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Back to School Brain Health Tips

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Summer vacation for the millions of children around the world is coming to an end and soon school will begin. For some children this is exciting news while others do not want to hear it!

As families get closer to the big first day of school consideration may be given to the following tips to create a home environment that not only stimulates learning, but promotes brain health:

1.    Get a good night sleep and develop a routine for sleep.

Sleep is critical to the developing brain, to consolidation of new information, and     to the brain getting the deep sleep it needs to be prepared to learn.

2.    Eat a good breakfast.

Try to get to be early so you can get up early and have time to eat. Eating a good     breakfast relates to better learning and to energy production for the child.

3.    Exercise.

Encourage your child to be physically active in sports, walking, exercise, and dance.     Movement and exercise relates to brain health and to better learning.

4.    Have Quiet Time.

Provide 20-30 minutes of down time for the child to simply reflect on the day’s     event without any task to complete. The brain does well without constant stress or     activity. Relaxation and breathing techniques can help.

5.    Structure Screen Time.

Many youth are drawn to the cell phone, television, computer, etc as means of     socialization. During the school year it is important to control the amount of time     the child’s brain is involved with a screen as this will prevent time studying,     recreating, or relaxing. Consider providing your child with one hour a day of     screen time and let the child decide how to use his or her 60 minutes. This will     give them a sense of control and obligation to focus on school work, chores, etc     the other time.

6.    Recreate and have Fun.

After a hard day of school or work it is important to let the brain escape and have     some fun. The child will likely benefit from a little fun after school and prior to     re-engagement with studies later in the evening. This may not be the best     approach for some children who need to complete their studies immediately after     school and then go recreate. It is important to monitor your child’s behavior to     know which is best. Regardless, the brain needs relief for some period of time     regardless of age.

7.    Eat more Brain Healthy Foods.

Try to encourage your child to eat fish more often, to consume more fruits and     vegetables, and to eat less fast food, and processed foods.

8.    Promote Family Time.

Try to create a nightly time to have the family talk about their day as this will     promote communication skills, family relations, and problem solving as the entire     family     can celebrate good news and help those who may have had a difficult day.

9.    Organize and Plan

Help to teach your child how to organize their “stuff” and get prepared for the     school day the night before. This can help to save valuable minutes that will     prevent racing to the school bus while not eating. Also, help the child organize     their studies so he or she develops a strategic approach to their class demands and     homework. This is not easy, but getting started early can only help.

10.    Celebrate and Keep Perspective.

It is important to celebrate the small and big achievements of children. The     positive reinforcement helps to repeat performances and provides a joyous time in     the home. Keep perspective during the tough times and encourage the importance     of learning from success and from failure. This will lay the foundation for similar     experiences across the lifespan.

Have a great school year!

Summertime can be Family Time

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The hot lazy days of summer tends to provide ample time and opportunity for many activities. Youth sports, swimming, vacations, retreats, and all the time to spend with technologies. One thing that might not get accomplished is the simplicity of spending time with the family without any task or duty to accomplish, and without the technological gadgets that can distract us.

Family time remains critically important to the vitality and strengthening of bonds between parents and children and between siblings. Time can be taken each day or perhaps several times a week to simply stop everything and talk. A family sitting together inside or outside can relate well to each other. It might be uncommon for many families to share their thoughts and feelings with one another, but this will serve to strengthen the family bond.

Families can provide tremendous support to its members and be a place to voice concerns or fears. What might seem a bit odd at first can become a regular exercise of checking in with so the family stays a priority and not a thing that keeps us away from our cell phones, etc.

As summer winds down take a few days each week and create a family time where the members of your family will gather and talk. You will be refreshed and filled with energy and joy to be together focused on one another.

Happiness comes with Age?

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Hopefully you are already a happy and joyful person. Life can certainly place challenges to happiness and sometimes we consider advanced age to be anything but happy. However, a new study based on a telephone survey of 340,000 people nationwide between age 18 and 85 found that we tend to get happier as we get older!

The survey asked about global well being by asking each person to rate overall life satisfaction between one and ten. Results published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that people were quite satisfied with themselves by the time they were 85 especially when compared to when they were 18. The tendency to rate happiness lower in the 20s and 30s began to reverse in the 50s.

Emotions of stress, anger, and worry decline beginning in the 20s and more significantly in the 50s onward. Sadness rises to a peak at 50 then declines to 73 and rises again slightly to 85. Enjoyment and happiness both decrease gradually until our 50s then rise steadily for the next 25 years and decline again, but not as much as the low point in our early 50s.

