One Brain's journey

I have been fascinated by the idea of mindfulness ever since I first heard it described in a bar by a tennis pro who was trying to seduce my tennis partner…the most unlikely circumstances indeed. I have headed down a lot of blind allies since then including attending a class on mindfulness meditation by some well-meaning practitioners of Tibetan Buddhism. For awhile I thought that I was confused about the idea of separating mindfulness from meditation or was it the idea that I could be meditating and doing something else such going for a walk or eating a meal? Recently, in bookstore specializing in psychology and spirituality I came across a most-unlikely guide–The Idiot’s Guide To Mindfulness. In this book was all that I had been searching for–instructions on how to practice mindfulness in any activity and completely removing it from its Tibetan Buddhist roots (not that I have anything against Tibetan Buddhism). Now it is quite possible that it is entirely coincidental but since I began reading the book and trying to be completely in the moment I have felt better, happier. In addition, a few weeks ago, I started Nordic walking in the cemetery right across the street from where I live. Nordic walking is an exercise that seems to lend itself to mindfulness practice.

While doing it, you are traveling much slower than you would if you were running. The rhythmic nature of using the poles and swinging your arms is quite natural and requires little attention from the conscious mind so you are more aware of your surroundings and you walk more upright than you would if you were…well just going for a walk. All of this adds up to the perfect setting for the practice of mindfulness. I have been seeing the cemetery in whole new ways and I have lived beside it, or near it, almost all of my life.

Now I have come across a study that concludes that mindfulness, which the study defines as the ability to be aware and attentive of the present moment without emotional reactivity or volatility, improves working memory as well as mood.

In the next post I will talk more about this study.

Today I came across a website called Ethiopian Review which presented a number of interesting, if counter-intuitive, health tips. I have nothing against Ethiopians but it is not the first place that would come to mind to search for this kind of information. However, like this site, much of the research there is sourced from authoritative sources with commentary by the authors.

Swearing Eases Pain
Researchers at Keele University discovered that subjects who swore could withstand pain better than than those who used less offensive words.

Getting Angry Is Good For Blood Pressure
Generally accepted wisdom is that getting angry raises your blood pressure and therefore is ill-advised. At Carnegie Mellon University, scientists found that people who were irritated in high-stress situations and responded by getting angry, produced a stress hormone called cortisol which acts to lower blood pressure. The worst way to respond to a high stress situation, according to findings of the study, would appear to be fear which resulted in higher blood pressure.

Stress boosts Memory
This is the item most appropriate to this blog and the information comes from a study conducted at the University of Buffalo where researchers found that a brief period of stress can boost memory and learning capabilities. Professor of Physiology and Biophysics, Zhen Yan trained lab rats to complete a maze and then one half of the group were put through a stressful, 20-minute swim. The wet rats made fewer mistakes when re-running the maze than the ones who did get the stressful swim.

Coca Cola (R) Works To Prevent Cognitive Decline

Soda pop has a bad name in most circles but neuroscientists at Glasgow Caledonia University found that fizzy drinks with 25 grams of sugar (the same as a can of Coke(R)) helped  subjects with memory.  In fact those subjects who had the drink were able to recall about 17% more information than the control group.  This is a bit of a no-brainer since the brain uses glucose as fuel.  It is what the body does naturally in stressful situations where good recall might be a beneficial in surviving but the mechanism tends to decline with age and therefore, what the older you get the more you should drink.

By now, two weeks into the new year, some of you may already have made and broken at least one New Year’s resolution. Don’t despair. If your resolution involved forming a new habit, like going to the gym at least twice a week, it may take just a little longer than two weeks to become fully formed. Neuroplasticity research indicates that new habits can rake three to four weeks to become part of your daily life. I have written about the dark side of neuroplasticity in previous posts but the lessons are these for breaking old habits and forming new ones:
1. You can do it but it will take time and effort and, most importantly, planning
2. You will have to go about it very deliberately
3. You will have to persist–three or four weeks or longer
4. If you revert to an old habit, just try again…persist

For myself, I am renewing a resolution I and a friend made last year. We had done our grading for first degree black belts in karate two years previously, and were going to go for our second degree. We didn’t make it. His health had worked against him and as for me…well the teachers who were guiding us didn’t think I was ready. So this New Year’s resolution is the same. Just last week I ran into another black belt that went for the grading as my friend and I and he told me he did the second degree grading last June. I was dismayed and amongst the many thoughts that ran through my head was one about dropping out of karate altogether. That one saddens me since I took up the martial art in the first place to improve my cognitive functioning. I didn’t entertain that thought for long and have now recommitted.

