One study’s lead investigator claims that positive age beliefs can improve cognitive performance, boost cognition-related self-confidence, and lessen the stress caused by cognitive challenges. According to the study, elder MCI patients who believed they would age well were 30% more likely to regain normal cognition than those who did not.

However, not everyone with MCI develops dementia or Alzheimer’s disease, although MCI is a condition that raises the risk of these disorders. Positive age attitudes can, therefore, be a helpful tool in lowering the likelihood of cognitive impairment in older MCI patients.

Overall, the research shows that encouraging positive age views may be a useful tactic for enhancing cognitive recovery in older people with MCI.

Age-related cognitive decline may damage a person’s memory and ability to think clearly. One element that can contribute to elderly people’s cognitive impairment is stress. Particularly, long-term stress can alter the brain, impair memory, and raise the risk of dementia, like Alzheimer’s. According to studies, stress has a cumulative effect on cognitive aging and can impair cognitive functioning in young adults before leading to cognitive impairment in older adults.

Losing a loved one, having too much free time, a change in the way they interact with their children, or losing physical abilities like eyesight, hearing, balance, or mobility are among the stressors that commonly impact seniors. Stress, therefore, plays a key role in our brain’s functioning and cognitive decline.

Prolonged stress can reduce the hippocampus’s dendritic complexity and cell renewal, which can both have an impact on memory. Psychological affective factors, including stress, anxiety, and depression, hasten the decrease in cognition and sensorimotor function in the elderly.

Seniors can do a variety of things to control their stress and strengthen their resilience to difficult circumstances, though. For instance, they have proven that consistent exercise helps with cognitive performance and reduces stress. Playing musical instruments, visiting museums, reading books and publications, and playing board games can all help lower the risk of cognitive deterioration.

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is the stage that occurs between the normal aging-related decrease in memory and thinking and the more severe dementia-related decline. MCI sufferers could know their memory or other mental abilities have “slipped”. As a result, it’s crucial for seniors who are suffering from cognitive decline to consult a doctor in order to get a proper diagnosis and therapy.

Cognitive decline can be addressed if we recognize it, take steps to reduce our stress levels, and engage in activities that enhance cognition. All is not hopeless, and we are not helpless, but we must play an active role in working toward keeping our mental faculties as sharp as they can be as we age.

The post Preserve Your Mind With a Positive Belief System and Reduced Stress appeared first on Medika Life.

• Eating a healthy diet
• Getting cognitive activity
• Engaging in physical activity
• Not smoking
• Avoiding alcohol
• Having social contact

These lifestyle factors appear beneficial, irrespective of whether a person has APOE4, a gene that may increase dementia risk.

The research study authors note that “memory continuously declines as people age,” but age-related memory loss is not necessarily an early symptom (prodrome) predictive of dementia. Some memory loss is reversible or can be rendered stable rather than progressing to a pathologic state.

Today, we explore six important lifestyle maneuvers to lower the risk of cognitive decline among older adults.

“Our memory is a more perfect world than the universe: it gives back life to those who no longer exist.”
― Guy de Maupassant

Six health habits and memory support

Numerous factors influence memory, including aging, chronic diseases, APOE4 genotype, and lifestyle patterns. Let’s look at the last, a potentially modifiable risk factor for memory loss.

Many historical studies did not consider the interaction between a healthy lifestyle and genetic risk. In this context, researchers did a longitudinal study: The China Cognition and Aging Study considered genetic risk and lifestyle factors.

The study included over 29,000 individuals with an average age of 72 years. Only half were women, and 20 percent of the population carried the APOE4 gene.

Each participant did a Mini-Mental State Examination to assess global cognitive function. Participants completed the World Health Organization/University of California-Los Angeles Auditory Verbal Learning Test to assess memory function.

The researchers collected demographic information. Finally, the scientists examined six modifiable lifestyle factors:

1. Physical activity (weekly frequency and total time)
2. Smoking (current versus former versus never-smoker)
3. Alcohol use (never, occasional, low to excess, and heavy)
4. Diet (daily consumption of 12 food items, including fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, dairy, salt, oil, eggs, cereals, legumes, nuts, and tea)
5. Cognitive activity (reading, writing, playing cards, mahjong, or other games)
6. Social contact (meeting participation, attending parties, visiting friends or relatives, chatting online, or traveling).

