Dr Jenny Brockis

Teenagers with type 2 diabetes show cognitive dysfunction and brain abnormalities.

solutions — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 05:30:42 +0000

Of all the risk factors for dementia and impaired cognitive function, diabetes and obesity have to be the two most important issues that we need to deal with now.
The burgeoning incidence of obesity and diabetes in the community and especially in young people is frightening. These young people are not just at increased risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, and premature death. They have a far greater risk of developing cognitive impairment and dementia as adults.

What were the recent findings?

A study published in the July 30th issue of Diabetologia, reported that MRI brain scans of obese kids with type 2 diabetes show brain abnormalities, and on mental testing reduced cognitive performance. These kids will be functioning less well academically at school.

The study looked at a group of 18 obese adolescents with type 2 diabetes and another group of similarly obese adolescents who hadn’t yet developed significant insulin resistance or type 2 diabetes.
This is the first time that cognitive deficits as a consequence of obesity with diabetes have been shown in this age group. Previous studies have looked at older people where similar abnormal brain findings on scans had been attributed to be the result of vascular disease, rather then a direct effect on the brain by the diabetes itself.

Both groups of adolescents came from similar socio-economic backgrounds and ethnicity.

They were asked to complete some mental tests. The results of group with diabetes were significantly lower in the areas of memory, spelling and overall academic function. They also showed white matter abnormalities on brain scans.

Dealing with insulin resistance may be the key.

The results highlight the urgent need to address both obesity and diabetes. More and larger studies need to be undertaken to verify these findings and to then get government and health professional support so that effective health programs can be developed and implemented to deal with this rising tide of obesity and diabetes. The challenge will be to be able to help kids already diagnosed with insulin resistance, to improve their insulin sensitivity through weight management, healthy eating and exercise.

A separate study published in August, looked at the relationship between insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and the development of plaques in the brain. Brain plaques are associated with the neurodegenerative disease of Alzheimer’s. Insulin resistance has been described as a pre-diabetic state. In insulin resistance, the insulin hormone our body produces is becomes less effective in exerting its effect on helping to lower the blood sugar to normal. This study followed an older population of 135 Japanese subjects aged over 67 years over a period of 10 to 15 years. They underwent several glucose tolerance tests to measure their blood sugar levels and were monitored for symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease over that time. After their deaths their brains were autopsied and it was found that those who had had at least three abnormal glucose tolerance tests had a greater risk of developing plaques in their brain. In other words, having insulin resistance was associated with an increased likelihood of the person developing brain plaques that are commonly found in patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Further studies will now need to be undertaken to see whether insulin resistance is associated as being a cause of this plaque formation.

The real risk of failing to take action now.

If we continue to fail to address the issues society currently has in terms of the level of our overall inactivity, obesity and diabetes then I believe we are setting ourselves up to add to the already significant social and economic burden of increasing rates of dementia we are anticipating over the next few decades.
It won’t just be the baby boomers that are at risk of dementia simply because of their increasing age. We have yet to count the impact of younger people already burdened with the significant health impairment of obesity and diabetes that will be adding to this toll.

References:

P.L. Yau, D.C. Javier, C.M. Ryan, W.H. Tsui, B.A. Ardekani, S. Ten and A. Convit. Preliminary evidence for brain complications in obese adolescents with type two diabetes mellitus. Diabetologica,2010;DOI; 10.1007/s00125-010-1857-y

T.Matsuzaki, K. Sasaki, Y.Tanizaki, J. Hata, K. Fujimi, Y. Matsui, A. Sekita, S.O. Suzuki, S. Kanba, Y. Kiyohara, and T. Iwaki. Insulin resistance is associated with the pathology of Alzheimer’s disease. The Hisayama Study. Neurology,2010;DOI:10.1212/WNL.0b013e3181eee25f

A little ray of sunshine for Parkinson’s Disease: Vitamin D

solutions — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 07:33:12 +0000

A little ray of sunshine for Parkinson’s disease may lie with Vitamin D.

Vitamin D is the vitamin we obtain through the action of ultraviolet light on our skin. Most of the vitamin D produced is then bound in the blood and only a tiny fraction remains free and able to bind to specific vitamin D receptors now known to be located in a number of target organs in the body including the brain.

Not only that, but the area of the brain with the highest density of Vitamin D receptors is in the Substantia Nigra. This is where highly specialized cells produce Dopamine, the brain neurotransmitter vital for regulating our mood, concentration, motivation and voluntary movement.
In Parkinson’s disease many of these highly specialized cells die and the loss of Dopamine manifests itself in the form of tremor, rigidity of movement, slowness of gait and cognitive decline. Plus, thirty percent of people with Parkinson’s disease develop dementia.
It is the second most common neurodegenerative disease in Australia and remains one of the most poorly understood.

So where does Vitamin D fit in with Parkinson’s disease?

The answer to that is not yet certain, but a recently published study has linked having a higher level of Vitamin D with up to a 65% reduction in the risk of developing Parkinson’s.

