For the past decade or more I have advanced the idea that a proactive lifestyle can be beneficial to the human brain. I have not been the only one to discuss or study this point, but it remains a central focus of my work. There has been a rather robust collection of studies that have shown correlations between particular lifestyle behaviors and reduction in the risk of dementia. It was from these studies that I published my own proactive brain health lifestyle ® to include physical activity, socialization, spirituality, nutrition, and mental stimulation.

Criticism against the existing research on lifestyle and risk reduction of dementia has generally been that more controlled and randomized studies are needed to move from the correlational to the cause and effect. This is fair and represents ongoing efforts by many to show such a cause and effect. Lifestyle does matter for the brain as it does for the rest of our body.

A new study to be published in Lancet Neurology provides the latest support for lifestyle and reduction in risk of dementia, including AD. Indeed, according to this study, about half of the risk factors for AD are potentially changeable and that reducing them could substantially decrease the number of new cases of the disease worldwide.

Factors that increase one’s risk for AD that are modifiable include diabetes, hypertension, obesity, smoking, sedentary behavior, depression, and low education level. In the United States, the most significant modifiable factor is physical activity accounting for 21% of the risk for AD, followed by depression and smoking. Added together, the three factors account for 50% of the risk.

The authors of this study indicate that if these risk factors were decreased by just 10%, about 184,000 AD cases in the U.S. and 1.1 million cases worldwide could be prevented. A reduction of 25% on all seven risk factors could prevent nearly half a million cases in the U.S. and more than three million world-wide.

With 5 million cases of AD in the U.S. and nearly 35 million in the world, this analysis is significant as maybe as many as 50% of all AD cases could be modifiable and that by changing the risk factors increased quality of life could be achieved. This and more research will be published to further support the importance of a proactive brain health lifestyle for everyone.

Summer is here in a big way splashing the heat and humidity upon us. This is a great time of the year to get outdoors and is far better than shoveling a foot of snow off the driveway. Being able to move outdoors is a great opportunity to expand our list of activities and to increase quality time with our brain health lifestyle ®.

Consider the following 20 activities as part of your daily routine:

1. Take a daily walk and use Arookoo (www.arookoo.com) or a pedometer count your steps.
2. Go swimming, as it is good aerobic exercise and will cool your body.
3. Get the bike out and ride around the block a few times.
4. Play some sports with the kids.
5. Cook some fish and chicken on the grill.
6. Enjoy a cool salad on the deck.
7. Enjoy a glass of red wine.
8. Read the book you have been holding.
9. Kids get started on your summer reading.
10. Go to a sporting event as a family.
11. Go to the zoo as a family.
12. Go to a theme park or water park.
13. Enjoy a vacation together.
14. Increase your hours of sleep.
15. Get involved in a hot yoga class.
16. Pray daily.
17. Attend a formal place of worship with the family.
18. Take a walk in the woods or on the beach.
19. Plant your garden and clean the yard.
20. Drink plenty of water.

Consider this a reasonably good start to a brain healthy summer! Take it one step at a time and your body and brain will thank you.

I often am asked what one thing is most important for brain health promotion. I cannot answer this question because I do not believe there is such a thing. The human brain requires a comprehensive and integrated approach to health which is why I have developed my five part brain health lifestyle (see www.paulnussbaum.com).

I do believe that eating one meal a day with family members or even friends and those you may not know very well (be safe first) can be a major brain health activity. Sitting down to a meal helps you to slow down, you can listen to some music in the background, and tell stories over your meal. You can also use utensils that typically means you will eat healthier and eat less than when you eat with your fingers. These are several brain health boosts with one activity.

It is good to learn from Rasmussen Surveys that 65% of those surveyed by telephone eat with their family twice weekly. 38% eat a meal three times a week with their family and 27% report eating between two and three times weekly with their family. Only 22% do not eat with their family during the week.

I encourage everyone to carve out the special time necessary to sit down and eat a meal with your loved ones on a daily basis. Your brain and body will thank you.

Many people sleep six or fewer hours a day, but they don’t come by it naturally. They rely on caffeinated drinks and alarm clocks to keep them going.

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 begin this blog with “I do not know” whether cell phone used causes brain cancer in the form of tumors or not. However, not knowing something means you do not know and hence caution is most likely in order, particularly when cancer is the point of discussion.

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.

Sleep is actually a very important function of and for the brain. We need to generate enough sleep to feel rested, to have energy, to assist with mood, and to even help us think more clearly.

Sleep is divided into four stages. Deep sleep or stage IV sleep is critical to brain function. With advanced age we generate less deep IV sleep and it is probably not a coincidence that our cognitive abilities change as well.

Rapid Eye Movement (REM) is the part of sleep when we dream and we are actually paralyzed. REM occupies about 25% of our sleep and is critical for encoding information to a deeper level. Our brain processes millions of bits of information daily and during REM it is thought the brain selects those bits of information that are most critical.