The researchers scored the subjects’ lifestyles based on the number of health factors in which they engaged. They regarded those with four to six healthy habits as “favorable.” Those with two or three healthy factors were “average.” Finally, researchers scored those with only one healthy factor as “unfavorable.”

“I can only note that the past is beautiful because one never realises an emotion at the time. It expands later; thus, we don’t have complete emotions about the present, only about the past.”
― Virginia Woolf

Six health habits and memory support — Study results

Here are the results during the ten-year study period:

• Seven thousand one hundred sixty-four died, and 3567 stopped participating.
• A healthy diet offered the strongest protective effect on memory.
• Those in the good and average groups exhibited slower memory decline with age than those in the unfavorable group.

APOE4 gene carriers and memory decline

Memory loss happened faster in APOE4 carriers (versus non-carriers). However, APOE4 carriers with favorable and average lifestyles had slower memory drops than those with unfavorable lifestyles. Researchers discovered similar findings in non-APOE4 carriers.

Individuals with a favorable or average lifestyle were almost 90 percent and 30 percent, respectively, to develop dementia or mild cognitive impairment than those with an unfavorable lifestyle.

Those with favorable or average lifestyles appeared to be 90 and 30 percent less likely to develop dementia or MCI than those with unfavorable lifestyles.

Six health habits and memory support — My take

The study has a major limitation — it is observational and does not establish a cause-and-effect relationship. Perhaps people with better cognitive function are more likely to be social or travel, read, write, or play challenging games.

Moreover, some participants didn’t return for follow-up, creating potential selection bias. Finally, the differences in memory retention between the groups appeared small.

Nevertheless, the study offers hints as to how we might try to reduce our chances of suffering from cognitive decline, whether we have the APOE4 allele or not. I wish the research also included information about poor sleep hygiene, a lifestyle characteristic associated with memory decline.

The post Six Health Habits to Slow Memory Decline appeared first on Medika Life.

The condition is often progressive, rendering it challenging for those with dementia to interact and communicate with those around them; social engagement can be remarkably challenging. This problem can strain relationships between individuals and those who care for and about them.

Today we briefly explore how music therapy can reduce caregiver distress by improving social interactions for those with dementia.

Dementia and music therapy

While music-based psychosocial interventions may represent effective management tools for behavioral symptoms among those with dementia, there are not many studies looking at music therapy and social engagement.

A recently published study shows that music therapy interventions may improve social interactions between people with dementia and their caregivers.

The new research is a proof-of-concept study evaluating the effectiveness of the so-called Musical Bridges to Memory (MBM) intervention on persons with dementia’s behavioral symptoms, social engagement, and associated caregiver distress.

The researchers recruited individuals with dementia from two memory care facilities. The interventions included active engagement from caregivers.

Researchers used a 12-week intervention called musical bridges to memory (MBM). The intervention included an assessment of musical preferences among the clients and baseline assessments of social behaviors and dementia severity.

Caregivers had training, and participants enjoyed live 45-minute concerts (with breakout sessions after the events). Music therapists encouraged interactions during the concerts and led the breakout sessions.

Researchers performed follow-up assessments, including behavior evaluation, obtaining caregiver feedback, and a neuropsychiatric symptoms questionnaire.

Here are the results:

Among the intervention group, clients exhibited better forms of nonverbal social behaviors (compared to the control group). For example, participants with dementia demonstrated more eye contact with caregivers, interest, focus, and calmness.

Caregivers volunteered that they had lower stress levels regarding symptom management of their loved ones. The caregivers also reported that the program helped them to better connect with their loved ones, improving relationship quality.

This preliminary study needs validation but suggests that music therapy can facilitate social engagement between a person with dementia and their loved ones. The music therapy intervention appears to diminish stress levels in care partners.

I am glad that the researchers included a control group. The study spanned only 12 weeks, so we don’t know the long-term value of the music therapy intervention.

In addition, the study size is relatively small. Finally, the study authors volunteer that the included subjects with dementia did not have high levels of unsociable behaviors such as aggression at baseline. Finally, their study did not assess the success of the intervention based on the cause of the participants’ dementia.

Dementia basics

Among those 65 or older, five million have dementia in the United States. Over 15 million may have the condition by 2060. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia.

