Have you ever
wished you could regenerate those brain cells you sacrificed in college?
Do you fear that your aging brain is in a perpetual state of decline?
Medical science is being rewritten to show that we CAN improve the
health of our brain, and that repairing damage is not only possible, it’s something anyone can do.
It is a commonly held misconception that the brain is beyond repair. Even the medical establishment has asserted that once we kill brain cells, they are gone forever. The fact is, the brain can
repair itself, and as science is now proving, there is real benefit to
simple practices that can help keep our brains sharp and elastic
throughout our lifetime.
Rewriting the Story of Brain Health
The field of cognitive
neuroscience is relatively new - only around one hundred years old - so
it’s no surprise that we are constantly arriving at a newer and better
understanding of how the neural circuitry of the human brain supports
overall brain functioning.
For most of those one hundred years, it was believed that once damaged, the brain could
not regenerate. Brain cells were finite, and any loss or injury would
be suffered as a deficiency for the rest of that person’s life. This
created a false belief that the brain is essentially in a perpetual
state of decline.
Although compelling evidence to the contrary was presented as early as 1960,
medical dogma was (and is) slow to change. It wasn’t until the 1980’s
when Fernando Nottebohm’s research at Rockefeller University clearly
indicated that neurogenesis - production of new nerve cells, aka neurons
- was taking place in the adult vertebrate brain.
The
next big step in this scientific evolution would take more than thirty
years. However, the pace of our understanding of how the brain is wired
was about to take a quantum leap.
Our Elastic Brain
The
growth of new neurons in an adult, mammalian brain was first seen in
1992, when scientists isolated neural stem cells from mice in a Petri
dish. This regeneration was then replicated thousands of times in a variety of published studies over the next twenty-five years.
It is now accepted in the medical scientific community that the
adult brain is capable of growing new neurons and glial cells,
something previously disbelieved by the medical establishment. The brain
is now considered to be resilient, pliable - plastic.
The term neuroplasticity
refers to the ability of the brain to “rewire” itself through practice
of a desired skill. It is the combination of new cells and new learning
that creates this magic. When fresh nerve cells are well-stimulated
(i.e., trained through specific learning exercises) they make new
connections. In other words, they become healthy brain cells that
contribute to learning and the development of new skills.
Just like the muscles of the body, when
the brain is well-nourished and stimulated through proper exercise, it
heals and grows. And with proper care and feeding, this amazing brain
regeneration can occur throughout life.
To
help make this a “no-brainer”, GreenMedInfo has compiled a simple list
of ways you can safeguard brain health, stimulate new brain cell growth,
and even heal the brain.
1. Get Lots of Physical Exercise
When
you hear the phrase “train your brain”, you probably don’t think of
lifting weights. Turns out, physical exercise is one of the best things
you can do for your body, and your brain.
The brain benefits of exercise are
two-fold. First, the brain is a voracious consumer of glucose and
oxygen, with no ability to store excess for later use. A continual
supply of these nutrients is needed to maintain optimal functioning.
Physical exercise increases the blood flow to the brain, delivering a boost of fresh
oxygen
and glucose to hungry brain cells. A 2014 study showed that just 30
minutes of moderate cardio was enough to boost cognitive functioning in
adult brains of all ages.
But the benefits don’t stop there. Exercise is believed to stimulate hippocampal
neurogenesis: new cell growth in the region of the brain associated
with long-term memory and emotions. Healthy cell growth in this region
is important to the aging brain, and believed to help prevent cognitive
decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.
2. Use Stress Reduction Techniques
Our modern world runs on stress, so the need to unwind is easy to understand. What you might not be aware of, is just how damaging continual immersion in the fight or flight hormones of stress can be to your brain.
Stress is one of the top factors in age-related cognitive decline.
This makes engaging in regularly scheduled leisure activities not just a
fun thing to do, but an important step towards ensuring optimal brain
health.
You
don’t need to look far to find ways to de-stress. Let your interests
guide you. The key to picking brain-healthy pastimes is to avoid passive
activities like watching TV, and instead choose stimulating hobbies
that engage the brain through patterns, puzzles, and problem-solving.
A 2011 study published in the Journal
of Neuropsychiatry found that activities such as playing games, reading
books, and crafts like quilting and knitting reduced rates of cognitive
impairment by up to 50 percent.
Engaging
with art also ranks high on the list of brain-healthy hobbies. Studies
prove that once again, it’s not enough to be a passive observer. To get
the brain-boost, we must engage.
In a German study reported in the journal PLOS
One, researchers studied two groups: a group who observed art, and a
group that produced art. The study concluded that compared to those who
observed art, the art producers demonstrated increased interactivity
between the frontal and parietal cortices of the brain. This increased
brain connectivity translates to enhanced psychological resilience in
the group of art producers. In other words, their ability to resist the
negative effects of stress improved.
Looking
for a more low-key way to unwind? How about playing beautiful music or
sitting in quiet contemplation? Meditation has been shown to lower blood
pressure, reduce inflammation, and even build resistance to feelings of
anxiety and depression. And while listening to music
may seem like a passive activity, research suggests that the act of
listening to musical patterns facilitates brain neurogenesis.
Both
meditation and listening to music affect the secretion of key hormones
which enhance brain plasticity, thus changing the very way we respond to
stress. Talk about good medicine!
3. Take Strategic Supplements
Turmeric
You
probably know at least one person who raves about the health benefits
of turmeric. This deep, orange root has been used as a panacea for
everything from soothing joint pain and calming inflammation, to
lowering the risk of heart disease. And our awareness of the benefits of
this ancient medicinal herb continues to grow.