These results were in a long prospective study by Paul Knekt in Finland. He showed that in a group of 3173 people aged 50 to 79, followed up over a 29 year period, those with a higher level of Vitamin D had a 65% lower risk of developing Parkinson’s compared to those with the lowest levels.

However it should be noted that all of the subjects in this study actually had lower levels of vitamin D than is recommended. This may reflect the fact that Finland is not a country associated with a lot of sun exposure for its residents. So the suggestion is that having a lower level of Vitamin D may be a predisposing factor to an increased risk of Parkinson’s disease. There is no suggestion that having a low level is in fact a cause. The study remains a starting point to determine whether giving Vitamin D as a supplement would be useful.

One of the problems recognized is that Vitamin D deficiency is widespread, even in a sunny country such as Australia. It has been reported that half to two thirds of teenagers and adults in the US have lower than desirable levels. Because it is very difficult to get sufficient Vitamin D through our diet, having adequate sun exposure is essential to help us achieve and maintain a healthy level.

How much time do we need in the sun?

Five to fifteen minutes of sunlight exposure to the face and upper arms, four to six times a week is thought to be sufficient to prevent deficiency.
Those particularly at risk of deficiency here in Australia include the elderly living in residential care and dark skinned women, especially those who are veiled. The use of sunscreen (essential to protect us from skin cancer) unfortunately prevents the synthesis of Vitamin D in the skin. Application of Factor 8 will prevent up to 95% of Vit D conversion, so a short exposure without sunscreen is recommended and outside the high-risk times of 10 am to 3 pm.

Can we get Vitamin D from our food?

We can derive a limited amount of Vitamin D from food sources. However in cases of deficiency taking a supplement would be recommended.

Vitamin D2 can be found in:

Fatty fish such as mackerel, salmon and herring
Fortified margarines
Cod liver oil
Liver
Eggs

The role of Vitamin D in the brain

The association of Vitamin D and Parkinson’s disease is intriguing and as yet not fully explained. It is believed that Vitamin D acts as a hormone rather than a vitamin, in addition to its role in bone metabolism.

Current thinking is that it may exert a neuroprotective effect through its antioxidant properties, calcium regulation of nerve cells, enhanced nerve conduction, detoxification and immunomodulation.

A UK study looked at Vitamin D levels of a group of 858 Italian men and women over the age of 65 years. Of those with dementia, 50% were vitamin D deficient. Moreover, those with the greatest deficiency had a 60% increased risk of suffering cognitive decline over the 6-year follow up period.

The role of Vitamin D relating to Alzheimer’s disease was looked at in a 2008 study where 100 people with Parkinson’s disease were compared to 100 subjects with Alzheimer’s disease and 100 healthy controls. Here the fraction of patients with the lowest levels of Vitamin D was most marked in the Parkinson’s group (23%) compared to the Alzheimer’s group (16%) and healthy group (10%) indicating support for the notion that Vitamin D plays a role in affording some neuroprotection.

Meanwhile it remains prudent to ensure that we obtain adequate sun exposure to keep our Vitamin D levels up. So go on, it’s time to enjoy some time in the sun.

References:
Emory University (2008, October 17). Lack Of Vitamin D Linked To Parkinson’s Disease.
Archives of Neurology [2010] 67 (7) : 808-811 (Knekt P, Kilkkinen A, Rissanen H, Marniemi J, Sääksjärvi K, Heliövaara M.)

Sugar, sugar, too much is bad for your brain and memory.

solutions — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 06:42:39 +0000

Statisticians have been telling us how Western societies are facing a tsunami of people developing dementia and Alzheimer’s over the next couple of decades. This is associated with our ageing population; we are all living longer, so our relative risk of developing dementia rises as well.

What worries me though is the fact that we seem to be ignoring the impact that the dramatic increase in people living with Type 2 diabetes and obesity will have on these figures.

Both diabetes and obesity are known risk factors for dementia.
Adults who develop diabetes before the age of 65 have twice the risk of developing dementia compared to non-diabetics and also have an increased risk of depression.

It is our children that worry me the most. Twenty years ago the number of kids diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes was in the order of 2%. It was an extremely rare condition. Now 30 to 50% of all those diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes are between the ages of 9 and 19 years. Those aged in their thirties, have seen a 70% increase in the number of people diagnosed.
The scary thing also, is that it is known that there are an even greater number of people with undiagnosed diabetes in the general population.

What is Type 2 diabetes?

When we eat a meal, the carbohydrates in it are broken down and released into our blood stream as sugar, leading to an increase in the blood sugar level. This then stimulates the pancreas gland to release insulin hormone which works to restore the blood sugar level back to normal by sending the glucose to tissues that need it for energy, or for storage. If the body is repeatedly overloaded with excess glucose, the body’s ability to respond to the insulin is diminished, leading to a condition called insulin resistance. Increasing amounts of insulin then get produced, but it can no longer exert its effect. This is the condition of Type 2 diabetes where blood sugar levels are consistently too high and associated with elevated insulin levels.

It is distinguished from Type 1 diabetes where the specialised glands in the pancreas are unable to produce insulin.