Dementia is not a specific disease; rather, it is a general term for conditions with impaired thinking, memory, and decision-making. One has challenges with the activities of daily living.

Is dementia a normal part of aging?

A recent survey showed that nearly half of adults aged 40 and older believe they will likely develop dementia, such as Alzheimer’s disease.

While dementia primarily affects older adults, it is not a part of the normal aging process. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) explains that many older adults live their lives without developing dementia.

Normal aging may include blood vessel stiffening, weakening bones and muscles, and some age-related memory declines. The last may include:

• Word-finding struggles (but remembering the word later)
• Misplacing the car keys on occasion
• Forgetting the name of an acquaintance
• Forgetting some recent events

However, we typically retain old memories, language, knowledge, and experiences built over the years.

Dementia risk factors

Dementia symptoms

The Mayo Clinic (USA) provides guidance about symptoms that may point to dementia.

Cognitive changes

• Memory loss, typically noticed by someone else
• Challenges communicating or finding words
• Challenges with visual and spatial abilities (for example, getting lost while driving)
• Difficulty reasoning or problem-solving
• Challenges handling complex tasks
• Difficulty with planning and organizing
• Challenges with motor functions and coordination
• Confusion and disorientation

Psychological changes

• Personality changes
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Inappropriate behavior
• Paranoia
• Agitation
• Hallucinations

Dementia risk factors

We may conveniently divide dementia risk factors into two categories: Non-modifiable versus potentially modifiable. Let’s take a quick look at both groups.

Non-modifiable risk factors

There are some dementia risk factors over which we have no control. For example, dementia risk rises with age. However, remember that dementia is not a normal part of aging (and can occur in younger folks).

Conditions associated with dementia include Huntington’s disease. This disease is secondary to a genetic mutation that causes cells in the brain and spinal cord to waste away. Symptoms include a severe decline in thinking skills, typically around age 30 or 40.

A traumatic brain injury, for example, from repetitive head trauma, increases dementia risk. Soldiers, football players, or boxers may be at a higher risk.

Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease is a rare brain disorder without known risk factors. The condition may be secondary to deposits of infectious proteins known as prions. Symptoms of this fatal disease typically appear after age 60.

Those with Parkinson’s disease are at a higher risk of developing dementia, a condition known as Parkinson’s disease dementia.

A family history of dementia can elevate your risk. Still, many with a family history never develop symptoms; the reverse is true, too: Many with dementia have no family history. Today, we have tests that can help to determine if you have certain genetic mutations that raise your risk.

Those with Down syndrome have a higher risk of dementia by middle age.

Modifiable risk factors

A recent US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study examined how common eight risk factors were among adults 45 years and older. These risk factors included:

• Sedentary behavior
• High blood pressure (hypertension)
• Obesity
• Diabetes
• Depression
• Smoking
• Hearing loss
• Binge drinking

Drinking This Twice Daily May Increase Your Dementia Risk

WHAT TYPES OF BEVERAGES do you enjoy? I enjoy a single cup of espresso each morning, a mid-morning cup of tea, and…

medium.com.

Here are the disturbing findings of the CDC study looking at dementia risk factors:

• Nearly half had hypertension (high blood pressure) or did not get recommended physical activity levels.
• Adults with cognitive decline are more likely to report at least four factors (34 percent) than those without cognitive decline (13 percent).
• One-third of adults who reported a cognitive decline — worsening confusion or memory loss in the previous year — had at least four risk factors compared with 13 percent of those without cognitive decline.
• Nine percent of adults with no risk factors reported cognitive decline, while 25 percent with at least four risk factors reported a cognitive decline.
• Several modifiable risk factors appeared more common among African American, Hispanic, and American Indian or Alaska Native populations than other races and ethnicities.

Dementia risk reduction — Action plan

The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reminds us of some potential risk-reducing maneuvers:

• Move. Get regular physical activity.
• Maintain a Healthy Weight.
• Manage Blood Sugar if you have diabetes.
• Prevent and Manage High Blood Pressure
• Prevent and Correct Hearing Loss. Please talk to a hearing care professional to manage hearing loss.
• Find Support. If you have depression, please seek help.