The study did not try to understand what makes people happy, but there is a relationship between getting older and happiness. Not bad!

Enjoy the Water in the Summer Months

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With summer drawing near most of us will interact much more with water. Whether it be a river, lake, ocean or even a pool we will dawn our swim trunks and enjoy the fun of getting wet in the water. The water can provide recreation and also exercise depending on how we spend out time there. Both are important.

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.

Summertime a Good Time for Brain Health

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With warm weather and the summer season upon us it is a good time to consider all the benefits this sunny season provides for brain health:

1.    Increased exposure to the sun comes with Vitamin D which is good for the body     and brain.

2.    We can increase our mobility by getting outside to walk, play, swim, and run.

3.    Socialization can increase as more people commune to the outdoors.

4.    Exercise routines can become more routine and more diverse.

5.    We can enjoy nature and slow our world down thereby decreasing stress.

6.    We can increase our water consumption and reduce calories.

7.    Our moods can get a bit happier with blue sky.

8.    We may sleep better with increased physical activity.

9.    We can garden and do chores in the yard.

10.    We may be able to spend more time with the family.

So have fun this summer and enjoy all the brain benefits.


Napping and the Brain

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Sleep has been known to be an important component to brain function and memory for some time. A recent study on sleep and learning conducted by Dr. Walker, University of California Berkeley provides further support.

The study involved 39 healthy young persons who were placed into a nap or no nap group. At noon, all subjects completed a memory task intended to engage the hippocampus, a region deep in the medial temporal lobe responsible for learning new fact based information. Both groups performed equally on this test.

At 2pm, the nap group took a 90 minute nap while the no-nap group did not. At 6pm of that day, subjects completed a new memory task. Those who remained awake throughout the day performed worse on the task while those who napped did markedly better and actually improved in their capacity to learn.

Some scientists suggest the human animal is designed to sleep in bouts rather than one long period of time which supports taking naps. About 30% of Americans nap during the mid-day. The study’s results support the idea that sleep clears the brain’s short-term memory storage and creates the ability for new information to be learned. Napping may serve as a type of “rebooting” process, particularly when nappers enter stage two of their natural sleep cycle.

Results are preliminary and further research will be done to support these findings. However, scientists continue to help understand the sleep and its critical role in memory and brain health.

Sweet dreams!

Visualization and the Human Brain

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You may have heard about the ability to “see one’s future” or maybe to “see yourself achieving a goal or success.” For some this may seem purely science fiction. However, it is important to not fall victim to the common tendency of many to underestimate the power of the human brain. You might be surprised to learn that many of the coincidences or “déjà vu” phenomena that occur in your life are brain based and directed.

Visualization is the term often used to describe our attempt to use mental imagery to guide behavior and outcome. This is used by many of our best known athletes and others who are the best at what they do. Very often it is the mental side of action that differentiates good from great.

Specific steps to practice visualization include the following:

1.    Identify a specific goal you have for your life, one that you have some control     over shaping. Specify what a successful outcome is for attaining your goal. Place     that goal into your brain and specify when it should occur. Identify those things     and people you need to have to reach the goal.

2.    Identify impediments to the goal including those that may exist outside of you and     those inside of you. The latter involve your own tendencies that may have limited     your success in the past. It might be lack of confidence, poor persistence,     problems dealing with setbacks, etc.

3.    Once steps 1 and 2 are completed, position yourself into a quiet area where you     can engage in deep breathing relaxation and meditation. On a daily basis you need     to turn inward and learn to set your body and brain into a relaxed state of     existence. You will need to practice these two-to-three times daily to learn how to     relax. You should feel completely at ease and focused on your existence.

4.    Once you are mentally relaxed and focused inward without any external     distraction, you can begin to see yourself completing the goal you identified. You     can visualize success, see the people and things that will help you to achieve     success, and feel the success. Your brain needs to establish the reality of the     success and map out the road to the desired outcome. The singular focus is on     success.

5.    Now you are ready to simply live your life and to realize your surroundings more     consciously. Life will provide the path for your goal and your brain understands     what to do because of your visualization training.  You may need to stop what you     are doing and re-engage in the visualization process above. If you remain true to     these steps you will find greater sense of accomplishment and goal attainment in     your life. It takes time. Visualization is a lifestyle change.