When are we going to wake up to this risk?

If you have diabetes, you have a higher risk of cognitive decline and dementia.

In a study of 2300 older women aged 70 to 78, non-diabetics on mental testing scored twice as high as diabetics. It was also found that the longer the person had had diabetes, the more poorly she performed.

In another multiethnic, multicenter study of 10,000 people, the results of cognitive tests taken 6 years apart were compared. In the 40 to 70 year age group, diabetes was again linked to greater cognitive decline.

What does diabetes do to the body and brain?

Diabetes affects multiple organs in the body including the blood vessels, heart eyes, brain and kidneys and is insidious in how it gradually erodes cognitive ability. Elevated blood sugar levels contribute to hardening of the arteries, (atherosclerosis) which increases the risk of heart disease and stoke. In the brain, this vascular damage is linked to an increase in small infarcts (injury to small arterioles in the brain) or tiny strokes. Having persistently elevated blood sugar contributes to damage of our brain cells, brain atrophy and cognitive impairment. The loss of brain cells is especially prominent in the area of the hippocampus, the specialised brain area concerned with memory and learning.
Diabetic patients who have developed diabetic retinopathy have been shown to have twice the risk of developing cognitive impairment.

Excess insulin also contributes to the brain damage. It has been discovered that the brain has it’s own insulin receptors. Increased insulin levels have been linked to increased levels of amyloid, the protein associated with plaques found in Alzheimer’s. Excess insulin also has a role in stimulating inflammation, and reducing the levels of acetylcholine an essential neurotransmitter for memory.

But it’s not just diabetics who are at risk of impaired brain function and reduced mental performance. It has been shown that drinking a sugary glucose drink will adversely affect your ability to perform memory tests. So the key is to avoid big swings in blood sugar levels.

Because we know that diabetes is associated with an increase risk of cognitive impairment and dementia, it is vital that the message gets out to all those at risk.

The good news though, is that we know that good lifestyle choices can have a hugely beneficial effect on blood sugar control.

The aim is to

• Keep blood sugar levels in the normal range
• Maintain a healthy body weight
• Eat a nutritious and brain healthy diet low in saturated fat
• Exercise for 30 minutes a day by walking or other moderate intensity activity.

My question to you is this. Can we afford not be taking immediate steps to educating people to fully understand the consequences of “accepting” the recent global increases in obesity and diabetes?

Our sweet tooth is killing our brain.

Refs:
Roberts et al. Association of Duration and Severity of Diabetes Mellitus With Mild Cognitive Impairment. Archives of Neurology, 2008; 65 (8): 1066 DOI: 10.1001/archneur.65.8.1066
University of Southern California (2009, January 28). Getting Diabetes Before 65 More Than Doubles Risk For Alzheimer’s Disease.

Vitamin E rich foods linked to a lower risk of dementia.

solutions — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 01:06:00 +0000

My Dad, who is a retired vet, used to give many of his older canine patients Vitamin E, because he found it seemed to give them a bit more spring in their step and kept them going for longer.

Vitamin E is a powerful antioxidant found in nuts, seeds, eggs, whole grain foods, spinach, avocado, salad dressing and vegetable oils.

The role of Vitamin E in reducing the risk of dementia has been the subject of a number of studies. In the July edition of “Archives of Neurology” the results of a long-term study carried out by the Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, Holland, revealed the effect of four dietary antioxidants on dementia risk. Over 5000 people aged 55+ (who did not have dementia at the onset of the study), were followed for 9+ years. The study focused the intake of Vitamin E and C, beta-carotene and flavonoids.

In a previous study, the Rotterdam group had found that higher dietary intakes of Vitamin E and C were associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia.

The results of this longer term study though, showed that it was those people who consumed the highest amount of Vitamin E that had 25% less risk of developing dementia compared to those who consumed the least. The dietary intakes of Vitamin C, beta-carotene and flavonoids were not associated with changes in dementia risk. This was an unexpected finding, given the previous positive association link found with Vitamin C.

What about the use of Vitamin E as a supplement ?

Many clinicians routinely give their elderly patients high doses of Vitamin E and often in only one form. Vitamin E is actually a family of eight natural compounds and the one most commonly used is alpha–tocopherol.

A Swedish study looked at the levels of all eight natural vitamin E compounds in the blood of over 200 subjects. Here they found that those with the highest blood level of all of the vitamin E family had a reduced risk of developing dementia. This risk was reduced by between 45 to 54% depending on the individual Vitamin E component level.
Dr Mangialasche in this study noted that the protective effect of the vitamin appears to be related to the combination of the different forms, suggesting that it is the balance of the 8 compounds, which may have the most important neuroprotective effect.

Another study also looked at the role of dietary Vitamin E along with a combination of certain other nutrients which have also been associated with a lower risk of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease.