Now, the things we should dodge:

• Binge Drinking. If you drink, do so in moderation.
• Avoid smoking. Quitting smoking improves your health and reduces your risk of heart disease, cancer, lung disease, and other smoking-related illnesses.

The Mayo Clinic (USA) has some additions to our action plan:

• Get adequate vitamin D. Some studies suggest that those with good vitamin D levels are more likely to experience dementia. We don’t have enough proof to advocate for supplementation with vitamin D (and vitamin K), but you should aim to get adequate amounts. The Mayo Clinic adds that taking a daily B-complex vitamin and vitamin C also might [emphasis added] help.
• Manage cardiovascular risk factors. Manage high blood pressure (hypertension), high cholesterol, and diabetes. Lose weight if you’re overweight.
• Treat health conditions. See your doctor for the management of depression or anxiety.
• Maintain a healthy diet. A Mediterranean-type diet — rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and omega-3 fatty acids, commonly found in certain fish and nuts — might [emphasis added] promote health and lower your risk of developing dementia. This diet also improves cardiovascular health, which may help lower dementia risk.
• Get adequate sleep. Practice good sleep hygiene. Please talk to your healthcare provider if you snore loudly or have periods where you stop breathing or gasp during sleep.

Thank you for joining me today in this look at music therapy and dementia. Have you had any experience with music therapy?

The post Music Therapy and Dementia — Surprising Findings appeared first on Medika Life.

Worldwide up to 1.5 billion people have hearing loss which may reach 2.5 billion by 2030. Fifty-five million people have dementia, and we are now learning that hearing loss, a factor not considered previously, may play a role in its development.

Research studies have now identified midlife hearing loss as an independent risk factor for dementia, which is involved in 9% of cases of dementia. The question which begs an answer is how could hearing loss be related to dementia, and this is the area where hearing pathology and the amelioration of hearing loss may play significant roles.

Healthcare professionals already saw the effect hearing loss had on the emotional state of their patients. Patients with mild to moderate hearing loss were often depressed and began to seclude themselves, avoiding conversations in groups or settings where music was playing. It decreased their interest in social activities, and, therefore, hearing loss began to affect their physical stability as well. Less interaction often leads to fewer physical activities, which plays a role in physical and emotional health as it also affects the immune system.

Researchers now know that the brain’s memory center, the hippocampus, is also affected by hearing loss. Studies have shown a direct relationship between manipulating auditory information, whether speech, music, environmental, emotional or other sounds, with this prime memory area of the brain.

Hearing involvement in cognitive processing and dementia may be worse than patients realize. In a study that tracked 639 adults for nearly 12 years, Johns Hopkins expert Frank Lin, M.D., Ph.D., and his colleagues found that mild hearing loss doubled dementia risk. Moderate loss tripled risk, and people with a severe hearing impairment were five times more likely to develop dementia.

Hearing loss, therefore, is a formidable challenge in terms of dementia and maintaining cognition. Various brain scanning methods have verified the physical extent to which brain atrophy is affected by hearing loss.

Although hearing loss may come as a function of aging and changes in the hearing mechanism of the ear, we now know that environmental noise can exacerbate this loss and bring on neuropsychiatric outcomes such as memory impairment, a.k.a. dementia. The sources identified as most concerning for noise exposure include traffic noise and other environmental noise-producing factors. This could be most relevant in job situations where noise is constantly present.

Not only does noise affect hearing, but it also affects the central nervous system and the brain, which may increase the risk of stroke, dementia, cognitive decline, neurodevelopmental disorders, depression, and anxiety disorder.

The Role of Hearing Aids

The question of hearing loss and its relationship to dementia also brings into consideration another question; would treatment with hearing aids be helpful in either delaying dementia or in reversing some forms of it? Previously, studies that attempted to measure cognitive outcomes when hearing interventions were provided have been short-lived because of the general population’s lack of hearing aid use or compliance.

Hearing aids have been out of the financial reach of many (costing between $4-$6K) or have been unsuitable because of their design or effects on environmental sounds; we have little evidence to go on. Now, however, that the FDA has agreed to the provision of selling over-the-counter hearing aids and negating the need for a medical exam or an audiology exam, there may be noticeable changes in the hearing-loss population.

The difficulties, however, still exist because many will find the units out of reach for them because of pricing. Still, we hope that competition and technological developments and innovations will make them available to the larger population.

