Physical exercise is known to be an essential lifestyle choice for anyone who wants to maintain their cognition. It boosts oxygen and nutrient supply to the brain as well as stimulating the release of neurochemicals, such as BDNF, (brain derived neurotrophic factor) which enhances the maintenance of existing neurons as well as stimulating the birth of new brain cells in a process called neurogenesis.

Previous studies have reported that people who exercise regularly, not necessarily with vigorous exercise but with a daily routine of 20-30 minutes of say walking, benefit the most in terms of maintaining memory and thinking skills.

Brain scan studies have shown exercise slows down brain shrinkage, which develops due to loss of neuronal connections. A U.S. study reported that walking for 6 -9 miles per week was associated with helping to maintain memory as well as reducing brain shrinkage. Other studies have shown that regular moderate exercise can reduce a person’s relative risk of dementia or Alzheimer’s disease and that certain forms of exercise such as ballroom dancing are particularly good because they produce cross-training for the brain.

One area of the brain that is associated with learning and memory is called the hippocampus. This brain area typically shows damage early in Alzheimer’s disease. Being able to maintain the size of one’s hippocampus is important as a means of reducing relative risk of cognitive decline.

One study reported in early 2011 showed that walking for 40 minutes three times a week produces an increase in hippocampal volume, significant enough not only to show up on brain scans but translating into one to two years of better cognition by preventing hippocampal volume loss.

In the study, 120 subjects in their mid sixties either walked for 40 minutes three times a week along with a warm up and cool down session while the control group did less aerobic stretching and toning exercises, yoga and resistance training with rubber bands.

After one year follow up brain scans showed that the control group had hippocampal volume loss of 1-2% while the walking group had increased in volume by 2%. Both groups showed improvements in spatial memory but this was more marked in the walking group. The walking group also had higher levels of BDNF the neurochemical associated with enhancing neuronal support and neurogenesis.

None of us can avoid the ageing process. Hippocampal loss is a common finding with ageing. However moderate exercise appears to be able to reverse this trend that could mean a lower risk of memory problems and Alzheimer’s disease in older age.

So what would you choose? A sedentary lifestyle associated with continuing brain shrinkage and hippocampal loss or a lifestyle, which incorporates daily regular exercise to ensure you keep your memory intact and sharper for longer?

I’ve already made my choice. What’s yours?

Ref:
Erickson, K.I., Voss, M.R., Prakash, R.S. et al
Exercise training increases size of hippocampus and improves memory PNAS 2011 108 (7) 3017-3022; published ahead of print January 31, 2011, doi:10.1073/pnas.1015950108

What is zinc?

Zinc is a mineral found in nearly every cell of our body and is involved in many different chemical reactions. One important role of zinc is in transport for the formation of some proteins.

You may have taken zinc as part of a multivitamin or used it when you have caught a cold. It boosts our immune system and is believed to shorten the length of the illness. And most kids will have had zinc applied to delicate skin to protect from sunburn.

Where do we get our zinc?

The best sources of zinc from our diet is found in seafood such as oysters and crabmeat, red meat, poultry, baked beans, pecans, milk and fortified foods such as breakfast cereals.

What is the role of zinc in the brain?

Scientists have been looking at the role of zinc in our brain. In 2009 a molecular sensor was devised to analyse how much zinc is found in different cells. For example, it was discovered that in the pancreas gland, insulin is packaged around zinc ions. In type two diabetes, this packaging process appears to be defective – this may give further clues as to the molecular changes involved relating to zinc and the development of type two diabetes. As type two diabetes is a risk factor for dementia, being able to reduce the risk at this level would be an important step forward.

Zinc as a regulator of brain cell communication

In the brain, communication between neurons relies on neurotransmitters, special brain chemicals that are packed into vesicles, which also contain zinc. Zinc gets into the brain via special ion channels and glutamate receptors.
It enters the neurons via protein gates called ZIP transporters. Researchers have found that removing these ZIP protein gates in certain areas of the brain such as the hippocampus can protect them from injury.

The hippocampus is the area of the brain where lots of zinc has been found in the neurons. It turns out that having the right amount of zinc at the level of the synapse is essential for normal neuronal communication and function. Too little or too much can lead to neuronal dysfunction or even cell death.

Zinc and Memory

Zinc has been shown to enhance neuronal communication. A team from the Duke University Medical Centre showed that increases in glutamate, the brain’s main excitatory neurotransmitter, enhances this zinc effect and this is thought to be important for memory function. Certain cells in the hippocampus with high levels of zinc were shown to be associated with a particular form of memory formation.

Zinc and Epilepsy

The hippocampus is an area of the brain susceptible to epileptic seizures. In epilepsy those neurons with high levels of zinc are thought to worsen the epilepsy through excessive enhancement of communication. During a seizure these hippocampal cells are then particularly susceptible to damage at a time when they may also be exposed to injury through loss of oxygen and glucose.

