What learning something new does for your brain health, according to experts

Learning Japanese for fun. Doing the Sunday crossword puzzle for the first time at 30. Taking a ceramics class. Mastering petit point. Joining a book club. What do these activities have in common? They challenge you in new ways, potentially adding years to your brain health.

According to neuroscientists, challenging your brain in novel ways helps with the formation of new neurons—even the ones you feared you’d lost in your reckless twenties. In the book The Atomic Brain, author and researcher Beatriz Larrea explains that the brain can regenerate, and that a stimulating environment favours neurogenesis, or the creation of new neurons. She cites research published in The Lancet showing that cognitive challenge works like a pension plan for the mind: the more stimulation you accumulate over the years, through education or work, the lower the risk of dementia. Conversely, retirement can accelerate cognitive decline by up to 40%, largely due to inactivity. Which is why Larrea insists on curiosity—the habit of learning something new—as the most powerful trigger for keeping the brain alive and adaptive.

Learning and neuroplasticity

“Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to adapt, change, and reorganise itself throughout life,” explains Dr Amaya Manrique of The Beauty Concept in Madrid. “Our neurons can form new connections, strengthen existing ones or even create alternative pathways.”

Our brains form new connections and pathways when we learn something new. “The more you use a pathway, the stronger and faster it becomes. But stop using a pathway and it can disappear, favouring or creating new roads to get to the same pathways,” she explains. “Starting any activity from scratch, with the curiosity of a child, can help our brains create new pathways.”

The state of flow

Think of all those times you’ve started a new hobby or developed a new skill at work. You’re motivated and focused. Nothing can distract you. Time feels like it doesn’t exist. This is called the flow state—and not only does it promote neuroplasticity , it also increases feelings of well-being.

“When we find ourselves immersed in an activity that we really like, one that’s challenging enough not to be boring but not so difficult that it’s frustrating, we enter a state of flow,” explains personal development coach Laura G Ortiz de Zárate. “It happens with tasks that make us lose track of time, that produce creative tension, and in which we have a high level of productivity.”

When this happens, stress disappears because the motivation, enjoyment, and focus required to learn something new but not frustrating generate dopamine, the feel-good hormone related to pleasure, motivation and reward.

A treatment to stimulate brain plasticity

Although good habits—sleep, nutrition, stress management—are fundamental to brain health, some modern treatments can also be used to stimulate the brain. One example: Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS), a non-invasive treatment that “uses magnetic pulses to stimulate the specific areas of the brain that are involved in emotional regulation, cognitive function and self-control.”

Generally, TMS ExoMind sessions are around 25 minutes and are performed by applying a magnetic pulse-transmitting handpiece to certain points on the head. These pulses activate neurons, encouraging them to communicate better with each other and increasing feelings of relaxation. “This technology helps our brains ‘choose’ pathways that allow us to improve brain function, increase cognitive performance, improve mood, increase energy, alleviate symptoms of depression and anxiety, and potentially, to make better life choices,” explains Manrique, who recommends several sessions to achieve the full effect.

 

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Possible Breakthrough in Alzheimer’s Research: ‘Love Drug’ Oxytocin Found to Reverse Damage in Mice Brains

Scientists are hopeful that their discovery might be a breakthrough in Alzheimer’s research, after experiments with oxytocin showed it might be useful in treating, and maybe even reversing, degenerative disorders.

The research, published on July 20, has revealed for the first time that the chemical oxytocin, also known as the ‘cuddle hormone,’ could have therapeutic benefits for cognitive disorders, including dementia.

Oxytocin is released by the pituitary gland and is known for its role in the female reproductive system and in inducing feelings of love and happiness. It can also can boost learning and memory, scientists found.

The study suggests that signals in the brain that become blocked, leading to dementia, may be able to be unblocked.

Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive disorder in which the nerve cells, or neurons, in the brain and the connections among them degenerate slowly, causing severe memory loss and deterioration in motor skills and communication. One of the main causes is the accumulation of a protein called amyloid beta (Aβ) in clusters around the brain neurons, which hampers their activity and triggers their degeneration.

This deterioration affects a specific trait of the neurons, called “synaptic plasticity”, which is the ability of synapses—where neurons swap signals—to adapt to an increase or decrease in brain activity.

Synaptic plasticity is crucial to the development of learning and cognitive functions in the hippocampus—the area of the brain where new memories are formed and skills are learned.