Turmeric is an example of a remyelinating compound, which denotes a substance with proven nerve-regenerative effects.
Remyelinating compounds work to repair the protective sheath around the nerve bundle known as myelin,
an area often damaged in autoimmune and vaccine-induced disorders.
Research shows that even small doses of these restorative substances can
produce significant nerve regeneration.
The
Western model of pharmaceutical intervention has created a culture that
seeks to identify and isolate the “active ingredient” of an organic
substance. What this fails to account for is that organic compounds
often work in concert: isolates by themselves may lack a critical key
that another plant element provides.
Cucurmin
is the isolated active ingredient in turmeric, however, new research
shows that another element found in turmeric has magical properties of
its own.
In an exciting study published in the journal Stem Cell Research & Therapy, researchers found that a little-known component within turmeric,
Ar-tumerone, may make "a promising candidate to support regeneration in neurologic disease."
The study found that when brain cells were exposed to ar-tumerone,
neural stem cells increased in number and complexity, indicating a
healing effect was taking place. This effect was replicated in rats, who
when exposed to ar-tumerone saw increased neural stem cell production
and the generation of healthy new brain cells.
Green Tea
A 2014 paper
studying the active compounds in green tea (known as catechins, a main
class of micronutrient), determined that green tea catechins are not
only antioxidant and neuroprotective, they actually stimulate the brain
to produce more neurons.
Because
of this therapeutic effect on damaged regions of the brain, green tea
has been shown to have exciting implications in the treatment of 'incurable' neurodegenerative disorders
such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and Huntington's disease. This
prompted researchers to declare green tea catechins "...a highly useful
complementary approach.." in the treatment of neurodegenerative
diseases.
Further investigation of green tea
examined a combination of blueberry, green tea and carnosine, and found
it to promote growth of new neurons and brain stem cells, in an animal
model of neurodegenerative disease.
Ginkgo Biloba
Ginkgo Biloba is considered a powerhouse in the herbal medicine pharmacopoeia, and its implications for brain health
are equally potent. Ginkgo has demonstrated at least 50 distinct health
benefits, and its medicinal value is documented in the treatment of
more than 100 different diseases.
There are numerous studies
on Ginkgo's ability to stimulate levels of a critical brain protein
called BDNF: brain-derived neurotrophic factor. This protein affects
healing in damaged regions of the brain and is essential in the
regulation, growth and survival of brain cells, making it especially
important for long-term memory.
Ginkgo is so effective that a 2006 paper published in the European
Journal of Neurology found it to be as useful in the treatment of
Alzheimer's disease as the blockbuster drug, Donepezil.
Recently, a new mechanism behind Ginkgo biloba's brain healing properties came to light with the publication of an article
in Cell and Molecular Neurobiology. Researchers determined that Ginkgo
is effective, in part, due to its ability to modulate neural stem cells
(NSC’s) into the type of cell that is necessary in the specific region
of the brain where the BDNF proteins are active.
NSC’s are multipotent cells; they have the amazing ability to shapeshift
into any of the many different phenotypes of cells that make up the
brain. Ginkgo stimulates the growth of the right cell phenotype for the
affected region of the brain, giving our brain exactly what’s needed,
where it’s needed. Now that’s intelligent medicine!
4. Eat Your Veggies
Want to stimulate brain cell regrowth while you’re having lunch? Add some freshly steamed broccoli to your plate!
Science has added a substance called sulforaphane, found in sulfur-rich vegetables such as broccoli, to the growing list of
neuritogenic substances that have been documented to stimulate nerve growth in the brain.
The study,
published in the journal Genesis, reveals that sulforaphane, in
addition to stimulating new nerve growth, has demonstrated significant
healing properties as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent, as
well as preventing disease and death of healthy neurons.
Adding
to the excitement surrounding these findings, researchers observed the
beneficial effect on neural stem cells that results in their
differentiation to specific, useful types of neurons, lending powerful
support to the hypothesis that sulforaphane stimulates brain repair.
Vegetables
containing sulforaphane include broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage,
cauliflower, horseradish, kale, kohlrabi, mustard leaves, radish,
turnips, watercress, and bok choy. For therapeutic benefit, try to
consume at least 3 cups per day, raw or cooked.
5. Employ Continuous Learning
Aging
is often associated with cognitive decline, both in research and
anecdotal evidence. However, a growing body of literature shows that
retaining a sharp, lucid brain means never retiring our critical
thinking skills.
The need to continually challenge and expand our thinking was demonstrated in the aforementioned 2011 study
published in the Journal of Neuropsychiatry. In this study, the leisure
time activities of a group of older adults (ages 70-89) were monitored
for effect on mild cognitive impairment (MCI).
The study determined that the level
of complexity of the activity was key to its effectiveness at
preventing MCI. Working with computers, reading books, and activities
associated with patterns and problem-solving contributed to a
significant decrease in the odds of developing of MCI. Less stimulating
activities showed no statistical effect. This stresses the importance of
feeling challenged and stimulated by the activities we pursue as we
age.
These findings were reinforced by a 2014 study
of nearly 3,000 volunteers, spanning more than a decade. This study
examined the potential long-term benefit of cognitive training in older
adults. Results showed that participants demonstrated enhanced brain
processing speed and reasoning skills for up to ten years after the
training was completed.
These
tangible brain benefits spilled over into daily life and were measured
in the participant’s ability to complete normal daily tasks, such as
personal finances, meal preparation, and personal care routines. Said of
the study, “The idea is, the more stimulating your environment, the
more you’re increasing the complexity of your brain.”
For more information on ways to keep your brain healthy, visit GreenMedInfo’s brain health research database.
