Tag Archives: healthy brain

May 24, 2023 · 11:13 pm

Dementia study reveals how toxic proteins spread through brain

Fresh insights into the spread of damaging proteins that build up in the brains of people with Alzheimer’s disease could hold the key to stopping the condition progressing, a study says.

Researchers have discovered that synapses, which send essential signals through the brain, are also transporting toxic proteins known as tau around the brain.

Large clumps of the protein tau – called tangles – form in brain cells and are one of the defining features of Alzheimer’s disease. As these tangles spread through the brain during the disease there is a decline in brain function.

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Tagged as Alzheimer's Disease, brain, cognitioin, healthy brain

December 28, 2021 · 11:23 pm

The different types of dementia – Infographic

Everyone over the age of 50 has concerns about their aging brain. I went through it and I know that the concerns are pervasive. Here is an infographic that explains a great deal about your brain.

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Tagged as Alzheimer's Disease, brain, dementia, healthy brain

February 20, 2019 · 12:07 am

Optical illusion tricks brain – Study

I really wanted to reproduce this just because the illusion seemed so cool to me. I don’t know that you can benefit from in any way, but to enjoy it. Follow the directions in the caption – and enjoy.

Summary: Researchers report the same subset of neurons encode actual and illusory flow motion, supporting the concept Jan Purkinje proposed 150 years ago, that “illusions contain visual truth”.Source: SfN.

A study of humans and monkeys published in Journal of Neuroscience has found the same subset of neurons encode actual and illusory complex flow motion. This finding supports, at the level of single neurons, what the Czech scientist Jan Purkinje surmised 150 years ago: “Illusions contain visual truth.”

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Fixate the black dot and move your head towards and away from the image and you should perceive the rings rotating. NeuroscienceNews.com image is credited to Junxiang Luo.

The Pinna-Brelstaff figure is a static image of rings that appear to rotate clockwise as one moves toward and counterclockwise as one moves away from the figure. Having previously identified particular parts of the human brain that represent the Pinna illusion, Junxiang Luo and colleagues at the Institute of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences first confirmed that male rhesus macaques likely perceive the illusion similarly to people.

The researchers then recorded activity from individual neurons in the previously identified brain regions, and discovered cells that signal the illusory motion similarly to actual motion. A delay of about 15 milliseconds enables the brain to register the illusory motion as if it was real.

This study provides new insights into how the brain grapples with the continual mismatch between perception and reality.

Your amazing brain – Infographic

I confess, I am blown away by the brain. I took a course in it from The Great Courses and have published a number of posts on it. The direct connection between physical exercise and the brain never ceases to amaze me. You can check out my Page – Important facts about your brain – (and exercise benefits) to read more.

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Tony

Dim light dims our brains – Study

Regular readers know I do a lot of work on the brain, my brain. Family members have suffered from both Alzheimer’s and dementia. At the age of 78, I want to continue enjoying my life and mental capacity.

Now comes Michigan State University with info on how light affects our mental functioning.

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Spending too much time in dimly lit rooms and offices may actually change the brain’s structure and hurt one’s ability to remember and learn, indicates groundbreaking research by Michigan State University neuroscientists.

The researchers studied the brains of Nile grass rats (which, like humans, are diurnal and sleep at night) after exposing them to dim and bright light for four weeks. The rodents exposed to dim light lost about 30 percent of capacity in the hippocampus, a critical brain region for learning and memory, and performed poorly on a spatial task they had trained on previously.

The rats exposed to bright light, on the other hand, showed significant improvement on the spatial task. Further, when the rodents that had been exposed to dim light were then exposed to bright light for four weeks (after a month-long break), their brain capacity – and performance on the task – recovered fully.

The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is the first to show that changes in environmental light, in a range normally experienced by humans, leads to structural changes in the brain. Americans, on average, spend about 90 percent of their time indoors, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Continue reading →

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Filed under aging brain, Alzheimer's disease, brain, brain damage, brain function, dementia, Healthy brain

Tagged as aging, aging brain, Alzheimer's Disease, brain, brain function, dementia, healthy brain

January 23, 2016 · 12:26 am

You Can Slow Down Brain Drain

Regular readers know that I have a serious interest in brain health as five of my family members have suffered from dementia in general or Alzheimer’s in particular.

Now comes Neuroscience News reporting, “Individuals who participated in high challenge activities like quilting and photography showed enhanced brain activity, according to a new Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience report.

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“One of the greatest challenges associated with the growing numbers of aged adults is how to maintain a healthy aging mind. Taking up a new mental challenge such as digital photography or quilting may help maintain cognitive vitality, say researchers reporting in Restorative Neurology and Neuroscience.”

I would like to add that in my experience attending the Healthy Transitions (over age 55) group talks at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, on the various aspects and challenges of aging, the most popular and avidly attended talks are the ones on Alzheimer’s and brain health. All of us folks over 55 have suffered ‘senior moments’ and are hungry for information on protecting against brain drain. Continue reading →

How to Have a Healthy Brain and Keep It

“It’s increasingly clear that exercise is as good for the brain as it is for the body, The Globe and Mail reported. “You’ll score better on cognitive tests immediately after a moderate workout, and the gains accumulate over weeks of regular exercise. The mechanism is thought to involve a rise in growth-promoting brain chemicals and neurotransmitters, but it’s not clear how much or what type of exercise is most effective.

“To investigate the optimal brain-boosting exercise dose, a University of Kansas study assigned older adults to walk for between zero and 225 minutes a week for 26 weeks. As little as 75 minutes a week was enough to improve scores on a battery of cognitive tests, and there were further gains all the way up to 225 minutes. The overall pattern was that those who made biggest improvements in aerobic fitness also saw the biggest boosts in cognitive scores. Get your body fit, in other words, and the brain will follow.”

It’s great to read this information elsewhere. I have been writing about it for some time. Check out my Page – Important Facts About Your Brain (and Exercise Benefits) to learn more.

Meanwhile, the AARP reported that in a survey of adults over 40, some eight out of 10 believe maintaining or improving brain health is important. Also, more than half, (56 percent) currently engage in activities healthful to the brain, like consuming a healthy diet and getting regular exercise. Continue reading →