Love is the drug

When oxytocin was added to the brains of mice, scientists found the signaling abilities increased, which researchers say suggests that oxytocin can reverse the impairment of synaptic plasticity caused by the amyloid beta protein.

Scientists also artificially “blocked” oxytocin receptors in the brain samples from mice to show that the hormone needs these receptors to still be effective in boosting the synapses.

Researchers also found that oxytocin itself does not have any effect on synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus, but it is somehow able to reverse the ill-effects of amyloid beta.

Oxytocin is known to facilitate certain cellular chemical activities that are important in strengthening neuronal signaling and formation of memories.

Professor Akiyoshi Saitoh, who led a team of scientists from Japan at the Tokyo University of Science, says, “This is the first study in the world that has shown that oxytocin can reverse Aβ-induced impairments in the mouse hippocampus.”

“Oxytocin was recently found to be involved in regulating learning and memory performance, but so far, no previous study deals with the effect of oxytocin on Aβ-induced cognitive impairment.”

This is only a first step and further research needs to be carried out in living animals and then humans before sufficient knowledge can be gathered to use oxytocin as a drug for Alzheimer’s, the team said.

But, Prof. Saitoh remains hopeful their new study could be the start of a breakthrough in the treatment of Alzheimer’s.

“At present, there are no sufficiently satisfactory drugs to treat dementia, and new therapies with novel mechanisms of action are desired.

“Our study puts forth the interesting possibility that oxytocin could be a novel therapeutic modality for the treatment of memory loss associated with cognitive disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease.

“We expect that our findings will open up a new pathway to the creation of new drugs for the treatment of dementia caused by Alzheimer’s disease.”

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The Cognitive Benefits of Walnuts

You've likely heard that walnuts are good for the brain, but what exactly does that mean, and do we have any proof of the nut having a beneficial effect on cognition? In this article, we’ll explain the latest scientific findings regarding walnut consumption and help you understand whether or not you should count on walnuts improving your brain health.

Linking Walnuts and Brain Health

Walnuts are certainly among the healthiest varieties of nuts , having impressive heart health benefits and the ability to lower cholesterol and inflammation levels in the body, both of which are known to be good for brain health as well. The nuts are also packed with healthy plant fats, such as omega-3 fats and alpha-linoleic acids, known to benefit memory and cognition, which made researchers question whether daily walnut consumption could have a beneficial effect on cognition.

Since the early 2000s, test tube and animal studies have been conducted that strengthened the connection, with a 2014 study in mice with simulated Alzheimer's disease even establishing that a walnut rich diet can improve memory, learning, and even reduce anxiety levels in the mice with AD.

The first human study regarding the cognitive benefits of walnuts appeared in 2009, and it partly confirmed the hypothesis that walnuts benefit cognition. In the study, 64 college students were recruited and their memory, reasoning, and mood were measured over the course of 8 weeks, during which the participants were divided into 2 groups that were interchangeably given a daily portion of walnuts or a walnut-free diet.

As you can probably tell, the study was quite small and the period during which participants were followed was also short, but even in such as short time and limited sample size, a diet containing walnuts proved effective at improving the participants’ reasoning skills, which prompted new research in the field, with a very compelling and credible recent study finding a surprising link between walnuts and cognitive decline.

Can Walnuts Slow Down Cognitive Decline in Seniors?

The largest study to date investigating the cognitive benefits of walnuts in senior populations was conducted in California and Spain and was recently published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. Known as The Walnuts and Healthy Aging Study, the study looked at the health effects of daily walnut consumption in 708 elders past the age of 60 in Loma Linda, California, United States, and in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain.

For 2 years, half of the participants ate a fixed portion of walnuts every day, while the other half abstained from these nuts completely. After that period, the participants' memory was accessed, and a subsequent fMRI brain scan was conducted to check whether any reduction in cognitive decline was observed in the participants that showed the most improvement.

In healthy individuals who were at a lower risk of cognitive decline, researchers didn't observe any changes in memory performance, but the subgroup that was at a higher risk of cognitive problems, e.g. smokers, a diet rich in walnuts alone managed to slow down the progression of cognitive decline. Though these results may not seem stellar, they are still quite impressive, as the addition of just one food managed to reduce the progression of disease in the group that requires the extra boost the most.

The bottom line is that walnuts seem to benefit brain health, but at present, we can't reliably say if they have any cognitive boost for people who are healthy overall, at least not in the short term. At the same time, we think that you still add them to your diet for other reasons, such as cardiovascular and digestive health. If you are at a higher risk of cognitive decline, however, adding walnuts into your diet can also help your brain retain its cognitive capabilities for longer.