Could hearing aids be remediation in some manner and tap into the brain’s ability to change the hippocampal structures destroyed through hearing loss? Biologists know that the brain contains stem cells that might be brought into use through innovative techniques not yet envisioned by researchers but potentially viable in abstraction.

Could these hippocampal cells be prompted to replace sections devoted to cognition that are atrophied by hearing loss? The question is intensely exciting and necessitates research toward that end.

The post Hearing Loss Contributes to Mental Suffering and Dementia Despair appeared first on Medika Life.

Today we learn how that substance — cerebrospinal fluid or CSF — washes in and out of our brain tissues in waves, helping to remove waste products. The cerebrospinal spinal fluid also bathes our brain with proteins or growth factors, facilitating normal development.

Decay theory of memory fading

When we learn something new, we create a neurochemical memory trace. The decay theory posits that our memory fades secondary to the passage of time, with information becoming less available for later retrieval as time goes by; the memory strength simply wears away.

Columbia University (USA) psychologist Edward Thorndike first coined the descriptor “decay theory” in The Psychology of Learning in 1914. Active rehearsal of the information can counteract the memory fading.

Memories fade like old photographs

Why do our memories, like old photographs, fade in quality over time? Not only do our recollections become less accurate over time, but we also experience decreases vibrancy and other visual qualities.

Are you like me? I sometimes have a memory that feels like I am reliving the moment. On other occasions, the details are remarkably fuzzy. An example of the former? After I had an emotionally significant event, getting engaged at New York’s Rainbow Room at Rockefeller Center, I have a good recall of the event, but everything has faded in my mind.

As events are forgotten or stored in memory, Boston College researchers wondered how their visual features evolve? Study participants reported changes in their memories akin to using a filter to edit a photograph on Instagram.

The researchers went a step further, inquiring if forgetting is similar to applying a filter to our experiences and whether the emotional significance of the event would change which filter we apply.

Here are the findings, as detailed by study author Rose Cooper:

“Memories seem to fade literally: people consistently remembered visual scenes as being less vibrant than originally experienced.” She continues, adding, “we had expected that memories would get less accurate after a delay, but we did not expect that there would be this qualitative shift in the way that they remembered them.”

Furthermore, negative emotions study participants experienced when viewing images raised the chances that they would accurately recall the images but did not influence memory fading.

In summary, the researchers discovered that the vibrancy of low-level details — colors and shapes, for example — fades in memory while we keep the general gist of the experience.

The fading appeared less for memories subjectively rated as more robust. Emotional memories did not influence the fading amount but did impact the likelihood with which the subjects remembered an exposure. My Rainbow is recalled, but not vividly.

What drives the memory fading? Do we forget over time, or is new material interfering with new information?

Cerebrospinal fluid basics

Researchers recently reversed memory loss in mice by injecting them with a brain fluid from younger peers. First, let’s take a quick look at that fluid, or cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

The CSF is a body fluid surrounding the brain and cushion in the skull. Maiken Nedergaard and colleagues discovered that cerebrospinal fluid also acts as a lymph system in the brain.

Via a series of elegant experiments analyzing mice brains, the researchers visualized cerebrospinal fluid entering and flowing through the brain, ultimately draining into the same ducts used by the lymphatic system of the rest of the body.

The cerebrospinal fluid clears harmful amyloid-beta from the brain. The substance is associated with Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological conditions. While Nedergaard and co-investigators honed in on this protein, other leftover proteins are likely also removed.

In summary, cerebrospinal (spinal) fluid washes in and out of the crevices of our brains in waves. The process is central to waste removal.

Reversing memory loss in mice

Researchers reversed memory loss by injecting cerebrospinal fluid from younger mice peers.

Using a tiny tube and pump, the scientists infused cerebrospinal fluid from young adult mice into the brains of 18-month-old animals — the equivalent to about 60 years for humans — over seven days.

Imaging revealed higher levels of myelin, a fatty sheath that covers and protects nerve cells from damage. The injections led to practical changes, too: The elderly mice improved at a fear-conditioning task. The refreshed mice remembered a tone, and a flashing light meant a small electric shock was coming.

Growth factors and memory rejuvenation

Growth factors that can restore nerve cell function are the likely agents of memory improvement. Stimulated cells — oligodendrocytes — made more myelin, creating stronger connections between the nerve cells.