More on this at a subsequent date…

I had promised another post more-or-less on the same topic as the last and the one I propose I think is appropriate for this time of year. I have often spent too much on a Christmas gift, or more selfishly, bought something for myself that was too expensive or unnecessary or both. The resultant feeling of anxiety can be overpowering. If I am lucky when this strikes, I can take the item back for a refund but more and more I have been shopping at places that don’t allow refunds or exchanges. I did it last Saturday. Ostensibly I bought a bluetooth headset for a friend for Christmas at a discount electronics store. When I got it home I realized two things. My friend is useless with anything electronic and that, knowing this, I really bought it for myself.  Buyer remorse then set in unrelieved by a return to the store which was expressly forbidden on the receipt. I already had a bluetooth car speaker system. I bought it on an impulse but there is something creepier in there and that is that I knew it would make me feel better. Anyone with ADHD (and perhaps a couple of other disorders) can identify with this trick. But the trick can backfire, as was happening in this case, and make you feel worse. I tried to rationalize that it was a Christmas gift from me-to-me but my conscience wasn’t buying it. And I’m stuck with it. Well, I thought, at least I’ll get a post out of it.

It is called buyer remorse or, more correctly, cognitive dissonance and I came across an excellent explanation of it here.  Essentially cognitive dissonance according to this blog describes “the negative tension that results from having two conflicting thoughts at the same time, or from engaging in behavior that conflicts with one’s beliefs.”  Wikipedia says the cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously.  It goes on to say that beliefs often change to match behavior when beliefs and behavior are in conflict.  Buyer remorse is a well-known consumer phenomenon and with high-ticket items, the manufacturers’ often include a folder or card that explains to the buyer why they have made a wise choice.  The point is, of course, to keep them from returning the item.

There are far more serious consequences though in terms of addiction and cognitive dissonance then expresses itself as denial.  The plays out in the scenario where the individual is getting drunk, or stoned, everyday.  Addicts get stoned everyday.  I can’t be an addict so therefore getting stoned everyday is okay.

To make this whole post even more relevant you could say that the world is living in a time of global warming.  Governments, and individuals, aren’t doing much about it.  Therefore, if we are all sane, then doing nothing must be okay.  Or even better, since we aren’t doing anything about it then global warming can’t be happening.

Addiction and the accompanying denial are the downside of neuroplasticity.  Neural pathways can keep us in habits that are self-destructive.  To change this requires deliberate and continuous action to move us in the opposite direction.

I’ve taken this far from just a bit of Christmas shopping and in so, in keeping with the most positive actions of the season, I will stop and wish you all a great holiday.  (Or is breaking off here just more denial…)

I spend a lot more time than I care to admit surfing the web and most of the time these sessions start with logging on to Google.  Now, a new study reported in The Times of India indicates that this simple activity may be keeping my brain young.  The study, conducted by Gary Small, a professor of neuroscience and human behavior at the University of California at Los Angeles shows that this simple activity can slow the effects of dementia.  He claims that Googling consistently stimulates the brain to slow or even reverse the declines that can end with dementia.

Teena Moody, coauthor of a report on the study said, “Searching online may be a simple form of brain exercise that might be employed to enhance cognition in older adults.”

Small’s study observed 24 men and women between ages 55 and 78 and half of these were regular users of the net.  Using a medical procedure called fuctional magnetic resonance imaging after half hour session at the computer, the study noted activity in the regions of brain associated with language, reading, memory and vision. 

A second scan after the computer sessions showed that brain activity had widened to include areas associated with working memory and decision making.  The conclusion of the study was that Internet searching stimulates brain cells and neural pathways.

Teena Moody, a coauthor of the study report said, “Searching online may be a simple brain exercise that could be employed by older adults to enhance cognition.”

Some time ago I wrote about an interview I conducted with a researcher at Baycrest Geriatric Hospital here in Toronto in which the researcher talked about practical applications of some of the research they were doing in dementia and its precursor, Mild Cognitive Impairment.  Her conclusion was that learning a second language could delay the onset of dementia by five years.  At the time I remember thinking how wonderful this was that you could do something about dementia but at the same time I was overcome with the effort involved in learning another language.  After reading The Times of India report, I am relieved that there is something I can do that is simpler and easier.  To top it off it is something I already do more times a day than I care to admit.