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Understanding brain activity can predict Alzheimer’s progression

For a person with Alzheimer’s disease, there’s no turning back the clock. By the time a person begins to experience memory loss and other worrisome signs, cognitive decline has already set in. Decades of clinical trials have failed to produce treatments that can help people regain their memory.

Today, researchers at Gladstone Institutes are approaching this devastating disease from a different angle. In a study, they demonstrate that particular patterns of brain activity can predict far in advance whether a young mouse will develop Alzheimer's-like memory deficits in old age. 

“Being able to predict deficits long before they appear could open up new opportunities to design and test interventions that prevent Alzheimer’s in people,” said Gladstone Senior Investigator Yadong Huang, senior author of the study.

 

The new work builds on a 2016 study of mice engineered to carry the gene for apolipoprotein E4 (ApoE4). Carrying the gene is associated with an increased risk – but not a guarantee, of Alzheimer’s disease in humans. As they age, ApoE4 mice often, but not always, develop signs of memory loss similar to those seen in people with Alzheimer’s.

In the previous study, Huang and his team investigated a type of brain activity called sharp-wave ripples (SWRs), which play a direct role in spatial learning and memory formation in mammals.

“SWRs have two important measurable components: abundance and short gamma (SG) power,” said the lead author of the new study. “Broadly, SWR abundance predicts how quickly an ApoE4 mouse can learn and memorize how to get through a maze, and SG power predicts how accurate that memory will be.”

The earlier study revealed that aging ApoE4 mice have lower SWR abundance and weaker SG power than seen in healthy aging mice. Based on those results, Jones and her colleagues hypothesized that measuring SWR activity could predict the severity of demonstrable memory problems in ApoE4 mice during aging.

“We actually successfully replicated this experiment 2 years later with different mice,” said Huang, who is also a professor of Neurology and Pathology at UCSF. “What was striking is that we were able to use the results from the first cohort to predict with high accuracy the extent of learning and memory deficits in the second cohort, based on their SWR activity.”

Even more striking were the unexpected results of the team’s next experiment.

The researchers were curious about how SWR activity evolves over a mouse’s lifetime, which no one had previously investigated. So, they periodically measured SWRs in ApoE4 mice from an early age – long before memory deficits appeared – through middle age, and into old age.

“We thought that, if we got lucky, the SWR measurements we took when the mice were middle-aged might have some predictive relationship to later memory problems,” Jones said.

Surprisingly, the analysis revealed that deficits in SWR abundance and SG power at an early age-predicted which mice performed worse on memory tasks 10 months later – the equivalent of 30 years for a human.

“We were not betting on these results, the idea that young mice with no memory problems already have the seed of what’s going to lead to deficits in old age,” Jones said. “Although we would love to, we thought it would be ridiculous to be able to predict so far in advance.”

Since SWRs are also found in humans, these findings suggest that SWR abundance and SG power could potentially serve as early predictors of Alzheimer’s disease, long before memory problems arise.


As a next step toward evaluating that possibility, Huang will work with colleagues at the UCSF Memory and Aging Center to determine whether SWRs in Alzheimer’s patients show deficits in abundance and SG power similar to those seen in mouse models of the disease.

“A major advantage of this approach is that researchers have recently developed a non-invasive technique for measuring SWRs in people, without implanting electrodes in the brain,” the researcher said.

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Pregnant? A diet with ghee & butter can protect your baby from Alzheimer’s disease

To all the moms to be, here’s some advice: don’t avoid ghee!

The advice given by our elders, especially by our grandparents is not worthless. Rather, it is backed by logic. We all must have seen our grannies suggesting high-fat diets to the pregnant women in the house. Well, scientists have found out the reason behind this.

A study has revealed that a high-fat diet during gestation guards the fetus against changes in the brain that may lead to Alzheimer’s disease later. See how smart our grannies are? Kudos to them!

But before we proceed further, let’s find out what Alzheimer’s exactly is?
Simply put, it’s a form of dementia which ultimately leads to memory loss and other cognitive abilities. The most common symptoms are memory loss, inability to learn new things, problem in writing, reading, calculating, restlessness, anger, depression, hallucination, and inability to combine muscle movements. And there is no cure.

Although the risk of this disease comes in old age, there is no harm in preventive care.