Genes normally expressed in oligodendrocytes appeared revved up or upregulated in the old mice who had received cerebrospinal fluid from young mice.

The researchers also found changes in gene expression in a structure important for memory, the hippocampus. The gene Fgf17 decreases activity with age; the CSF infusion restored function.

This research is stunning. With all of the troubles in the world, it is heartening to see brilliant scientists opening doors to a future where we may be able to improve memory. It is also disturbing. I hope we someday don’t go down this road; gene editing sounds much more appealing to me, especially for those with dementia.

Until we get a drug targeting memory in humans, I will continue to focus on a healthy diet, adequate sleep, regular physical activity, limiting alcohol consumption, and challenging my brain with activities such as my new Haydn Piano Sonatas.

The post Can We Reverse Memory Loss with Brain Liquid From Younger Folks? appeared first on Medika Life.

STRESS CAN PLAY HAVOC WITH YOUR BRAIN HEALTH. Today we explore how you can walk away from stress and other means to calm your brain.

One of the best stress-busters is one of the easiest for many of us: Put one foot in front of the other and walk.

Other negative contributants to cognitive well-being include too much sitting, lack of socializing, and inadequate sleep. Fortunately, we can often change our lifestyles to optimize our brain’s well-being.

Chronic stress and health

Do you ever get forgetful or feel disorganized in times of stress? I know that I have had this experience. There are these acute negative consequences of stress, but the chronic ones are in our sights today.

Chronic stress may change your brain to affect cognitive functions such as memory. Listen to Dr. Jull Goldstein, Professor of Psychiatry and Medicine at Harvard Medical School:

“Stress affects not only memory and many other brain functions, like mood and anxiety, but also promotes inflammation, which adversely affects heart health.”

Acute stress, memory, and cognition

Why does stress affect our memory and thinking? Let’s get back to brain basics. Rather than thinking of the brain as one unit, conceive of it as a bunch of disparate parts that perform different tasks.

Dr. Kerry Ressler, chief scientific officer at McLean Hospital and professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, explains that when one part of the brain is engaged, the other parts may not have as much energy to do their assigned tasks.

This explanation makes sense to me. For instance, let’s say you are in an alleyway and fear being the victim of a robbery. Your amygdala, designed to activate our survival instincts, takes charge in a “fight or flight” fashion.

The other brain structures, including ones designed to store memories or perform high-order tasks, have less energy to do their jobs. In survival mode, energy shunts to brain structures that help us to survive the moment. In this context, you would not be surprised that the stress associated with traumatic events can make us forgetful.

Chronic stress and the brain

Did you know that chronic stress can rewire your brain? Dr. Ressler explains that animals that experience stress over long periods have lower activity levels in brain parts designated for performing high-order tasks (for example, the prefrontal cortex).

On the other hand, chronic stress leads to more activity in primitive parts of the brain focused on survival (for example, the amygdala). The brain builds up the parts of the brain that handle threats, while the brain regions dealing with more complex thought become a lower priority.

Stress management

Many of us could do a better job of coping with stress. Here are some tips that may help you better manage your stress (and hopefully dodge some of its brain-damaging effects):

• Try to establish some control over your situation. While stress is not always predictable, it may help to focus on what you do have control over. Having a routine helps me quite a bit.
• Get some sleep. Stress can cause challenges with sleep, and inadequate sleep affects our brain’s higher-function regions.

5 Things You Need to Do to Get Better Sleep, Backed by ScienceA STRONG BIOLOGIC DRIVE regulates sleep, but the ability to fall asleep at your preferred time and to maintain…medium.com

“You must learn to let go. Release the stress. You were never in control anyway.”
― Steve Maraboli, Life, the Truth, and Being Free

• Be flexible with your reactions. When I sense that I am about to get upset, I know that I have no more than a second or two before my brain’s primitive centers kick in. Stop and breathe. That driver that cut you off? Not worth reacting to. Breathe and thank yourself later. This brain hack works wonders for me. Alternatively, repeat some mantra to yourself, such as “I’m okay, I’m okay, I’m okay.” Done quickly, you may keep your mind in the thinking brain rather than the primitive amygdala.
• Change your mindset. We all experience some degree of stress. We need some stress to grow.
• Use lists. The day can seem overwhelming, but I love having my task list. Even better, I love crossing things off.
• Get help if you need it. Early intervention may help you avoid long-term health consequences from chronic stress.

