One Brain's journey

Mindfulness, Nordic Walking and Working Memory Part 2

Brian Rogers — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 19:48:24 +0000

In the last post, I promised to write more about a recent study on mindfulness and its effect on mind fitness. They study was conducted by Amishi Jha of the Department of Psychoogy and Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania and Elizabeth Stanley of Georgetown University. Their conclusion was that mindfulness training made a measurable improvement on mood and working memory in a Marines training for deployment in Iraq. The program called Mindfulness-based Mind Fitness Training (MMFT) was designed to produce protective results on the psychological health in individuals who were enter into situations that would produce extreme stress (read combat) and was incorporated into pre-deployment training. Study participants included 48 males with an average age of 25 from a detachment of Marine reservists. The experimental group comprised 31 Marines with 17 in the control group. The MMFT group attended an eight week course. The effect of the training on mood was measured by the Positive and Negative Schedule (PANAS) while working memory improvement was measured using the Operation Span Task. Working memory capacity degraded and negative mod increased over time in the control group during training. The MMFT group, on the other hand, experienced improved working memory capacity and a decrease in negative mood. You can read more about the study in the journal, Emotion as well as the latest edition of Joint Force Quarterly, the advisory journal of the Join Chiefs of Staff.

Mindfulness, Nordic Walking and Working Memory Part 1

Brian Rogers — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 22:15:10 +0000

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.

Magnesium Improves Working Memory

Brian Rogers — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 22:58:21 +0000

I have been a fan of natural health products since I managed to lower my blood pressure with Omega 3 capsules and so am a little more friendly to reports such as this one from a study conducted at the Center for Learning and Memory at Tsinghua University in Beijing. Guosong Liu, the center’s director, found that magnesium, “led to significant enhancement of spatial and associative memory in both young and aged rates.” Magnesium is found in some fruits and most leafy vegetables but the study made use of a new magnesium compund–Magnesium-L-threonate (MgT)–but the new compound was just a more efficient way of delivering magnesium to the brain. Mr. Liu said, “Half the population of industrialized countries has a magnesium deficiency which only worsens with age.” He went on to say, “If normal or even higher levels of magnesium can be maintained, we may be able to affect cognitive function.” Mr. Liu is a former professor at MIT in Boston and is co-founder of Magceutics, a California-based company developing pharmaceuticals for the prevention and treatment of age-dependent memory decline and Alzheimer’s disease. He claims that if you consume less than 400 milligrams of magnesium per day, you could be at risk for allergies, asthma and heart disease.

Just last week, I was telling a friend about this research and he mentioned that he had been told by a natural health practitioner to take a magnesium supplement for Restless Leg Syndrome, (RLS) a condition in which, legs at rest, usually when you are just lying down to go to sleep, feel as if they are twitching. I have RLS and thought that perhaps a magnesium supplement would improve my cognitive functioning as well as my sleep if it could stop that dreadful sensation of leg twitches. I would love to report at the end of this post that I immediately went out to the health food store and got some but…I forgot.

Some Health Tips From Ethiopia

Brian Rogers — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 01:15:18 +0000

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.

Working Memory And Some Really Disturbing Disorders

Brian Rogers — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 23:21:05 +0000

Once again a study, this time at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, examined role of working memory, and some other cognitive functions, in the development of schizophrenia. This time they were studying the pattern of cognitive disorders schizophrenics exhibit as children long before they have symptoms of schizophrenia. Duke researchers drew on the results of a long-term study conducted in New Zealand with more than 1,000 participants and found a consistent pattern of developmental difficulties starting at age seven. Co-author of the study, Richard Keefe, director of Duke’s Schizophrenia Research Group said, “These kids are lagging behind to begin with and they continue to fall behind.”