Columbia University NY revealed the results of a four year study of 200 subjects over the age of 65 (none of whom had dementia). They identified several dietary patterns with varying levels of 7 nutrients, previously associated with Alzheimer’s risk. These included saturated fats, monosaturated fats, omega 3 fatty acids, omega 6 fatty acids, Vitamin E, B12 and folate. One pattern in particular was found to be associated with a significantly lower risk of Alzheimer’s and this was noted to include a high intake of the following:

Salad dressing
Nuts
Fish
Tomatoes,
Poultry
Fruits
Cruciferous vegetables
Dark green leafy vegetables

This is pretty much the basis of the Mediterranean diet, which has previously been associated with a lower risk of Alzheimer’s and dementia.

The authors noted that the nutrients in the low risk dietary pattern reflected the multiple pathways in the development of Alzheimer’s disease.

i.e
• Vitamin B12 and folate help to reduce the body’s levels of homocysteine (a risk factor for Alzheimer’s)
• Vitamin E has a potent antioxidant effect
• Fatty acids assist in normal brain cell membrane function.

So where does that leave us now?

It may well be that including a higher amount of vitamin E rich foods in our diet may have a modest effect on reducing dementia risk. Unfortunately we don’t know yet, how much is to be recommended. Meanwhile eating whole foods in a healthy combination diet based on the Mediterranean model is probably the way to go.
Further studies are likely to continue to evaluate dietary intake of antioxidants and how they may modulate the risk of dementia.

References:
American Academy of Neurology (2008, April 17). Vitamin E May Help Alzheimer’s Patients Live Longer.
Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School Of Public Health (2004, January 20). Vitamin Supplement Use May Reduce Effects Of Alzheimer’s Disease.
Francesca Mangialasche, Miia Kivipelto, Patrizia Mecocci, Debora Rizzuto, Katie Palmer, Bengt Winblad, Laura Fratiglioni. High plasma levels of vitamin E forms and reduced Alzheimer’s disease risk in advanced age. Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, 2010
JAMA and Archives Journals (2010, July 13). Eating foods rich in vitamin E associated with lower dementia risk.

Don’t blow a gasket. Keep your blood pressure down to save your brain.

solutions — Sun, 01 Aug 2010 02:13:45 +0000

I was sitting in my GP’s office recently, being told something I didn’t want to hear. My blood pressure was too high and I needed to start medication with antihypertensives.

I didn’t want to have to take medication. I had always planned not to be on anything apart from fish oil and glucosamine supplements until I was at least 90 years old. I consider myself fit. I exercise daily, my weight is normal, I eat healthily, I don’t smoke and I keep an eye on how much wine I drink each week.

But my family history includes hypertension and stroke on both my mother’s and father’s side.
And I do recall a conversation with my obstetrician who was managing my pregnancy-induced hypertension a number of years ago. He said, “Jenny, you are likely to develop hypertension as you get older.” Harrumph. I heard, but didn’t want to listen. But who am I trying to kid?

I have what is called “essential hypertension”. The cause is as yet unknown.
I don’t like it. But I can deal with it and take my pills.
The reason why? Because I value my brain cells too highly not to. As a Doctor my medical training has taught me what the consequences of untreated hypertension are.

Hypertension has been described as a silent killer. You can’t feel if your blood pressure is too high. We rely on readings taken with a sphygmanometer to get an accurate idea of the state of our blood vessels.
The blood pressure reading essentially tells us the peak or systolic pressure our heart has to exert with each contraction to pump the blood around our body. The lower reading or diastolic pressure gives us the resting pressure of the circulatory system in between heartbeats.

If the readings are too high we run the increased risk over a period of time of blood vessel rupture causing a stroke or cerebrovascular accident. Other organs are affected as well, including the kidney, eye and heart. None of which is good news.

So, back to the brain and high blood pressure. Sure it’s good not to be at risk of stroke. But what about the effect of high blood pressure on memory and cognition?

Studies have shown that having high blood pressure can contribute to memory loss and other decline in brain function in people over the age of 45.

In one study of over 19000 participants aged 45 or older, they found that with each 10-point increase in diastolic pressure, the risk of cognitive difficulty increases by 7 points.

But how high is high?
We need to keep our diastolic pressure (the lower of the two reading indicating the pressure of the arterial system at rest) at below 90mmHg.

With around 25-30% of the Australia adult population having high blood pressure I am clearly not alone.
For the vast majority of people like myself we have “essential hypertension” where no specific cause is identified. However having high blood pressure causes problems by causing our arterial walls to thicken and lose their elasticity, leading to reduced blood flow and tissue death.

Having reduced blood flow to your brain becomes an issue when you need it to be working harder. For example when you want to be able to pay attention or work out a solution to a problem, the decrease of available blood flow to your brain leads to fewer brain cells being activated and an increased number of memory lapses happening as a result.

In older people, having high blood pressure can predict who is at risk of developing impaired executive function (organising, planning and decision making) and a greater risk of progressing to dementia. One study of 900 octogenarians showed that high blood pressure was associated with an increased risk of developing dementia when frontal lobe functioning was impaired

Because stroke and TIA are leading causes of risk of cerebrovascular disability followed by dementia, controlling hypertension is a simple and effective way to significantly potentially reduce the incidence of forecasted dementia in this group.

