Dr Saheb Sahu F.A.A.P, MPH
Overview
The brain and spinal cord makes up the central nervous system. The brain consists up the cerebrum, the brain-stem and the cerebellum. It controls most of the activities of the body, processing, interpreting, and coordinating the information it receives from the sense organs. It makes decisions as to the instructions sent to the rest of the body. The brain is contained in, and protected by, the skull bones.
Although the human brain represents only 2% of the body weight, it receives 15% of the cardiac output (total amount of blood pump by heart), 20% of total body oxygen, and 25% of total glucose utilization. The brain mostly uses glucose for energy. The study of the brain function is called neuroscience. Unlike other organs of human body, the brain is not fully understood and research is ongoing.
Memory is a complex process that includes three phases: encoding (deciding what information is important), storing and recalling. Different areas of the brain are involved in different types of memory. Your brain has to pay attention and rehearse in order for an event to move from short-term to long-term memory- called encoding. The short-term memory, also called the working memory, occurs in the prefrontal cortex. It stores information for about one minute and its capacity is limited to about 7 items (like the phone no). Long-term memory is process in the hippocampus of the temporal lobe and is activated when you want to memorize something for a longer time. This memory has unlimited content and duration capacity. It contains personal memories as well as facts and figures. Skill- memory is processed in the cerebellum (at the back of the brain), which relays information to the basal ganglia. It stores automatic learned memories like tying a shoe, playing an instrument or riding a bike.
According to Joshua K. Hartborne, Professor of Psychology at Boston College (USA), our brain processing speed peaks in the late teens, short-term memory for faces at around thirty, vocabulary at around fifty (in some around sixty-five), while social understanding, including the ability to recognize and interpret other people’s emotions, rises at around forty and tends to remain high (The New Yorker, Jan 2021).
Brain Plasticity (Neuroplasticity)
Brain plasticity is the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through growth and reorganization. Example of neuroplasticity includes circuit and network changes that results from learning a new skill, environmental influences and psychological stress. Neuroplasticity was once thought by scientists to manifest only during childhood, but in the latter half of the 20th century it was shown that many aspect of the brain can be altered ( or are “plastic”) even through adulthood. The ability to draw on one’s accumulated store of knowledge, expertise, often enriched by advancing age. Hence old age is not always bad. It gives you wisdom.
How to Keep Your Brain Sharp?
There are few things you can do to keep your brain sharpas yougrow older. Few of them are:
1- Exercise and physical activity
Exercise, both aerobic (walking, running, bicycling, swimming, and dancing) and non-aerobic (muscle strengthening or weight training) is not only good for the body, it’s even better for the brain. Physical exertion has thus far been the only thing we have scientifically documented to improve brain health and function. Aerobic exercise is little more important for the brain than the muscle strengthening exercise. However both of them have additive effects. Hence do both. Staying active can help you to:
. lower your risk for obesity, high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, type-2 diabetes, osteoporosis (thinning of the bones) and cancers (breast, colon, kidney, pancreas, esophagus, ovary and endometrial).
.improve and maintain some aspect of your cognitive functions and delay the development of age –related dementia and Alzheimer disease
.reduce your stress and anxiety level
.perk up your mood and feeling of depression,
.prevent you from future fall and fracture.
Bottom line, any activity is better than no activity. Choose an activity you want to do, and not one you have to do. Do it at least 120-150 minutes a week. For older people walking with a friend is one of the best. You exercise as well as socialize.
2- Socialize
Having a diverse social network can improve your brain’s plasticity and help preserve your cognitive abilities. Building a social networks and participating in social activities are like exercises for your brain. They help to keep your mind sharp and improve your cognitive functions. Socialization increases our sense of well-being and happiness, and may even help us live longer.
3- Diet
A diet which is good for the heart is also good for the brain:
.Control portion size
.Eat whole grains, beans and lentils
.Eat fatty fish (cold water fish is better for brain) at least once or twice a week. Minimize meat.
.Eat a variety of fruits and vegetables. Berries of all kinds are good for brain health.
Use mono and poly-unsaturated oil for cooking (olive, canola, sesame, peanut, sunflower and soya-bean oil). Avoid hydrogenated oil, saturated fat and trans-fat. Trans-fat is used in packaged snack items like biscuits, crackers and cookies.
.Limit alcohol use. Heavy alcohol drinking (more than 8 drinks per week) directly damages the brain cells and impairs cognitive functions. Indirectly it may lead to poor general health and liver disease. Too much alcohol over time will cause permanent brain damage.
.Floss and brush your teeth at least twice a day after meals. Flossing removes food particles and prevents gum disease. Gum disease has been linked to heart disease and stroke.
4-Learn a new skills
Brain researchers believe that learning new skill like music, painting, and a new language can strengthen the brain. Learning a new skill stimulates neurons (nerve cells) in the brain which forms more nerve pathways across them and allows electric impulses to travel faster (brain plasticity).
5- Sleep
Sleep is important to a number of brain functions, including how nerve cells communicate with each other. Sleep is necessary to consolidate memory (make it stick) so that it can be recalled in the future. Recent findings suggest that sleep plays a housekeeping role that removes toxins from the brain that builds while we are awake. Sleep deprivation has been shown to have detrimental effect on cognitive functions. It also has effect on mood and emotion. Many of these effects vary from person to person.
Most adults need 7-9 hours of sleep a night. After age 60, night time sleep tends to be shorter, lighter, and interrupted.
Conclusion
Contrary to earlier belief our brain does not stop growing (neuro plasticity) when we become an adult. It is constantly growing until we are dead. The best ways to keep our brain sharp is to move (exercise and physical activity), eat heart-brain healthy foods, build a network of close family and friends, volunteer and do something good for your community if you can, get a good night sleep, and continue to learn new skills. “For it is in giving that we receive”- Francis of Assisi.
Sources
- National Institute of Aging- www.nia.nih.gov
- Wikipedia- www.wikipedia.org/human brain
- Sanjay Gupta. Build a Better Brain at Any age; Simon and Schuster, New York, 2021