Which Areas Does Your Brain Need Help In?
Since my mild cold has turned into a full blown case of misery, I’m not much in the mood to dissect my ideas about success. Besides, my current definition of success is staying awake for more than 2 hours at a time.
Instead, I’ve thrown together a rough outline of something I’ve been mulling over for a while: a brain training guide, of sorts. The goal is to provide a tool to help others create their own individualized brain-training programs, starting with a self assessment of the following areas, each important to brain-health.
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Keeping An Active Mind
Staying mentally active is likely the best thing you can do to care for your brain. The brain-training software like those from Lumosity, MindFit and PositScience are good for this - but so is learning a new and engaging hobby, studying a new language, and so on. Keeping your mind engaged and constantly learning not only protects you from “normal” cognitive decline as you age, but also provides a buffer against more serious concerns like Alzheimers.
On a scale of 1-10, how active do you think you keep your brain?
Sleep
Your brain *needs* sleep; it’s when neurons are regenerated, new memories are formed, new synaptic connections are made. These changes take place at different parts of the sleep cycle, so a full nights rest is important. But between hectic lifestyles and stress induced insomnia, many of us don’t get the 7-9 hours we need.
How many hours do you sleep on an average night?
Water
Your brain needs to be watered, and all sorts of frightening things happen when it isn’t. Trust me on this one, even if I’m too tired to look up the sources right now.
Current guidelines on the amount you need depends on your lifestyle, weight, and sex - but the old standby of eight eight-ounce glasses of water is still a good general estimate for most of us. It doesn’t have to be straight water, either… tea, colas, juices and even coffee count towards the totals, though plenty of straight water is still a really good idea.
How much liquid do you consume a day, total?
How much of it is water?
Exercise:
Not only does physical exercise improve general health, it specifically helps your brain. It improves circulation (increasing bloodflow to the brain) and stimulates nifty biochemical reactions (yum, seratonin and endorphins!). We don’t often think about the role of the brain in physical activity, but being in motion requires coordination of many areas of the brain, from maintaining balance and rhythm, processing sensation and actually moving each muscle.
How physical activity do you get each week?
Stress Reduction:
Long-term stress can damage the brain, prevent the growth of new neurons, damaging existing neurons, increase the risk of strokes, depression and a host of other potential problems.
Do you take any steps to lower your stress levels? (Meditation, Neurofeedback, etc?)
Diet:
A healthy diet is as essential for brain health as it is for any other aspect of your body, and ongoing research points to many specific foods that are especially helpful for the brain. For now, though.. just rate your diet on a scale of 1-10: How healthy do you think it is?
Supplements:
Supplements are one of the simplest changes you can make - they arent a substitute for good food, but they do help. Later on we’ll delve into the brain-specific options, for now: What supplements are you currently taking, if any?
Any Special Concerns?
Do you have ADD? Other learning disabilities? Have a history of alcoholism, addiction, or traumatic brain injury? Concerns about your weight, existing memory loss, depression?
Some medications may cause cause or contribute to cognitive impairment. List any that you take, and check with your doctor to assess their risks, and if there are any ways to counteract their effects.
And general health check up is strongly recommended before making any significant lifestyle changes. You’ll discover any risk factors you may have, as well as uncovering potential areas that should take a higher priority in your brain-training: High cholesterol, for instance, means dietary changes become a priority. High blood pressure may improve from stress reduction techniques. Have your hearing and eyesight checked; if an exam shows problems, correct them, and then do training exercises focused on those areas.
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Reading over the paragraphs above may seem overwhelming, as most of us could use some improvements in many if not all of these areas. But don’t stress over it… small changes can often have big results, and each improvement makes the next that much easier.
Again, this post is just a rough and dirty introduction to the topic - something to keep MindTweaks from falling totally off the map while I recover from my own brain-numbing flu 
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Thank you for making this great list to help keep my mind on track with what is important.
You are so right when you say, “small changes can often have big results, and each improvement makes the next that much easier.”
One small change for me would be to start taking supplements or vitamins. One never knows which to take because there are so many choices. Ugh :/
Wishing you a speedy recovery!
Hi Jackie : )
I’m certainly no expert on supplements - but a sensible plan seems to be a multi purpose vitamin (with a focus on B’s) plus an Omega3 supplement (FishOil capsules being the best bet). I don’t go with the expensive stuff, just a normal name brand that seems mid-range, pricewise. I figure that sure, I could probably find something better, but small steps and all
I am sorry, but your assertion that “tea, colas, … and even coffee count towards the totals” of water delivery to the brain are inaccurate. Any liquid with caffeine does not provide a replenishment of water. Caffeine actually dehyrates the body, including the brain. If all the liquid one drank was caffeinated, the brain would be damaged.