So attending to diagnosing and treating hypertension in midlife would appear to be essential to protect you from developing cognitive impairment further down the track.

If you are over 45 and haven’t had your blood pressure checked for a while, now would be a good time to make an appointment and get it checked by your GP.

If it is too high then some simple lifestyle changes could help:

• Keeping your weight in the healthy range
• Don’t smoke
• Reduce your alcohol consumption.
• Do some regular exercise
• Keeping your cholesterol in the normal range
• Eat less saturated fat.
• Use less salt in your diet.

Hypertension has no symptoms, but is easily managed and keeping it in the normal range could make a big difference to being able to save your brain.

References:
Shahram Oveisgharan; Vladimir Hachinski. Hypertension, Executive Dysfunction, and Progression to Dementia: The Canadian Study of Health and Aging. Arch Neurol, 2010; 67 (2): 187-192

JAMA and Archives Journals (2007, December 12). High Blood Pressure Associated With Risk For Mild Cognitive Impairment.

Radiological Society of North America (2007, November 29). High Blood Pressure May Heighten Effects Of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Why eating eggs for breakfast and skipping the cough medicine is better for your memory.

solutions — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 01:12:03 +0000

I’m sure many of us may have experienced adverse effects on our brain, as a result of taking certain types of medication. The most common ones include some of the older anti-histamines, which, while alleviating symptoms of allergy can make the person taking them really sleepy and tired because they cross the blood-brain barrier.

Having a groggy brain for a day or two is an inconvenience, but what if the medication resulted in long-term cognitive impairment? Results of a recent study have now shown that there is a group of medications called anti-cholinergics, which can cause long-term mild cognitive impairment associated with memory loss. Some of these drugs are readily available as over-the-counter preparations and others are prescription only.

This was an observational study carried out over a 6-year period on 1,600+ people. They were all over the age of 70, of African-American descent and had normal cognitive function at the beginning of the study. The researchers diligently recorded all of their over-the-counter medications, as well as all prescribed drugs, over that 6-year time frame.

The results showed that those subjects who took one anti-cholinergic medication had a significant increased risk of developing cognitive impairment. Taking two doubled that risk.

In an ageing population where the various risks for developing cognitive impairment abound, this finding is of great significance.

So what are anti-cholinergics? Well these are the medications whose effect is to block acetylcholine. They are commonly used to help with sleep problems, allergies, urinary incontinence and cough. And these just happen to be symptoms that are not uncommon in the older population. Brands and medicines include Benadyl® or Benylin®, Nytol® and Paxil®, Olanzepine, Paroxetine, Amitriptyline and Promethazine to name just a few.
They seem innocuous enough but the findings of this study should alert everyone to the need for vigilance in taking anything that could be potentially a cause of cognitive impairment. All older people would be well advised to check with their Doctor about medications they have been prescribed or have bought for themselves over-the-counter.

The findings from this study means that further research will now be undertaken to see whether the cognitive impairment produced by these drugs, is reversible and whether the effect is the same in different population groups. Both Dr Campbell and Dr Boustani who were involved in this study believe that these findings are likely to be generalised across all races.

A downloadable list of medications with definite and possible anticholinergic effects can be found at www.indydiscoverynetwork.com under the service/tools tab.

Which brings me onto eggs.

What is the connection between anticholinergics and eggs?

Well, eggs are a rich source of choline, along with sardines, liver, soya beans, lecithin and peanuts.

Choline is an essential nutrient we need to form acetylcholine. And the medications discussed in the study causing long-term cognitive impairment were the anticholinergics.

We need choline in our diet because our body cannot produce enough of what our brain and body requires. It is the egg yolk, which provides us with the richest source of choline, 200mg per yolk. Adult women need approximately 425mg choline per day. Men need 550mg.

Choline is essential for good brain health as it

• Forms acetylcholine, a vital neurotransmitter and key for encoding memory. (We need other vitamins as well to make acetylcholine, including B1, B5, B12 and C.) Acetylcholine is also essential for muscle control.
• As Citicholine, it helps to boost levels of dopamine and other brain neurotransmitters.
• Is an essential component of brain cell membranes vital for their integrity and plasticity. Much of the brain is made up of phosphatidycholine and sphingomyelin, which require choline for their synthesis.
• Is vital to healthy brain development in the unborn child and in early childhood, and to maintain good memory throughout life.
• A lack of choline can lead to deficiency of folic acid, a B vitamin that is also crucial for brain health.
• Choline and its derivative Betaine are associated with reducing homocysteine. Homocysteine is a normal by product of metabolism but in excess is linked to increasing inflammatory responses, which can cause heart disease and dementia.

There are lots of other good reasons to enjoy eggs, but for boosting choline levels and helping to maintain a healthy brain, enjoying six free-range eggs a week is a great start.

I think I will enjoy two poached eggs on toast for breakfast tomorrow

So how do you like your eggs?

