New Study Advocates Exercising Brains

According to a findings released at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology, its never too late to exercise your brain. A study of over 1300 people between ages 70 and 89 benefited from daily reading, writing and even knitting by delaying and even preventing the onset of memory loss. The study showed that playing games and doing arts and crafts could delay memory loss by around one-third. Interestingly, computer activities were most preventative in delaying memory loss onset by nearly cutting the risk in half; Watching TV had the opposite effect, resulting in more memory loss. So turn off your TV and play more computers games!

- NeuBrain

Read more about it at http://www.webmd.com/brain/news/20090429/brain-exercises-may-delay-memory-loss
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Primer on Brain Memory Architecture

Memories are best recalled when they can be organized with "tags" of patterns, emotions, sensations, unexpected patterns or gists/generalizations. Unfortunately strings of information just by themselves often fail to get engraved deep in the brain with the necessary thick, linking neuron connections needed for effective brain cell recall.

This saving process is managed by the hippocampus, by translating short term memories to longer term ones. According to a New York Times article, researchers have shown that our buffer or caching process is limited to 5 to 9 chunks of data at a time. Anxiety and its related "danger" hormones can actually freeze recall by shutting down the frontal lobe process of accessing stored memories and enabling more energy for "fight or flight."

Practice, practice and more practice thankfully can strengthen and improve memory recall but the actual buffer or cache process itself is more resistant to improvement. In future posts we will investigate what can be done to improve how memories get temporarily cached and then recalled.

- NeuBrain

Read more about this at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/17/science/17angi.html?_r=1 (may require an online account)

Report Urges More Money Now to Prevent Alzheimer's

The Alzheimer's Study Group, convened by Congress in 2007, recently released their report and recommended creating the Alzheimer's Solutions Project to increase spending nationally on Alzheimer's prevention. The report projects that 16 Million Americans will be afflicted by Alzheimer's by 2050 and the related costs to Medicare and Medicaid will exceed $1 Trillion annually by then. The report argued more help for families and changes to Medicare and Medicaid to reimburse counseling and community services.

- NeuBrain

Read more about this at http://news.yahoo.com/s/mcclatchy/20090325/sc_mcclatchy/3197929;_ylt=ApqfK4OH2.T6mJhKKULi5pQ_cbYF

To read more from The Report Of The Alzheimer's Study Group (Co-Chaired by Democrat Bob Kerrey and Republican Newt Gingrich with members such as Justice Sandra Day O'Connor), see "A National Alzheimer's Strategic Plan" at http://www.alzstudygroup.org/Portals/0/National_Alzheimers_Strategic_Plan.pdf

Economic Stress Keeping People Up At Night

Results from the National Sleep Foundation poll last month were that one in four Americans are losing sleeping at night due to personal economic distress. An article in the NY Times claims relationship with the economy, increased sleeplessness and sales of over-the-counter sleeping pills, especially those that combine pain relievers. Unfortunately, the article does not show the correlation with the entire sleeping pill industry, which would have greater statistical significance; the article instead focuses on anecdotal brand strength revenues - maybe New York Times is seeking to increase their own advertisement revenues.

Interestingly, the article sites the National Institute of Health (NIH) estimates that 30 percent of Americans experience some sort of sleeplessness with 10 percent classified as insomniacs. Market research firm, Packaged Facts, expects 10 percent growth through 2013 for sleep aids, including herbal supplements, neck pillows, sound machines and sleep masks.

- NeuBrain

Read more about this at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/24/business/media/24adco.html?ref=health

Music Mends the Mind

Vera Brandes claims to be the first musical pharmacologist. Her company, Sanoson (sanoson.at) designs music protocols for psychosomatic disorders, pain management, anxiety, depression, insomnia and certain types of arrhythmia.

Interactive Radio (sourcetone.com), another venue for mind mending music, claims its the "the world’s premiere music health service." Sourcetone states, "the service is designed to promote health through the power of music by delivering playlists that promote desired emotional states such as relaxation, invigoration, stimulation and happiness."

If you plan to use these serivices or have used them, please provide us with your feedback.

- NeuBrain

Read more about this at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/arts/music/29gure.html?pagewanted=all (may require an online account)

Itchy Research Offers New Insight

Itch research has been neglected for years but some new insight may provide a better framework to champion more interest in the field.

Excessive itching arguably is a telltale sign of the brain not comprehending the inherent response intended. This short circuit not only confuses what is happening to the skin but also may be related to over 50 different neurological diseases if the itching conditions persist.

The inherent response to itching is relief from pain which specialized spinal cord cells produce. According to the authors of the study, these cells initially create the itch sensation in order to inhibit pain in healthy individuals. With this finding, we expect the interrelated areas of pain and itch research to grow.

-NeuBrain

Read more about this at http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/health/07itch.html (may require an online account)

Chess - The "Real Deal"

If you're not so much of an outdoors-person like Tiger Woods or Venus Williams would be and you still want to improve brain function and memory, there is hope! The seemingly innocuous board game of chess has proved to be a vital key in helping Alzheimer's patients recover from their condition and has shown to improve one's mental age by up to 14 years.

Chess involves ALL aspects of critical thinking for both hemispheres of the brain. It exercises problem solving and social skills; improves concentration, determination, and technique for almost anything; and most importantly, chess is fun!

- birdbuddy (NeuBuddy)

Read more about this at http://www.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081013183024AAqyhBz or Google™ search "chess improves memory" for more information.

Years of Practice Grows Gray Matter - Just ask Tiger Woods

Researchers have showed through image analysis that between 800 to 3000 hours of practice produce a visible increase in brain gray matter. And 10,000 hours may set you apart from advanced practitioner to a professional, so practice, practice, practice!

- NeuBrain

Read more about this at http://www.NeuGyms.com/TigerWoods