Research at the Baylor College of Medicine has shown that if two types of ZIP protein genes were removed, there was less damage to the hippocampal nerves following a seizure. This may help for the future management of epilepsy by leading to the development of drugs targeting removal of the ZIP proteins which will reduce zinc entry into the brain and help to protect the brain’s memory circuits. People who have epilepsy will often remark that their memory is affected in the post ictal or recovery state.

Dr. Jeffrey L. Noebels,Professor of neurology, neuroscience and molecular and human genetics at BCM Director of the Blue Bird Circle Developmental Neurogenetics Laboratory was quoted as saying “These findings pave the way for the development of a new type of neuroprotective medicine for conditions such as seizures, stroke, brain trauma and other neurodegenerative disorders. Many laboratories are looking for such drugs, and this provides an important clue.”

Refs:
Imperial College London (2009, August 31). Think Zinc: Molecular Sensor Could Reveal Zinc’s Role In Diseases.

Enhui Pan, Xiao-an Zhang, Zhen Huang, Artur Krezel, Min Zhao, Christine E. Tinberg, Stephen J. Lippard, James O. McNamara. Vesicular Zinc Promotes Presynaptic and Inhibits Postsynaptic Long-Term Potentiation of Mossy Fiber-CA3 Synapse. Neuron, 2011; 71 (6): 1116 DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2011.07.019

Jing Qian, Kaiping Xu, Jong Yoo, Tim T. Chen, Glen Andrews, and Jeffrey L. Noebels. Knockout of Zn Transporters Zip-1 and Zip-3 Attenuates Seizure-Induced CA1 Neurodegeneration The Journal of Neuroscience, 5 January 2011, 31(1):97-104; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.5162-10.2011

A new study has found that the use of intranasal insulin produced an improvement in memory and cognitive function in a small group of people with either amnesic cognitive impairment or mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease.

The role of insulin in Alzheimer’s has been extensively investigated. In the brain, abnormalities of insulin levels and activity have been known to be associated with the pathophysiology of Alzheimer’s. Type two diabetes (where a person has abnormal resistance to insulin) is a recognised risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease.

Having a normal blood sugar is important for our normal thinking skills and memory.
I’m sure many of us recognise how we don’t think so well either when we are really hungry when our blood sugar levels are really low, or conversely when we get that sugar high after eating a high sugar snack. The sugar fix is the signal for our body to release the hormone insulin which then restores our blood sugar to normal.

Using the insulin intranasally allowed the researchers to supply the brain with an extra shot of insulin, without producing any peripheral effect on blood sugar levels. This was important as the symptoms associated with having too low a blood sugar are not insignificant and include dizziness, confusion, heart palpitations, feeling anxious and altered vision.

In the study the intranasal insulin was administered over a 4 month period. One hundred and four subjects received either a 20 IU or 40IU dose of insulin or a placebo saline spray daily.
Those given the 20 IU insulin dose showed an improvement in memory that wasn’t apparent with the higher dose and both groups showed less decline in cognitive skills compared to the control group. There was also an improvement in functional ability for example in being able to handle money in those with Alzheimer’s who received the insulin spray.

This is a fabulous early study, which is now being followed up to involve a larger group of people over a longer period of time.

But the key for managing early Alzheimer’s disease, still remains in having an early diagnosis. This remains elusive for the present.

Intranasal treatments for delivery medication directly to the brain are not new. Earlier this year I blogged about how one research team have been investigating the use if intranasal Viagra as a means of preventing Alzheimer’s and stroke.

Ref:
Suzanne Craft; Laura D. Baker; Thomas J. Montine; Satoshi Minoshima; G. Stennis Watson; Amy Claxton; Matthew Arbuckle; Maureen Callaghan; Elaine Tsai; Stephen R. Plymate; Pattie S. Green; James Leverenz; Donna Cross; Brooke Gerton. Intranasal Insulin Therapy for Alzheimer Disease and Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment: A Pilot Clinical Trial. Archives of Neurology, 2011; DOI: 10.1001/archneurol.2011.233

That morning I was in the kitchen, busying myself with getting the kids organised for school, when I heard the radio commentators discussing “the terrible event” and “how it didn’t seem real”. What were they talking about?
I turned on the TV and there it was in technicolour surrealism: an aeroplane crashing deliberately into the World Trade Centre. Still finding it difficult to comprehend what was happening, I scooped up the kids and headed off to the day’s work. During the day I listened to the continuing reports on the radio and watched the news that night with the video footage being replayed over and over in it’s ghastly montage.

Ten years on and we remember those events.

But how well do we actually remember them?

We know how flukey our memories are and how susceptible to change. Those memories with the strongest emotional attachment are supposedly the most robust – which is why it is easier for us to remember where we were and what we were doing at the time.