There were two patterns emerging:

1. Children who later developed schizophrenia had early deficits in verbal and visual learning, reasoning and conceptualization and these remained as they grew older

2. They also developed more slowly than their peers in processing speed, attention, visual-spatial problem solving and working memory

How all this ends up as schizophrenia is still unknown but another co-author in the study, Avshalom Caspi, who is the Edward M. Arnett Professor of Psychiatry at Duke, speculates that a child who struggles to make sense of the world becomes more socially isolated or more delusional.

Keefe said that eventually he hoped that they might be able to intervene, perhaps with anti-psychotic medication, in childhood and head off the adult psychosis. The study suggests that adult psychosis doesn’t just emerge fully formed but has early roots in the developmental process.

I have thought for a long time that schizophrenia is one of the saddest disorders as it seems as if one’s mind turns against oneself but there is another disorder that it is even sadder where one’s mind does something quite similar. That disorder is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). One of the required symptoms for a diagnosis of OCD is that the person must be conscious of their obsessive or compulsive behavior but be helpless to do anything about it. I know at least one person who has OCD and my heart goes out to her. Many times when she is exhibiting symptoms, she is in tears. I have, for a brief time in the past, had OCD symptoms and so have some understanding of how this plays out. In my case the behavior was checking and it was like I had forgotten whether I had locked a door again and again and again. I had, as a child, seen my father do this (so maybe it’s a family trait) and at the time a part of me marveled at the fact that I was repeating this simple action so many times. In my case it passed and has not returned. It happened at a time of great stress so I do have a worry that it could, at some point, return but the person that I was describing earlier has it most of the time and spends much of that time locked in her apartment because it is so painful for her to go outside. Her behavior is also checking but it involves looking at every scrap of paper she comes across to see if one of her friends or family has left her a personal message. A mutual friend who was trying to help her by walking with her one time asked her, “Do you really think that a friend would leave a note for you on the street in the gutter.” The friend with OCD just looked down and cried.

I am so glad that my own symptoms were so short lived but I also hope that this new study will lead to the possibility of earlier intervention and perhaps head of the disorder–at least for schizophrenia.

Don’t Give Up Too Early On New Year’s Resolutions

Brian Rogers — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 22:03:16 +0000

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.

Holiday Season And Buyer Remorse

Brian Rogers — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 22:19:10 +0000

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…)

Consequences Of Limitations On Working Memory

Brian Rogers — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:59:10 +0000

An interesting post on the blog tweetingdonal on wordpress here, quotes a study about working memory looking at its effects on other cognitive functioning, specifically decision making. The effect according to this site is known as cognitive load theory. The study asked volunteers to memorize two numbers and then walk down a hallway and, at the end, choose a dessert, either chocolate cake or fruit salad. A different sample was asked to memorize a seven digit number (pretty well the limit on working memory capacity) and then walk down the same hallway (while saying the number to themselves) and also choose from the same two desserts. Almost twice as many people in this sample chose the chocolate cake as compared to the previous sample who had only memorized two digits. The theory is that when working memory is filled to capacity, it either has to jettison one of the bits to access other cognitive functions such as decision making or suffer the consequences. In this case it would be “just give me the damn cake.” The blog does not speculate on why the choice was the cake but perhaps it was the most visible or the easiest to say. The important point, of course, is not the choice but how it was made without contemplation or consideration

This is scary to a person with working memory problems, namely me, as it suggests that my decision, perhaps even important ones, are not a result of choice but of expedience. I like to think that everything I do represents who I am and, more importantly, who I want to be. I believe the conclusion from the study based on what I do know about the way working memory functions. There is another down side to this and I’ll pursue it in the next post…

Didn’t You See The Sign?

Brian Rogers — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 21:50:43 +0000

How often have you been asked this question: Didn’t you see the sign? It usually follows an action that illustrates quick clearly that we didn’t see the sign. It’s an interesting question from a number of standpoints. If you answer “yes” does this mean that you are obstinate or malicious? Does it mean that you saw the sign and went ahead and did what the sign indicated not to do anyway? Almost always it means that you didn’t see the sign in which case the question is unnecessary, the action illustrates that you didn’t see the sign. The more important question is really why didn’t you see the sign and that leads to some rather obvious answers. “No I didn’t see it because your door is covered in signs.”
“No I didn’t see it because I wasn’t looking at the spot where you put the sign.”
“No it is one of 2,456 signs that I didn’t see today because I have better things to do.”