Yes, at an old age this situation can be terrifying. But let’s see what experts have found out.
Recently a study was published and we quote, “In humans, it has been known that individuals whose mothers develop Alzheimer’s disease after the age of 65 are at increased risk of also developing the disease around the same age,” said senior investigator.

Genetic factors transmitted by mothers to their offspring seem like an obvious explanation behind this phenomenon, but so far no genes have been identified that could explain the maternal transmission of Alzheimer’s disease.

To better understand the unique relationship between maternal Alzheimer’s disease and risk in her offspring, researchers looked at maternal fat intake specifically during the gestation period in mice engineered to develop Alzheimer’s disease.

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Pregnant mice were fed a high-fat diet from the beginning until the end of gestation. The moment offspring were born, mothers were switched to a regular diet, which was maintained during the lactation period. Offspring of these mothers were always kept at the same regular or standard diet throughout their life.

At 11 months of age, offspring underwent behavioural tests to assess learning ability and memory. “Surprisingly, we’ve found that animals from mothers fed a high-fat diet during gestation had better learning and memory skills than their counterparts born to mothers fed a regular diet during gestation,” the Dr. said.

The observed improvements in memory and learning were associated with the maintenance of good synaptic integrity. In fact, offspring from mothers exposed to a high-fat diet had significant improvement of synapse function when compared with offspring from mothers on a regular diet. 

Synapses, the places where neurons come together to relay information, play a vital role in learning and memory formation.

If expecting, then don’t hesitate the high-fat intake as it’s not just good for you but for your kid as well.

Why Being Confused Is Absolutely Panic-Inducing for Most Autistics

By Jaime A. Heidel - The Articulate Autistic

I’ve been doing a video series on YouTube for the past six months called,  “Why Autistic People Do That”, and it has been one of the most rewarding projects I’ve ever worked on.  The series happened quite by accident because of (yet another) breakup of a short-term relationship that got me thinking, “I really need to explain, in detail, how autistic brains work because this whole communication gap is a serious problem!”
I’ve received wonderful comments on the series, and I feel I’m helping a lot of people.  Being able to turn my experiences into tangible, helpful content means everything to me.  It’s literally the reason I came to this planet!

My latest video explained why many autistic people get anxious when they become confused.  It got me thinking a lot about where the root cause of that anxiety comes from, which lead me to thinking about meltdowns and why they occur and the extremely unfortunate way society has of teaching anything to its younger people, regardless of neurotype.  

So, why do so many autistic people immediately panic when they become confused?  Allow me to explain.  

A Word About Meltdowns
The most common belief among those who are not autistic is that meltdowns are just an inevitable part of the “package” that is autism.


Well, I disagree.  

It’s a bit more complicated than that.  Yes, people on the spectrum have meltdowns.  This happens when we are completely overwhelmed by sensory stimulation, and an explosion of emotional response occurs in reaction to it.  

Now, they are not inevitable.  However, they are virtually inevitable for an autistic person living in a neuroptypical world whose neurotype is not understood by those around them. 

“Stop Kicking My Chair!”

Do you remember sitting in class trying to pay attention when the jerk kid behind you kept kicking your chair over and over and over again until you finally snapped?  Who got in trouble?  You did, of course!  You were sent to the principal’s office for “flying off the handle” while the bully was left smug and smiling at his desk.  

Now, think about how irritating that was.  This snarky kid kicks your chair, you tell him where to go, you get in trouble.  That type of repeated stimulation would bother just about anyone, regardless of neurotype.  

Basically, for an autistic person living in a neurotypical world, our “chairs” are being kicked all the time!  We are constantly receiving unwanted and uncomfortable stimulation from the neurotypical(NT) world.  Eventually, we can’t take it anymore, and our emotions spill outward into a meltdown.  And, what happens?  We get in trouble for it!
If the kid kicking the chair wasn’t back there being a jerk in the first place, there never would have been an emotional outburst.  Same with the overwhelming stimulation of the NT world. 

Confusion = Anxiety

So, here we are, in an overstimulating world that’s already driving us to distraction, and we’re trying to add learning on top of that.  Yikes!  That’s like trying to memorize multiplication tables while running away from a dinosaur whose sole purpose is to tear you apart limb from limb.  Learning and the fight-or-flight response do not go well together!

As a child, I had a love-hate relationship with learning.  If I could learn something easily, I was all about it and happy to explore it on my own.  However, if somebody was trying to teach me something (especially stuff my brain hated like math, board games, card games, any kind of game that involved multiple steps and coordination), it was torment.  