The post How Stress Affects Your Brain appeared first on Medika Life.

We begin with this observation: There is an association between movement and improved cognition in older and younger adults. What remains an open question is whether physical activity prevents cognitive decline and dementia.

I always perk up when I see a study looking at how you and I can improve our cognitive functioning. We’ll be brief today, as the study is small and not groundbreaking.

Exercise and mental function

The University of California, San Diego (USA) researchers enrolled 90 adults, ages 50 to 74, into a clinical trial. The subjects wore devices to measure physical activity levels and completed cognition tests at home.

The findings: The participants demonstrated better thinking on the days with higher physical activity.

The relationship between exercise and brain function appeared linear: The more physical activity, the better the scores on cognition tests. This relationship remained after researchers controlled for age, sex, education, race, and ethnicity.

Here’s the rub: The association between physical activity and mental function only appeared for those who relied on others to do day-to-day tasks (for example, bill-paying or household management).

We are functionally independent get more brain stimulation through our daily lives. Therefore, physical activity may have less of an impact on mental functioning. In addition, the study does not examine the long-term effects of physical activity on the brain.

I am pleased that physical activity improves cognitive functioning, at least in the short term. Take that walk today, and your brain will thank you.

The post Your Brain Benefits From Walking appeared first on Medika Life.

Twenty minutes of physical activity on a treadmill improved attention, action monitoring, and inhibitory control (more on that in a bit). The benefits accrued to both anxious and non-anxious individuals.

Today we explore the research investigation “The effect of acute exercise for reducing cognitive alterations associated with individuals high in anxiety.” First, though, let’s look at some of the other known benefits of physical activity and exercise.

Exercise benefits

Physical activity has many upsides, ranging from muscle preservation to cardiovascular health optimization. Exercise,,, and you are more likely to avoid premature death and dodge chronic diseases such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. While there are some risks associated with exercise, the benefits outweigh the risks for most individuals.

While we lack high-quality randomized clinical trials of exercise for the prevention of early death in a healthy population, there is an abundance of observational studies suggesting this:

Regular exercise drops the risk of mortality for most men and women, younger and older individuals, and those with high blood pressure.

Do you exercise? The drops in risk are associated with recreational and non-recreational physical activity and are observed in countries of varying income levels.

While the benefits of exercise have some dose dependency, even so-called weekend warriors get improvements in cancer death risk, heart health, and early death compared with sedentary individuals.

Somewhat surprisingly to me, doses of moderate-intensity physical activity greater than 100 minutes daily for healthy individuals are not associated with additional drops in mortality rates.

Exercise and cognition

I have written about my approaches to optimizing my mental functioning:How I Keep My Brain Ridiculously FitPHYSICAL ACTIVITY, adequate sleep, flavonoids (more about that in a bit), and more. These are essential elements for me…medium.com

Today, we focus on exercise and its association with improvements in cognitive functioning. First, an aside about how exercise may be working its magic — among other things, regular physical activity:

• stimulates physiological changes that reduce inflammation and insulin resistance;
• promotes the growth of new blood vessels in the brain;
• improves the number and overall health of our brain cells.

Study authors Dr. Matthew Pontifex and his team aimed to see how exercise might help with anxiety-related cognitive impairments. Anxiety affects attentional resources, impairing attentional control.

Here’s what they did: Researchers conducted a brain imaging study to see how exercise impacts students’ performances on an inhibitory control task. They compared the reactions of anxious and non-anxious participants.

The study included 37 college-aged women with generalized anxiety (high anxiety group) and 33 who fell below the cut-off for generalized anxiety (low anxiety).

All participants did two lab sessions on two separate days. For one of the sessions, participants completed the Eriksen flanker task before and after 20 minutes of moderate exercise on a treadmill. Individuals did no exercise for the other lab session but completed the inhibitory control task before and after 20 minutes of sitting.

What is the inhibitory control task? The test required participants to avoid responding to irrelevant stimuli. As the subjects performed the task, researchers recorded brain activity using electroencephalography (EEG), a process that involves leads placed on the scalp to measure brain electrical activity.