Psychologists have recently completed a ten year survey (not yet fully analysed) of 3000 people who were followed up after 9/11. Surveys were conducted at intervals of one week, one year, three years and now ten years after the event. This is the longest prospective study of how flashbulb memories erode over time.

A flashbulb memory is one created usually by a sudden traumatic and large-scale event, which metaphorically burns a unique mnemonic experience into our brain. The term came from the work of two psychologists Brown and Kulik in 1977, when they studied the impact on memory, following the assassination of president J.F.Kennedy.

In traumatic events because the imagery remains very vivid, we are usually confident in our memory. However that confidence is not necessarily matched by accuracy according the findings of this project.

Emotion, especially fear, has helped in evolutionary terms to keep us safe. It’s the trigger for the flight, fight or freeze response. When we are fearful, we are in a state of high alert taking in information in a narrow focussed way. We don’t usually see what’s going on in the periphery. The part of our brain that regulates our emotions is called the amygdala and when we are highly aroused, it works along with the area concerned with learning and memory called the hippocampus to embed our strongest memories.

Mention 9/11 and everyone immediately knows what you are talking about- it had such an emotional and historical impact on the world.

In the survey it was found that whilst most people retained accuracy in remembering the actual event, personal recollections were hazier. I had for example, forgotten that my husband was away in Jakarta at that time.

Reviewing the video footage ten years on, it was apparent, to me at least, that yes I had forgotten some of the salient images.
However, if I were to look at those images and discuss what happened on a more frequent basis, I would expect my overall recall to improve. In the study the psychologists have also looked at how much our interaction and conversations with others about these traumatic events, moulds or reshapes our own memories.

In remembering 9/11, I pay tribute to those who lost their lives, to their families who continue to grieve, and to those that lived. To the many people who displayed tremendous feats of courage and selflessness that day I remain truely grateful.

Ref:
The memory consortium comprises: Randy Buckner (Harvard University); Andrew Budson (Harvard Medical School); John Gabrieli (MIT); William Hirst (New School University); Marcia Johnson (Yale University); Cindy Lustig (University of Michigan); Mara Mather (University of California – Santa Cruz); Kevin Oschner (Columbia University); Elizabeth Phelps (New York University); Daniel Schacter (Harvard University); Jon Simons (University of Cambridge); and Chandan Vaidya (Georgetown University).

It is NEVER to late to start building brain fitness.

One of the common misconceptions I frequently hear, is that we lose our ability to process and retain new information, as we get older. With ageing, up to 50% of us will experience some memory decline – we forget our appointments, we forget people’s names more frequently, and misplace our keys and glasses. However, just because our speed of mental processing slows down and it takes a little longer for us to process and retain new information, doesn’t mean that we have lost that ability, and it can be improved.

Brain fitness implies having your brain perform to the best of its ability every day, regardless of age.

Building brain fitness incorporates not only exercising your brain with mental activities and memory training, but also attention to lifestyle choices of healthy nutrition, physical exercise and stress management.

In the first study of its kind, the results of a six week educational program in the States has shown not only did participants show improvement in memory tests, they also reported feeling that their memory was working better.
And if you think that your memory is working well, you are more likely to maintain a happier, more positive outlook on life, which also promotes better brain function.

In this study, 115 residents from two community-based homes were enrolled into the program. The average age was 81 years. Some of them had reported memory complaints but none had been diagnosed with dementia or were taking medication for memory. Half the group remained as controls. The other half underwent memory tests both before and after the program.

Different forms of memory were evaluated including: immediate verbal memory, delayed verbal memory, retaining verbal information, memory recognition and verbal fluency.
Their perceptions of how good their memories were, were based on frequency and severity of forgetting, retrospective functioning and mnemonics use.

In the program memory enhancing techniques were taught along with stress reduction exercises, the importance of daily physical exercise and eating a healthy diet with plenty of antioxidants.

The results of two one hour session per week for six weeks revealed an objective significant improvement in memory (apart from verbal fluency) and also subjectively improved memory performance.

The results are very encouraging and suggest the value of these programs for older people to assist with normal age related memory loss.

Lifestyle choices make a difference.

The good news is that EVERYONE can benefit across the lifespan. You are never to old to start and never to young to begin.

Building brain fitness is as easy as remembering your N.A.M.E ®

N for nutrition with brain healthy foods
A for attitude and stress management
M for mental challenge
E for exercise – the physical sort

So, no excuses, it’s time to start building your better brain health right now.

What have you got planned to incorporate into your life from today that will help build your brain?

Ref:
Miller, K. J., P. Siddarth, et al. (9000). “The Memory Fitness Program: Cognitive Effects of a Healthy Aging Intervention.” American Journal of Geriatric Psych Publish Ahead of Print: 10.1097/JGP.1090b1013e318227f318821.