For me the answer is quite often, “I have ADHD and I spend large chunks of my day being distracted.” Or if I really wanted to tell the truth, “I have ADHD and I only see things that are of interest to me. Quite obviously your sign wasn’t one of them”

The real truth is that most of us don’t see things unless we are looking for them and there is a video on youtube that is making the rounds now that really illustrates this point. There is a group of men passing around a basket ball. Voice-over asks that we count the number of times the basketball is passed amongst the players wearing white. Then the voice-over asks if we saw the moonwalking bear. The video rolls back and plays again. Sure enough there is a guy in a bear suit moonwalking through the players and he literally walks from one side of the screen to the other. The lesson–we see what we want to see. In addition, working memory has a limited capacity and we use it to focus on one thing at a time. Some people claim they can multitask and therefor do more than one thing at a time but I doubt it. There is research somewhere, I believe, that demonstrates that no one really multitasks with any efficiency. I will try to find it for a future post.

Adults with ADHD can become warn out with people who ask, “Didn’t you see the sign?” And we are probably asked that question more than most. I now rest in the comfort that most people didn’t see the gorilla and they probably won’t see the sign either. People who ask that question will probably ask that question a lot and, who knows, maybe they just like to feel smug about it and that’s why they put up the sign and then repeatedly ask people, “Didn’t you see the sign?”

Sometimes I can have some fun with it and the dialogue goes like this:

“Didn’t you see the sign?”
“What sign?”
“That sign.”
“You mean this sign?”
“Yes, that sign.”
“No I didn’t see it. Was I supposed to?”
“Of course you were supposed to. Why do you think I put it there?”
“I don’t know. Why did you put it there?”
“I put it there because I want people to (whatever the sign says).”
“Then why wouldn’t you put it where I could see it?”
“I did.”
“Well obviously you didn’t or I would have seen it.”

Try it next time. At the very least you will make the sign person angry, or hopefully embarrassed but I’ll bet you won’t be shamed by the question, “Didn’t you see the sign?”

Thinking While Driving Can Impair Performance

Brian Rogers — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 21:28:18 +0000

With the new mobile phone law coming into effect in Ontario (many jurisdictions in North America already have similar laws in force) distractions while fiddling with the phones should be severely reduced but a new study shows that most of the distraction is still present while using hands-free devices. The problem has to do with working memory or rather the way it works talking to someone in the car versus someone who is not. There have been a number of studies to show you can be just as distracted while holding a mobile phone as you are using a hands-free device but a new study speculates on why this is so. Working memory may be quite taxed in a conversation and some of it needs to be freed up to cope with an emergency situation such as a road hazard. Working memory is one aspect of the human brain that has a limit on how well it will work and an earlier post on this blog suggests this is somewhere between seven and nine items–such as numbers, words or visual relationships for everyone. The study used a driving simulator while the test subjects held conversations with passengers who were in the car and with others who were not. Those who had conversations with others who were not in the car demonstrated slow reaction times in speed of braking responses and hazard avoidance. What the researchers found was that when the other party was in the car they demonstrated “conversation suppression”. In other words their speech slowed down in reaction to hazards they could see being in the car with the driver and this allowed the driver to free up working memory and shift focus to the road. Of course other parties in conversations with the driver who were not in the car demonstrated no such conversation suppression because they could not see the hazards. As an end-note the researchers say that talking to an in-car passenger might actually improve driver performance because both parties are able to see any hazard on the road that might present itself and the passenger can provide a verbal warning to the driver and even point to the hazard focusing the driver even more.