This is said in good humor, but perhaps you were to tired to check the facts because you only drink caffeinated drinks.
dm
M.T.
Thank you for giving direction on the vitamins/supplements.
After reading your post I was thinking…all I drink is tea. Yikes!
I really don’t get a kick out of drinking plain water. One glass a day is all, unless I have been working outside.
Time to rethink my daily intake of liquids.
Jackie, I don’t know if I’d call my comments direction… it’s just what I do! When I get to expanding the supplement portion, I’ll try and get some expert input for it, somewhere. (Expert I’m not!)
As for the liquids, don’t panic. The current standards allow for things other than plain water to count towards totals. Caffeine is no longer viewed as such a bad thing, either and both black and green teas have shown to have health benefits, too. It’s probably good to up the pure water intake so that its more of a percentage of the totals, but the most important thing is to be sure you’re staying hydrated, whatever the source.
Again, my thinking is not to overwhelm ourselves with a massive lifestyle change most of us won’t keep up with, but to find simple changes that are more doable, one at a time.
Thanks for the comments, and keeping me inspired in spite of the effects of Nyquil.
Hey Dave,
You made me laugh with the “too tired” comment. Clever! But tired or sick, or cola-logged though I may be, I actually did check the facts on this one, I swear I did!
The old thinking about liquid consumption has changed, and the current recommendations are a lot looser than the old 8×8ounces of water. Research revealed that caffeine is not the strong diuretic we were taught it was, and so caffeinated drinks do count towards total liquid intake.
I’ll try and make the water/liquid post the first concept I expand on, complete with cited references. For now, here’s a not-so-easy-to-read article that covers a lot of territory:
http://tinyurl.com/2uc6no
So much brain and health oriented info changes too rapidly to easily keep up with; that’s one reason I’m going to try and put together this series as a sort of central source. Thanks for keeping me on my toes - I do need to be triple checking these facts.
I discovered something quite by accident when I was having memory problems big time. I started taking a glucosamine complex that included other goodies. Within two days my memory was just fine and I was talking like a professor. Needless to say, I knew it was the supplement I had been taking. The complex also included boron, zinc and grapeseed extract. I narrowed it down to the Boron and Zinc. Sure enough that is what it is! For some reason I require high amounts of the Boron and Zinc. I have since read that our farmers are not replenishing the soil with enough Boron or maybe not at all. I’ll tell you how critical, especially the Boron is for me. If I don’t take it for two days, I notice my memory slipping a lot. If anyone is having these problems, I suggest you go to your health food store and buy some. If Boron is your problem, you will know it in two to three days. By the way, Zinc is also important and so is Lecithin. I take 3-9 mg. of Boron a day, 15-30 mg. Zinc and a very large capsule of Lecithin.
Your B vitamins are also very important for energy, the brain, etc. However, the Boron, Zinc and Lecithin work the best for me when it comes to memory and a well functioning brain.
Interesting stuff, Carol - and I’m glad you found the key to your memory issues. It fascinates me how different each person’s body chemistry is, and how little we still know about the fine details of what our brain needs to function well.
A quick check on the web did indeed confirm Carol’s observation: Though it hasn’t yet been recognized as a required element, Boron does seem to have a link to cognitive function, as does Zinc, and Lecithin/Choline.
Some Boron Research
Research on Zinc and Iron
Since I’m so-not-an-expert, and some supplements may be toxic at some doses, my paranoia requires me to say you should discuss supplements with your doctor and/or a qualified nutritionist.
Do not emulate the ill-advised supplemental tinkering your humble author often engages in
(And thanks again, Carol - you gave me another direction to investigate)
Very intereting reading, I have had abit of a health wake up, high blood pressure and off for a glucose tolerance test next week, most of this is my own fault, haven’t been doing enough for me.
I was searching info on lecithin and came across this discussion, I have worked for many years with crop nutrients (the lack of) issues and totally agree we are no different than a crop, boron has always been a major issue and agree we must have the same need, cell division and development etc. a vegeatable gets a crack if it is lacking boron, heaven knows what happens inside us.
Hope this discussion carries on.
I am in NZ.
Cheers and good health.
Col.
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