Refs:
1 Indiana University of Medicine (2010, July13th). Medications found to cause long-term cognitive impairment of ageing brain. “Neurology”
2 Duke University Medical Center (1998, April 9). Extra Choline During Pregnancy Enhances Memory In Offspring.
3 University Of North Carolina At Chapel Hill (2004, March 18). Scientists Discover Why Not Enough Choline Results In Fewer Brain Cells, Poorer Memory.

The Red Mist: What Happens In An Angry Brain.

solutions — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 03:30:09 +0000

It’s been one of those days. You overslept and were late for an important meeting at work. Your boss is giving you the evil eye and you are feeling physically sick. The photocopier then spits the dummy and refuses to print out the 150 sheets you need for tomorrow’s presentation. A driver cuts in front of you in the freeway almost causing you to have an accident and you realise you forgot to collect your son from his after school sport training. Your son is cross as he gets into the car, throws his muddy sports gear across the back seat and slams the car door. You react by shouting at him.

Anger is a normal human emotion. We all get angry. We see anger expressed all around us, from screaming toddlers having tantrums in the supermarket, to belligerent teenagers slamming bedroom doors, to news reports of stabbings. When we are angry we say things which can be deliberately hurtful to the intended victim, we may even be physically aggressive.

Anger is a protective emotion. It guards us against attack. It provokes a physiological change in our body getting us ready to fight or flee and is associated with a psychological change in our brain.

When angry, our emotion can be usually easily detected by others: clenched tight muscles, facial flushing, narrow focused attention on the source of anger, raised blood pressure, increased breathing and heart rate. Our testosterone levels increases as does our adrenaline and noradrenaline.

How we react when angry, varies from person to person. We all learn to handle anger differently, depending on culture, socio-economic background, gender and personality. Some people deal with anger better than others. Some people are constantly irritable, hostile, and short tempered with a short fuse. Others are slow boilers, mostly easy going but capable of blowing off like a volcano occasionally.

In order to learn how to handle anger better, we need first to understand our amygdala.

Our amygdala is part of our reptilian brain, the oldest part of our brain developmentally and it is concerned with our emotional regulation. Nestled deep in the brain the two almond-shaped amygdala (one in each hemisphere) react to potential threats. They do this so well that our body reacts and primes itself to respond before the thinking part of the brain, the cortex, can evaluate what the situation actually is and whether any or what response is actually warranted.

Losing your cool at work.

At best this may have a negative impact on the relationship you have with your colleagues. At worst you may find yourself at risk of either losing your job ( unless you are the boss where you might lose an employee) or missing out on a promotion. Women who display anger in the workforce are seen in a particularly negative light. Fair or not, anger in men in the workplace for some reason is more tolerated.

Learning to control your anger is possible and can make a significant difference to your own level of happiness and well-being. Angry people have a much higher incidence of stroke, heart disease and impaired immune function. It’s bad for your health to be angry and it also has a bad effect on your thinking skills and mental performance.

Have you heard the saying that “As emotion goes up, intelligence goes down.” ? Or, as my mother always said. If you argue with an idiot, then you have two idiots. That doesn’t mean only stupid people get angry and argue, but that when you are angry your level of reasoning and logic is greatly reduced. What you may say or how you behave, can be completely irrational and out of character.

Once the amygdala has triggered the alarm, the cortex registers this and if our thinking brain goes along with the experience of anger, several things will occur.

First up the left side of our brain becomes more active and draws us closer to the source of our anger. When we are happy or experiencing positive emotions we expect our thoughts to bring us closer to the stimulus. Conversely when we are sad or afraid we would otherwise seek to get away from what is causing us to feel negative emotions and this involves stimulation of the right hemisphere. Anger is different because it is a negative emotion and yet we are drawn closer to who or what is making us angry, rather than moving away from it.

Anger management.

There are a number of strategies we can adopt to deal with anger:

• Because being angry provokes a focus onto the source of the irritation or anger, the easiest way to defuse the emotion is to remove yourself from the stimulus. Try going for a walk or at least leaving the room before you blow your top.

• By physically moving away or trying to detach yourself emotionally from the situation gives your cortex or thinking brain time to evaluate the situation. Try counting slowly to ten before allowing yourself to say anything!

• Take six deep slow breaths in through your nose and out through your mouth. Use diaphragmatic breathing: put your hand gently on your tummy and when breathing in or out allow your tummy muscles to go in and out. This helps to alleviate muscular tension and calms you down.

• Journal or write down your thoughts and then tear them up, preferably the following day. Never ever,ever send an email in anger. It might come back to bite you on the bottom.

• Try smiling. It’s really hard to stay angry at someone while smiling at the same time. It helps to lighten the moment.

• If someone is displaying anger at you, remember that that is their framework that they are looking through. You don’t have to share the same frame and buy into it. Is their anger really directed at you? Or are they just voicing their frustration/irritation and you just happen to be the nearest venting post? We don’t know what is going on in someone elses head. It’s their issue and they have to deal with it. The important thing is to not allow yourself to be infected by their negativity (somehow!)