First, the person would show me, then I would do it wrong.  Then, they would show me again, and I would do it wrong.  Then, they would get frustrated and explain it again, a bit louder this time.  I still didn’t get it, and I would say so.  That’s when the real kick to the gut came.  They didn’t believe me when I said I was confused!

Then, depending on the person, they would either walk away in a huff, be verbally abusive, be physically abusive, or just dismiss me altogether.  This means I learned very early on in life that asking clarifying questions was unacceptable and that being confused put me in danger. 

Learning Through Fear and Intimidation Is Not Learning at All

This brings me to my next and final point.  In my opinion, our society has a very skewed way of teaching.  Our school systems largely teach one way and one way only.  

Children are forced to memorize facts and figures and pass tests, and there’s not much allowing for creative or out-of-the-box thinking.  As a matter of fact, that type of thinking is usually punished in some way, even if that punishment is not direct or aggressive.  (Think dirty looks, being left out of things, etc.)

Studies have proven time and time again that human beings, regardless of neurotype, do not all learn the same way.  Some of us are visual learners, some auditory learners, reading and writing learners, or kinesthetic (hands-on) learners.  

For the autistic person, there may be additional ways of learning that they have designed for themselves to compensate for any learning difficulties they’ve encountered in life.  If these ways of learning are not respected, communication very quickly breaks down on both sides.  

Example: I had a job at an insurance company once, and I took the official handbook and made visual diagrams in my own “language,” so I could understand what I was doing and be productive.  New regulations came into effect and my notebook was taken from me because it was against guidelines.  

My productivity tanked, and if the company hadn’t closed down, I probably would have been fired.  Taking that notebook from me was like somebody had thrown out a book in Braille for a blind person and told them they had to read the guidebook in written letters!
Furthermore, trying to teach an autistic person just one way and then becoming angry and frustrated and accusatory when the person doesn’t understand not only completely negates learning, it makes learning a fearful experience. 

The Post-Traumatic Stress Connection

I have PTSD for various reasons, including lifelong, systematic abuse.  However, I am 100% certain that part of my PTSD comes from being mistreated as a direct result of my confusion and inability to learn the way I was taught.  

I can very clearly remember a time in second grade, going up to the blackboard to do a math problem (which I had no idea how to do), writing some nonsense on the board, and then seeing the teacher’s face slowly contort with rage before she shrieked, “You need to go back to Kindergarten!” 

That image is seared into my brain.  I was never able to learn any type of math without incredible anxiety ever again, and it’s ultimately why I dropped out of college many years ago and stopped tormenting myself to get a degree.  

To summarize, confusion is real.  The thing is, there’s no reason for it to be terrifying.  In and of itself, confusion is not scary, but when it’s coupled with the certainty that one will be looked down on, verbally abused, or ostracized due to their confusion, it can cause instant anxiety, a shutdown, and even a meltdown.  

Learning is not taking place.  There is only fear and the desperate hope to escape the situation as soon as possible.  

So, if you know somebody on the spectrum who becomes immediately anxious, defensive, or angry when they are confused, they were most likely tormented because of their inability to learn the way they were taught.  

Please believe us when we tell you we don’t understand something.  If the way you’re teaching isn’t working, don’t continue to repeat yourself in an increasingly intimidating manner.  Change your tactic.  

If you feel you can’t teach someone on the spectrum (or anyone, for that matter) in a calm and collected manner, don’t teach them.  Find someone else who may be able to take a different approach.  

Learning should not be a fearful experience.  However, since it was for most of us growing up, please understand our responses.  There really is a bully kicking our chair, and he’s been there the whole time.  You just haven’t been able to see him until now. 

THIS IS ONLY FOR INFORMATION, ALWAYS CONSULT YOU PHYSICIAN BEFORE HAVING ANY PARTICULAR FOOD/ MEDICATION/EXERCISE/OTHER REMEDIES.                                    PS- THOSE INTERESTED IN RECIPES ARE FREE TO  VIEW MY BLOG-                                                                                           https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com/                                                                                                                                                FOR INFO ABOUT KNEE REPLACEMENT, YOU CAN VIEW MY BLOG-                                                  https:// kneereplacement-stickclub.blogspot.com/                                                                      FOR CROCHET DESIGNS                                                                                                                                                                                     https://gscrochetdesigns.blogspot.com