It is important to use the summer as a time to get outside more and to soak in the important Vitamin D from sunshine. Time spent swimming and recreating in the pool with family is great socialization and terrific stress reduction.

We can also begin a super exercise program by swimming daily or several times a week. The aerobic benefit of swimming is tremendous and the brain will appreciate the abundance of oxygen supplied by such exercise. Your muscles will also be stimulated and strengthened.

Some will fish, boat, tube, jet ski, and water ski as forms of play that are great fun in the summer months. If you make it to the beach enjoy the rhythms of the waves and the relaxed state that will envelope you. Enjoy the beautiful scenes of trees and sounds of birds that nature provides.

The water has always been a big part of our lives and evolution. Make sure you spend sufficient time in a safe and fun manner in and around the water this summer.

24 neurologically healthy adults, aged 55 to 78, surfed the internet while their brains were being scanned by an MRI machine. Prior to the study, half the participants had used the internet daily while the other half had minimal experience. After the initial MRI scan, the participants were instructed to do internet searches for an hour a day for seven days in the next two weeks. Then they returned to the clinic for another MRI.

At baseline, those who had internet experience had much greater brain activation relative to those without internet experience. However, those who practiced on the internet during the study demonstrated significant activation in their brain to the point that they were nearly equal to the brains of the experienced internet users.

The idea of “use it or lose it” can really be taken a step further and the idea is to “use it in new ways” and novelty and complexity really is the foundation to brain health.

But about 5 percent of the population are considered naturally short sleepers — meaning they go to bed at a normal hour and wake up alert and energized in the wee hours of the morning, sleeping about two hours less a night than the average person. Finding out what makes short sleepers tick and why they need so much less sleep than the rest of us could unlock answers about insomnia and other sleep problems.

In a landmark study, University of California-San Francisco researchers have identified a gene mutation associated with less sleep, a finding considered to be a major breakthrough in sleep science. To learn more, read the full story, “Mutation Tied to Need for Less Sleep Is Discovered”.

Sleep and Brain Health

Let me try to ease the confusion and suggest some lifestyle steps to avoid unnecessary risk if it is present. A primary malignant brain tumor is one in which the cancer originates in the brain itself rather than traveling to the brain from another region of the body (metastases). There are over 20,000 new cases of primary brain malignancies each year. A specific form of brain tumor known as the glioblastoma multiforme has increased 30 to 70 percent from one decade to the next in some metropolitan areas of the United States. It is believed that ten times the number of metastatic brain tumors will also occur in the same time period.

Risks for cancer include pesticides, air pollution, chemicals found in meats, power lines, and plastics. Xrays are also on the list of risk factors including the microwave type radiation emitted from cell phones. This is why cell phone companies suggest we hold the phones away from out ear when using it.  Further, there have been several studies indicating a relationship (not cause and effect) between cell phone use and risk of brain cancer, increased risk of acoustic neuroma, and glioblastomas. It is important to note that other studies that have not found any relationship between cell phone use and increased risk for brain cancer. We will most likely learn more about this relationship as we have more time to study the use and effects of cell phone use on a larger number of people over a greater period of time.

As cell phone use is a lifestyle issue, what can be done at this point? There certainly has been an increase in the number of users and the amount of time each user spends on their cell phone. Some homes do not even have land lines anymore. Children are using cell phones at unprecedented rates as well. Dr. Black, renowned neurosurgeon suggests that parents try to curtail cell phone usage in their children. Even adults are encouraged to use an earpiece (not a blue tooth) to avoid direct contact between the phone and the ear.

I have started to use an earpiece myself.

Like any other belief system we are most likely the product of genetics and environmental shaping. That shaping can take many years and it is okay to have a different political leaning at one age versus another. The critical thing is to understand your own belief system and values and act consistently with them. You may find that your values change over time based on experience and that is also okay.