• Give your anger a time-frame. OK, so someone has really gotten under your skin or made you feel really mad at them. How long are you going to allow yourself to experience that anger? By choosing to stay with your anger/hurt pride/wounded feelings etc it impacts your ability to respond and deal with what else is going on in the world. Angry people are not fun to be around. So you’re upset, now get over it.

• None of us are perfect and even with practice there are going to be times when our hot buttons get pressed and we react badly. So don’t beat yourself up if that happens. Afterwards, look at what may have been the trigger and learn from it. Was there a way you could have handled it differently?

• Don’t forget to apologise. It doesn’t matter whether you were in the right or wrong. You are apologising for your behaviour. You may or may not be forgiven for your anger but acknowledging your reaction was perhaps inappropriate or unhelpful can help. As long as you are sincere Saying sorry can go a long way to resolve conflict.

So what do you do to handle anger?

Ref: Neus Herrero, Marien Gadea, Gabriel Rodriguez-Alarcon, Raul Espert, Alicia Salvador. What happens when we get angry? Hormonal, cardiovascular and asymetrical brain responses. Hormones and Behaviour, 2010; 57 (3): 276 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2009.12.008

Growing New Brain Cells: Scientists Discover New Compound.

solutions — Mon, 12 Jul 2010 01:40:44 +0000

P7C3. Remember this name!

Each week I scan different science reports from around the world, which continue to supplement our understanding of how our brain works.
Sometimes one report will leap out from the page when I read it, as it seems to herald a particularly important finding and this week I came across one such report.

The key to maintaining our ability to learn new skills and lay down memory, as we get older is dependent in part in our ability to produce new brain cells.
This is neurogenesis, one component of what makes our brain “plastic”.
The production of new baby brain cells occurs in what is called the dentate gyrus, one region of the hippocampus, which is the area of the brain, associated with learning and memory. However many of the new cells produced don’t necessarily survive to get fully incorporated into our brain.

Think of it in the same way as when turtle hatchlings are released into the ocean. Only a very small percentage actually survive and grow to adulthood. It’s the same with our brain cells. It takes several weeks for new brain cells to fully mature and most of them die off. Plus, the ability for our new brain cells to survive declines, as we get older. So researchers have been looking to identify compounds, which could enhance our newborn brain cells survival.

The results of the recent study could prove to be a breakthrough for potential treatment of Alzheimer’s disease.
A team of researchers at the University of Texas Dallas have found a compound which (at least for rodents) has been shown to increase survival rates of newly formed brain cells and by helping the rats to form new memories, reverse their memory loss.

The compound (given the really sexy name of P7C3) was one of over 1000 molecules investigated by the team. Using genetically engineered mice that lacked a gene needed to allow newborn brain cells to survive, the addition of the P7C3 reduced the expected newborn brain cell death rate.

The next step of the study then looked at whether the compound could slow down age related brain cell death and cognitive decline.
Apparently they used rats for this part of the test because it involved a water maze test, which the genetically engineered mice couldn’t do because they couldn’t swim.
(This conjures up images of mice wearing water wings. But I digress.)
The P7C3 was given on a daily basis to elderly rats with memory problems for two months and they were then subjected to the water maze task. The rats that received the P7C3 performed significantly better than the rats that had not received it. Moreover it was found that the rats given the P7C3 had three times higher than the normal level of newborn brain cells in the dentate gyrus of their hippocampus.

The conclusion was that the P7C3 enhanced new brain cell formation as well as increasing their rate of survival.

This exciting finding indicates that it may be possible in the future to be able to use compounds such as this in humans, because it can be given orally, can cross the blood brain barrier, and can produce long lasting effects for preserving memory and enhancing new brain cell survival. And the compound appears to be safe.

Obviously this is a long way off from being a substance suitable to use in humans, but it heralds an exciting development that we may have treatments in the future that could potentially address some of the core problems associated with Alzheimer’s disease where brain cell death is a marked feature.

And the team have already found that a derivative of the P7C3 called A20 appears to have an even greater neuro protective effect. A20 is apparently 300 times more potent than another compound, which is currently being used in clinical trials as a treatment for Alzheimer’s. The team are now looking to work out how these compounds, P7C3 and A20 produce their effect.
So watch this space.

Reference:
Pieper AA, Xie S, Capota E, Estill SJ, Zhong J, Long JM, Becker GL, Huntington P, Goldman SE, Shen CH, Capota M, Britt JK, Kotti T, Ure K, Brat DJ, Williams NS, MacMillan KS, Naidoo J, Melito L, Hsieh J, Brabander JD, Ready JM, McKnight SL. Discovery of a Pro-neurogenic, Neuroprotective Chemical. Cell, July 8, 2010 DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2010.06.018

Studying tips to help us learn better

solutions — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 10:00:34 +0000

I had great fun having a chat with Dr Jason Fox recently on a couple of tips that can make all the difference when studying for exams.
You can watch the short video clip on the link below.

