before you run out and buy yourself a Snicker’s bar, remember that popular brands of chocolate have all kinds of additives and preservatives which are actually bad for your brain.

Organic chocolate is the good stuff your brain likes, especially minimally processed and fully organic non-alkalized cocoa powder, which you can add to a high protein drink such as soy milk (or just regular low-fat milk for those of you who aren’t so hardcore).

Munchies

If you have the munchies, high cacao percentage chocolate bars of at least 75% cacao content will feed your brain well.

Tea

Your brain also fancies a nice cup of tea, but only tea with stone ground Gyokuru green tea powder.

Berries

The well known akai berry is another source of Omega 3’s.

Blueberries are an even more amazing berry. They have been found by the FDA in a Tufts University study to actually reverse age-related decline, improve short term memory loss, and help reverse age-related loss of balance.

Cup of Joe

Finally, a cup of coffee can also do the trick, but not just any coffee: it’s all in the beans. Fresh ground gently roasted coffee bean powder is great for the brain—even the caffeine! In fact, science has demonstrated that regular coffee consumption will reduce the risk of mental decline and associated diseases such as Dementia and Alzheimer’s.

So there’s your first official brain diet: your brain is now ready to chow down!

Building Memory: A Pro-Active Task

The best thing that can be done to offset the cognitive effects of aging is to pro-actively take steps to improve one’s memory. Exercises are presented herein as techniques for sharpening memory.

Life Begins Anew

Techniques for improving memory are particularly relevant to the many baby boomers currently reaching what used to be retirement age. Today, retirement means new beginnings. Developing one’s memory strength can yield a new level of cognition that enhances the lifestyle not only of baby boomers entering retirement but anyone else at any age.

Techniques

The following is a short list of practical ways to improve memory.

1) Grouping

Rearrangement of large numbers of items into smaller units of logical or artificial (organized) groups.

For example:
332245638 becomes 332-245-638

OR

Items can be rearranged according to organized categories or types: for example, a movie list can be divided into comedies, dramas, and romances, etc.

OR

Spelling is another good variation on grouping, such as taking the first letters or syllables of things one must remember to form new words that spell out the information.

For example:

H.O.M.E.S.: (The 5 Great Lakes: Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, Superior.)
PEWSAGL.: The 7 deadly sins: pride, envy, sloth, avarice, gluttony, lust.
ROY G. BIV: The 7 colors of the visual spectrum:
red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet

2) Attention

Drive out all distractions, especially in the first eleven seconds of learning something new. Minimize environmental interference from music or televison. Block it all out, and create the environment most conducive to paying attention. Your DVD player and stereo will be waiting for you when you are done.

3) Interest

When you learn something new or important, ask questions to stimulate interest. Take part or sides in problems, issues and subjects you are learning about. Form an opinion, find a personal connection, become as impassioned as possible to help remember new facts.

4) Believe in Yourself

In the age of computers, cell phones, and PDA’s, many in our society have become accustomed to assuming that they can no longer remember anything. Well, this is not true. Trust and believe in your ability to remember. The more confident you are in your memory, the better you will remember.

5) Start Right

When you first learn something, concentrate on managing input to ensure accurate retention. Speed of memorization is not as important as accuracy.

6) Effective Selection

When learning something new, concentrate on the most significant elements. If there is a lot of information, instructions, or data being presented, just focus on the information that seems the most important.

If you only feel you can only remember part of what you are learning, focus on the data or details that seem hardest to remember.

7) Background

Questions also serve to build background. The best way to remember something is to find out more about it. Look for associations in the form of common patterns or relationships between the old and the new.

Hold the Course

It may not be easy to apply these techniques, but an honest effort will rapidly turn seemingly undetectable progress into visible results.

Many of you have probably heard that the French propensity for drinking wine has been scientifically proven to reduce heart disease. Well first of all, it’s true. Second of all, that cup of red wine can also help keep Alzheimer’s away, as well as tumors.

A team of researchers at UCLA recently set to work to find out how this could be possible. This is what they discovered: naturally occurring compounds in red wine called polyphenols were clearly observed under microscope blocking the proteins that give rise to toxic plaques that destroy braincells.

For those with existing plaques (sorry, could be anyone, comes with age), polyphenols reduce the toxicity of those plaques, thus reducing the amount of cognitive deterioration that the plaques can otherwise cause.

For those of you who actually don’t like a nice glass of red wine, there are still more options: large quantities of many polyphenols show up in high concentration in tea, nuts, berries and some plants.

Anybody who wants to know more, don’t worry! That same team of doctors is beginning human trials to observe the effects of various forms and quantities of the over 8000 types of polyphenols. The goal is to determine what substances are best for people to consume to battle, prevent, or offset Alzheimer’s. And as soon as they know, you’ll know, because we are going to post immediately. So check back and stay tuned!

The Doctor and Frau
Everyone has heard of Alzheimer’s but how many of you know where it is from? Well, as you have undoubtedly guessed, it started with a guy named Alzheimer. A doctor actually, a German physician named Alois Alzheimer, who first described the condition all the way back in 1906.

The Case
At a scientific meeting in November of that year, Dr. Alzheimer presented the case of “Frau Auguste D.,” a 51-year-old woman brought in by her family to see the doctor.

The Symptoms
Upon examining Frau D, Dr. Alzheimer found that Auguste exhibited symptoms in a unique set of problem areas: she had problems with memory, she displayed acute paranoia in her suspicions that her husband was unfaithful, and she experienced difficulty in both speaking and understanding what was said to her.

The Outcome
Her symptoms worsened steadily, and within a few years she was bedridden. In the Spring of 1906, Frau died. The official cause of death was “overwhelming infection from bedsores and pneumonia.”

The Study
Struck by this unseen combination of symptoms, Dr. Alzheimer obtained the family’s permission to perform an autopsy.

The Findings
What he saw in Frau’s brain amazed him: there was visible, dramatic physical shrinkage, particularly of the cortex, which we now know is the outer layer of our brain that supports memory, thinking, judgment and speech.

Under the Microscope
Upon further examination of Frau’s brain under a microscope, Alzheimer discovered a proliferation of fatty deposits in the small blood vessels of the brain, in between dead and dying brain cells, and surrounded by unrecognizable and clearly abnormal deposits running throughout the interior and exterior of the brain cells.

The Publishing and the Naming
Dr. Alzheimer published his findings the following year in 1907. Three years later, in 1910, psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin, a noted researcher whose work was rooted in naming and classification of brain disorders, proposed that the disease be named after his esteemed colleague Dr. Alzheimer. And so did society’s most well-known aging disease first enter the literature of medical history

Tired of trying to remember where you left your keys? Tired of running behind schedule because you couldn’t find your wallet? Well, the time has come to react fast again, to shake your brain up and use it the way you’re used to. The time has come to play games that will exercise your brain the fun way.

Mind 360: The key to the power of cognition