Our Moods in the Winter Months

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The winter of 2010 has been particularly rough or impressive depending on your frame of reference. Having spent 10 years in Tucson, Arizona and now living in the eastern part of the United States, I am on the side of “rough.” For millions of people all across the planet, the winter of 2010 has caused school closings, car accidents, loss of power, plenty of exercise with shoveling, water damage, and eventual flooding. The chronic nature of the 2010 winter season has also caused our mood to sour.

Chronic stress can certainly cause changes in the brain. Research indicates this can occur in the form of structural and chemical change. Post-traumatic stress disorder is one type of psychological disorder caused by a life-threatening stressor though reduced efficiency and functionality can also be caused by an unrelenting stressor in our lives. One aspect of the chemical alteration in our brains is a change in our moods. This might mean a clinical disorder such as depression or seasonal affective disorder or a more mild change such as increased irritability, fatigue, frustration, and a sense of hopelessness. Mother Nature is in charge!

It is important to recognize your own situation and how you and your loved ones may be coping with such a difficult winter. For those of us who are not “winter people” this can be a difficult challenge. Some coping mechanisms to consider include:

1.    Remember spring is getting closer each day.
2.    Use the down time to engage in family activities.
3.    Get some work done organizing or cleaning the house.
4.    Try to recreate in the snow as a family.
5.    Shovel the snow as a family (if you are physically able shoveling is a good exercise, but remember to bend your knees     and proceed in small steps).
6.    Build a fire if you have a fireplace and enjoy the moment.
7.    Use relaxation and meditation daily to cope.
8.    Be conscious of how you are feeling.
9.    Talk to your doctor about light therapy if needed.
10.    Spring is getting closer each day.

Bundle up and we will get through this together.

Awareness in Alzheimer’s Disease

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Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the leading cause of progressive dementia in the United States accounting for 95% of all dementias. It is believed that approximately 5 million Americans suffer AD and that this number will nearly triple in the next 40 years. AD is also on the increase worldwide.

AD is a progressive dementia that affects functions of memory, language, spatial skill, personality and functional ability. The disease continues to erode these functions rendering the patient completely dependent. It is generally believed that patients with more advanced AD are not aware of their condition and do not have an awareness of the people or places around them.

New research on awareness in those with vegetative state suggests this may not be true. Communication may also be possible for those in vegetative state. One case of a 29 year-old patient in a vegetative state was able to answer yes no questions by visualizing specific scenes the doctors asked him to imagine. The brain yielded different activity when different scenes were viewed. This particular patient was in a vegetative state for five years.

This new study published in the online version of the New England Journal of Medicine supports previous cases of awareness in those with vegetative state and raises significant issues concerning understanding of brain function and ethical matters dealing with end of life decisions.

Another suspicion this raises for me is whether a patient with advanced Alzheimer’s disease maintains some awareness of his surroundings. Perhaps the patient’s smile or blink to a family member has more meaning than we previously believed. It is not unreasonable to believe that the complexity of the human brain will not permit complete disconnect from those persons or things that are most important to that brain. We may simply not yet have the ability to measure such activity.

The new study reported in the online New England Journal of Medicine will help to spur research into this and other questions. We are on the frontier of an entirely new understanding of the human brain and we will be very surprised by how we have underestimated its ability and power. I refer to this new exploration of human brain potential as “neural energies.”

Intimacy, Affairs, and the Brain

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I read with some interest a recent article in The Wall Street Journal Tuesday, November 3, 2009 about caregivers of spouses with Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) who find new companions for love. The article questioned whether such behavior could be considered adultery?

We have nearly 5 million Americans with AD and at least that many at risk. The number of those with AD will likely continue to grow to as many as 15 million by 2050. A recent survey reported there will be nearly 35 million with AD across the planet. Many of those suffering AD are married and the healthy spouse can serve the role of caregiver for many years, including a significant amount of time when their spouse with AD no longer recognizes them. The role of caregiver is difficult and ripe with emotional, physical, and financial stress. The article in the Wall Street Journal raises another stressor which is the idea that the healthy spouse may be without intimacy, love, and companionship for many years.

It is nearly impossible to understand how emotionally difficult it must be to care for a spouse with AD. Some describe AD as two deaths, one when you are told about the diagnosis and the second with the actual physical death of your loved one. Along the course of AD, a spouse will no longer recognize his or her partner. A healthy spouse who provides care to their partner with AD is vulnerable to loneliness, depression, and ongoing loss. How does one cope with loss of the emotional connection or loss of love in the traditional sense when your spouse is physically still present?

The Journal article raises many thoughts and ideas that do not have easy answers. I think it points out that we need to support even more our caregivers who dedicate so much of their time to their spouses with AD.