Jenny chats to Dr Jason Fox about memory

I spent countless hours as a student at school and later at University, cramming. I would often be working late into the night trying to remember all the information I needed to know for exams and tests the next day. Little did I realise then, that I would have been so much better off revising my work in shorter chunks and then going to bed at a reasonable hour to ensure I got a good night’s sleep. Sleep is essential to allow our brain the time to revise what we have been learning and to allow us to encode it all in our memory. Revision and repetition are the key to learning.

How many conferences or seminars have you been to where the content was great, but the amount of information was so huge you actually couldn’t remember any of it?
A good presenter will have just a couple of relevant take home points. Don’t worry about all the “fill”. At the end of the lecture or talk, see if you can note down the main key points. There should be only three or four. Then re-read your notes at the end of the day (before you go to sleep) and again within 48 hours. You will find you remember so much more.

The other great study tip is to work with a buddy or friend. Being part of a study group or even just spending time with a friend going over some of the material you have been revising, will help enormously in assisting you to remember the information. Talking out loud or speaking about a topic with someone else really clarifies your understanding and ability to recall. So don’t be afraid to leave your books and talk to your friends and colleagues. If your friends are all busy, then going over what your have learnt with your Mum or Dad can help in the same way. Try it, it works!

Jason’s website is crammed with great ideas, articles and other videos all to do with how to help yourself get cleverer with exams. You can check it out at enjoyexams.com

Doodling Helps Memory Recall

solutions — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 07:03:17 +0000

“What a day for a day dream.
What a day for a daydreaming boy,
I’m lost in a daydream”

The Lovin’ Spoonful in 1968 said it all.

Do you ever find yourself doodling squares, patterns of lines or squiggles while in a meeting or lecture? Have you ever wondered why you do that and whether it is of any relevance at all?
Chances are that your doodling is helping your brain in the task of listening and paying attention. This is according to a study published in the Journal of Applied Psychology in March 2009. People were asked to either doodle and listen to a tape or just listen. Those who doodled had a better recall (roughly 30%) of the information played. So doodling actually helps keep our focus. rather than let our mind wander completely off topic.

Have you also noticed that we all have our certain patterns of doodling? Whether it be flowers or squiggles or stickmen. And they tend to be repeated over and over. What sort of doodler are you?

Doodling may help prevent us from daydreaming. However our brain really isn’t much good at paying attention at the best of times. Our attention span is quite short, around 10 minutes. Though this does vary from person to person and it also changes with age.

One study in 2005 reported that university students were likely to be daydreaming around 5.4 times during a 45-minute presentation. If you are a presenter you need to be doing something different every 10 minutes to keep your audience’s attention. The good news, especially if you are a student who has a lot of boring lecturers, is that we can improve our attention span, with practice. Your mood will also determine your likely attention span. If you are feeling sad or blue, it’s a lot harder to focus. Being in a positive frame of mind makes it far easier to stay on topic and even to have an “A-ha” moment.

We have two types of daydreaming. In the first sort, we are aware that our mind has wandered off and we know what it is that we are thinking about instead. It could be what we need to buy on the way home or a mental note to contact a friend. The second type is called being zoned out. Here you are daydreaming without awareness ie your mind is blank not thinking about anything in particular and we can spend up to 13% of our time in this state.

The value in daydreaming.

In schools it used to be thought that those kids who were always daydreaming were lazy or academically a bit dull. In fact when we daydream our brain becomes quite active in two distinct areas. The first area is our executive suite in our frontal lobes. This area is associated with decision making, planning and organising. The other area is associated with reflection and future visualisation. So daydreaming can be an active creative time for our brain, where we are looking at the bigger picture.

If Archimedes hadn’t decided to take a bath we wouldn’t have had his “Eureka” moment. Without Sir Isaac Newton being in an orchard watching an apple fall, we wouldn’t have had his theory of gravity. Thinking about things without necessarily concentrating, can allow a sudden moment of insight and find an obvious solution to a previously difficult or unsolved problem.

Brain scanning and EEG’s have allowed researchers to watch what actually takes place in the brain at the moment of insight. Analysing a problem methodically may in fact hinder our ability to come up with a creative answer. We use a different set of neural mechanisms and this shows up as a different set of brain wave patterns on EEG.
Just before a moment of insight there is a surge in gamma brain waves in the right hemisphere of our brain. And just prior to that, the alpha brain waves associated with our visual cortex become quiet, as if allowing the other parts of the brain to concentrate better.
In a study published in the Journal of Cognitive science, Dr Bhattacharya showed that the right frontal cortex becomes very active a number of seconds prior to a person becoming aware of the insight. Our brain knows the answer before it reaches our conscious awareness.

So daydreaming is probably a crucial part of creative thought and allows us to enjoy insights, which enhance our general intellect.
Now I won’t need to feel guilty next time I catch myself daydreaming, and I shall be encouraged in my artistic dabbles or doodles, knowing they are helping me to keep on task.

References:
Association for Psychological Science (2007, March 22). Study Focuses On Wandering Minds.
Wiley-Blackwell (2009, March 5). Do Doodle: Doodling Can Help Memory Recall.
University of British Columbia (2009, May 12). Brain’s Problem-solving Function At Work When We Daydream

Dr Jenny Brockis

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