Far too often people will get into strong verbal disputes about politics and it tends to be about one’s belief about how terrible this guy is or how great that lady is. In fact, most of us do not know our political leaders and it is also probably true that most leaders are decent people. What we really need to discuss in civil ways are our beliefs and why we think such beliefs can advance something good. It is okay to disagree. When it gets personal the conversation has moved from the beliefs.

As neural plasticity involves a type of shaping of the brain for thought, emotion, and behavior we can be fairly sure that our political philosophy has a place within the cortex that is dynamic and probably attached to emotional centers. When we connect the philosophy with reason and communication skill we have developed a real talent. When we remain at the emotional level and try to articulate our beliefs we might get a bit personal.

Stick to your own values and what you believe regardless of any leader. These are your beliefs and that is a good thing

A quiet moment does not involve any goal, task completion, or endpoint. It is about process and about being in the here and now. A quiet moment can occur anywhere at any time so long as you permit your brain to shut down and to turn inward.

Removing structure and demand from your existence enables your brain to freely roam and to explore ideas and feelings that get shut out with structure and task driven behavior. Your most creative moments will come from such experiences.

It is not easy to create quiet moments. You need to establish parts of your day when you remove all chores, all responsibilities, and all task demands. It is simply time to be, for you to exist. It might mean a walk, sitting on a bench or under a tree, or playing an instrument. There is no conscious deliberation, it is meditative and introspective.

Sounds easy, but it is not. Give it a try and perhaps you will get in touch with your creative side!

Benefits of a Brain Healthy Lifestyle

Adjusting to the upcoming school year is never easy, regardless of age. With the remaining weeks left before school starts children might be wise to take 30 minutes a day to read and prepare for subjects that they have difficulty. There are some great workbooks at the local bookstores and your local school can most likely provide some worksheets to practice.

Lifestyle changes also need to begin including going to bed at earlier times in anticipation of having to rise quite early for the school day. Getting up earlier in the morning can help avoid the abrupt change from sleeping in to getting up four or more hours earlier that the school year demands.

Finally, children can think and talk about the good things they experience at school such as reuniting with friends and maybe a new pair of sneakers or a new outfit they can wear. The more school can be viewed as a positive the better the transition will be. It is always nice to hear a child say “I am excited to go back to school.”

How do you know if your children are what is defined as fit?

Some people may think being fit is defined as:

1. Being free of disease and other health problems.
2. Others may define it as having a lot of energy, a muscular or thin body or the ability to finish a vigorous exercise or activity.

However, fitness refers to your own optimal health and overall well-being. Fitness is a combination of wellness of the mind, body and spirit. In fact, all of these things are interconnected.

Fitness is your health at its very best. A child that is fit is not just physically fit, but he or she should have a great emotional and mental well-being as well.

Smart eating and active living are both instrumental to all three. Therefore, a parent should provide a combination of healthy meals and stimulating opportunities for physical activity every day for your children to remain at an optimal fitness level.

Are your children fit?, cont’d

The baby boom generation is certainly more focused on personal health than prior generations, there is more attention to diet and exercise, doctors are treating older individuals aggressively with advanced interventions, and genetics all play a role with living longer.

Japan will have the most centenarians in 2050 with 627,000 or 1% of their total population. Greece, Italy, Monaco, and Singapore will also have high numbers of those living to 100. The United States centenarians will increase from 75,000 to more than 600,000 by 2050. These are persons currently described as baby boomers and there will certainly be increased health care costs related to this demographic shift.

This demographic shift will have enormous impact across all sectors of life and across the globe.

Scientists from the University of California-San Francisco reported the findings at the recent meeting of the International Conference on Alzheimer’s disease in Vienna. Their findings indicated veterans with a diagnosis of PTSD had a 10.6% rate of developing dementia over a seven year follow-up while those veterans without PTSD had a 6.6% rate.

The findings indicate that disorders such as PTSD, depression, and chronic anxiety may predispose the brain to vulnerability for dementia. Interestingly, PTSD has been related to dysfunction in the hippocampus, the critical region of disease for Alzheimer’s.