Here are the results in a nutshell:

Exercise offered cognitive benefits for both anxious and non-anxious people.

The study authors acknowledge that more research is needed to explore how exercise type, duration, and intensity influence cognition. Other forms of exercise may be better for acute bouts of anxiety among the highly anxious.

My takeaway? Move and you will likely reap both physical and psychological benefits. Join a friend to walk around your block, get out in the garden, take the stairs, park far away from your grocery store.

The post Use Exercise to Improve Cognition appeared first on Medika Life.

Clinical brain mapping screenings of former NFL players who suffer from cognitive deficits provide supportive data that PrimeMyBody’s FOCUS Mind & Body Hemp Extract improved brain performance for 80 percent of screening participants

Date of Release: Sept. 11, 2020

DALLAS /PRNewswire/ — DMG, PrimeMyBody.com, LLC (“PrimeMyBody”), a global leader in the hemp wellness industry, has released validated data from brain screenings that prove its proprietary FOCUS Mind & Body Hemp Extract improved brain and cognition performance for former NFL players who suffer from cognitive deficits and mental discomfort.

The PrimeMyBody Former Player Study included 70-plus former NFL player participants like Hall of Famers Willie Roaf and Andre Reed. Other participants included three-time All-Pro Everson Walls, Rocket Ismail, Darren McFadden, and Lorenzo Lynch.

On the effects FOCUS have on him, Willie Roaf says, “I could tell the first time I took FOCUS I felt more alert, more honed in and zoned in. I was psyched to feel the effects, and to see the data that showed FOCUS was boosting my alertness and brain activity. I now take it daily, and I’m more active, my daily routine is a lot better, and I’m feeling better all around. I notice a huge difference in how I feel and move when I don’t take it, compared to when I take it every day.”

Hear more stories from former NFL players about the cognitive and quality of life benefits FOCUS has provided them by visiting https://youtu.be/04VAAK9Cuag

The Former Player Study was coordinated by retired NFL players and brain health advocates, Brian Jones and Kenyon Rasheed, and screenings were conducted by PrimeMyBody’s Chief Medical Advisor, Dr. Cheng Ruan. The study used qEEG brain mapping technology to test the effects FOCUS had on the brain activity of former NFL players who suffer from a variety of cognitive issues following years of playing a violent sport. Following analysis of the screenings, statistically significant data supports positive results for cognition process improvements in 80 percent of the 70-plus screening participants. Cognition process improvements included attention (theta/beta ratios), information processing, and visual response time. For complete screening details and data results visit https://bit.ly/PMBScience.

“We were hopeful this would be a real solution to assist with various ailments affecting our brotherhood of former players, while simultaneously showcasing PrimeMyBody’s ability to accomplish successful, meaningful brain mapping examinations using their innovative hemp products,” says Brian Jones—also a college football analyst for CBS Sports.

Formulated specifically to enhance cognition and mental performance, FOCUS is a broad spectrum hemp extract crafted from organically sourced hemp terpenes and multiple hemp phytocannabinoids, including CBG (Cannabigerol). Using a proprietary liposomal delivery system called Sonicated Nano-Technology™, each drop of FOCUS is formulated for rapid bloodstream absorption and maximum cellular interaction—with particle sizes averaging between 15-30 nanometers.

“What people need to understand is that not all hemp products are the same. Unfortunately, in this industry there’s no standardization process. What we’re doing at PrimeMyBody is creating benefit-specific hemp formulas, like FOCUS, that are third-party tested for quality assurance. This allows us to know the exact effects our formulas have on brain and body health,” adds Dr. Ruan.

About PrimeMyBody
A recognized leader in the national and global hemp wellness industry, PrimeMyBody specializes in premium hemp and plant-based wellness products created from ethically-grown botanical ingredients that are formulated with highly efficient delivery methods. PrimeMyBody’s affiliate marketing business model provides business and compensation opportunities for people who have an interest and passion for sharing and selling PrimeMyBody products. With headquarters in Dallas, PrimeMyBody services e-commerce sales throughout the United States, Japan, and Mexico. Further global operation expansion plans into markets such as Canada, Africa, and the EU are currently underway. Website: Primemybody.com.

Media Contact:
Chris Fleck
chris@primemybody.com

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