Debate on how much sleep is necessary continues, but it is probably safe to say that young children need at least 8 hours of sleep a day while adults should get more than 6. Certainly, these numbers are not fixed and there are cases where some do fine with only a few hours while others do not. The bottom line is that our brains need sleep, deep sleep, and REM to function efficiently.

Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder that includes a wide array of symptoms. We do not know the cause of autism and we have no cure. Much has been learned and autism is certainly no longer viewed as a single disorder or entity. The emotional strain on a family can be substantial, particularly when resistance to an emotional or loving attachment occurs.

I have been reading more about the positive effects of surfing on some children with autism. As I am not an expert in this area I want to be careful and inform the public that autism is not my area of specialization. However, I have now read several accounts of how a child suffering from autism has a type of “awakening” after some time in the water learning how to surf.

Obviously, the surfing I am describing involves one to one work with a trained surfer who has a gift of working with children suffering autism. It is also true that by these accounts that the first part of the experience can be difficult as the child experiences a natural fear of the ocean and strangers. It might be most difficult for the parents who are watching with great doubt.

The reports indicate that after a short period of time the child with autism not only relaxes, but begins to awaken to life and the surroundings in a way not seen prior to the surfing experience. It is not known why or how this occurs, but perhaps the child’s brain is literally overwhelmed with stimulation which helps to soothe and foster interaction with others in the immediate environment. One parent even described his child as being able to speak and connect in ways he thought was impossible.

Perhaps Mother Nature provides us with some treatments in her own way. The majesty of an ocean whose water fills 80% of our planet might have some answers for the brain. Maybe it is the movement, the energy, the sound, the rhythm. Even if we do not fully understand why, the fact that we have anecdotal evidence for surfing bringing some children with Autism to a new awakening is reason enough to ask more questions.

Canada and the United States have celebrated their nation’s birthdays and freedom. The cost of such freedom has been and continues to be paid with significant sacrifice and loss of life. Freedom is a great gift and certainly one deserving the rich celebration every year.

I wonder about the brain and freedom and believe the natural existence for our brain is to be free. Our brain is at its best when it is creative and free to imagine, dream, and innovate. Structure and imposed limitation on the brain’s ability to think and to speak is both unnatural and unhealthy.

Surveys have documented the number one value for an older adult is independence. Freedom to move, live, make decisions, and act as one wishes is what independence is about. Dependence on others is the antithesis of freedom and a state of being that most of us fear.

We can enjoy the fact that we in Canada and the United States live in freedom, that we have independence, and that our brains have every opportunity today to create a great innovation that will change the course of mankind!

For many years neurons have been considered the main act within the cerebral cortex, responsible for our thoughts, emotions, and movements. Of interest is the fact that neurons only account for about 10% of human brain cells. Glial cells that account for the other 90% of brain cells have typically been thought to carry a supportive role to the neurons.

An article in Forbes Magazine (July 13, 2009), however, suggests glial cells may be even  more important than neurons for treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and stroke. Recent understanding of the brain now indicates glial cells with neurons play a critical role in brain development and brain function.

Medications on the market today do not work on glial cells. Ben Barnes, Chairman of the Neurobiology Department at Stanford University Medical School posits that one type of glial cells, the astrocytes, trigger the initial steps of destruction in brain diseases. As such, Dr. Barnes believes that by creating treatments that of the astrocytes can in turn save dying neurons.

If glial cells do indeed maintain a more critical role in the formation, function, and elimination of synaptic activity, plasticity, and creation of myelin sheath around the neuron, an entirely new approach to behavioral neuroscience will be born and with it, an entirely new treatment approach.

A typical and yet interesting reality is that most women enjoy shopping and most men do not. As one interested in human behavior this is a fascinating finding worthy of some curiosity. The explanation of the differences between the two genders regarding shopping might be found in a basic understanding of the human brain.

Shopping for a male brain is defined as going into a store or mall, selecting the item to be purchased, and getting out of the store as fast as possible. This behavior is task-based, something to be confronted and completed. The male brain operates primarily within the dominant hemisphere, a side of the brain that is task based.

Shopping for a female brain is both task based and process based. For example, a female can do the same thing a male does while shopping by getting the item and getting out. However, upon entering the doors of the mall, the female brain hears music in the background, smells cinnamon rolls baking in the distance, and appreciates the wonderful different colors and textures of the products throughout the store. This is the non-dominant side of the female brain functioning, something that is foreign to the male brain within the shopping mall.

It can be fun to watch the female and male brain try to work together as “shopping” behavior occurs together. Have you ever seen an otherwise happy couple get frustrated with each other in the mall? Perhaps a little understanding of the how and why behind the gender differences can help to make the next shopping trip a good one.