3 simple tips that can help keep the brain young and healthy
Health / / December 19, 2019
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Tara Swart
Neuroscientist, author, trainer on leadership.
What changes occur in the brain with age
Surely you think that aging inevitably affects the brain and nothing can be done about it. This is not quite true. Yes, you can not turn back the clock and improve their level of intelligence and education. But the clarity of mind in old age affects the way of life. It does not matter when you start to stick - at 30 or 50.
Over time, the toxins accumulate in the brain - tau and beta-amyloid plaques. Their appearance is correlated with the beginning of aging and cognitive decline. This is a natural process, but many factors aggravate the situation and accelerate it. For example, stress and neurotoxins - alcohol, quantitative and qualitative lack of sleep.
The property of the brain that allows it to evolve over a lifetime, is called neuroplasticity. She has three mechanisms: synaptic connections myelination and neurogenesis. For healthy aging is the most important neurogenesis is responsible for the birth of new neurons. The people of mature age, this process is not so good as in infants and children.
The formation of new neurons in the adult occursHuman Hippocampal Neurogenesis Persists throughout Aging in the hippocampus - the part of the brain where memories are laid. Every day we respond to new experiences and accumulate them, and during sleep they are fixed. Therefore, the more our lives new - actions of people, places and emotions - the more we stimulate the process of neurogenesis.
How to help your brain stay young
1. Makes your heart beat faster
Aerobic exercise, such as jogging or brisk walking, positivelyYou can grow new brain cells. Here's how affect neurogenesis. StudySustained aerobic exercise increases adult neurogenesis in brain 2016, which was conducted on rats, showed that the best effect is given endurance exercise - high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and exercises with weights. Although other types of physical activity also have benefits.
Try to devote cardio 2.5 hours a week. Preferably do in the gym, park, or simply in the nature. Avoid the busy roads: suppress air pollutionNo exercise-induced increase in serum BDNF after cycling near a major traffic road Brain-derived neurotrophic factor - it also stimulates the growth of nerve cells. So under such circumstances it would be of little use.
If exercise alone is not for you, consider the types of command. For example, table tennis. Social interaction also has a positive effectSocial interaction plays a critical role in neurogenesis and recovery after stroke neurogenesis. Especially in table tennis you develop hand-eye coordination. This leadsChanges in gray matter induced by learning-revisited structural changes in the brain, and they - to a range of cognitive benefits.
Thus, the experiments confirmedAngela Rippon: What I've learned about the science of staying young: Coordination of development and socialization at the same time increases the thickness of the cerebral cortex in those parts of it that are associated with the social and emotional well-being. But it becomes very important with age.
2. Change eating habits
It is proved that calorie restrictionCalorie restriction protects neural stem cells from age-related deficits in the subventricular zone and timeIntermittent metabolic switching, neuroplasticity and brain healthWhere you can eat, as well as the interval starvationEvidence that brain-derived neurotrophic factor is required for basal neurogenesis and mediates, in part, the enhancement of neurogenesis by dietary restriction in the hippocampus of adult mice promote neurogenesis. StudyChronic Intermittent Fasting Improves Cognitive Functions and Brain Structures in Mice in rodents showed that fasting interval improves cognitive function and structure of the brain. In addition, it reduces symptoms of metabolic disorders such as diabetes.
Reducing sugar in the diet helps to reduce theStrategies for Reducing or Preventing the Generation of Oxidative Stress negative influence of oxidative processes in the brain cells. This significantly reduces theRole of oxidative stress in Alzheimer's disease the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. It is also proved that a one-day fasting on water improvesHungry stomach hormone promotes growth of new brain cells functioning of the brain and stimulate neurogenesis.
Consult with your doctor and try to perform one of the following rules:
- Once a month to conduct a one-day starvation.
- Two days a week to consume 50-60% less calories than normal. Do this for two or three months, or permanently.
- Every day for two weeks, consume 20% fewer calories than usual. Conduct such courses are three to four times a year.
- Determine the time when you are allowed to have, for example, from eight in the morning until eight at night or from noon until eight in the evening.
3. Pay particular attention to sleep
Sleep promotes "clean up" the brain, carried out glimfaticheskoy system. It prints accumulations of toxins - tau and beta-amyloid plaques, which were mentioned above. In addition, if a person does not sleep enough, his deteriorating memory.
researchers sayLack of Sleep Impairs Emotional IQThat one night waking takes a few points to your IQ. So try to sleep 7-9 hours and do not give up an afternoon siesta, if you need it.
Of course, the need for an individual dream. And here's how to check whether you need to change something. If you naturally wake up on weekends at the same time as on weekdays, most likely, everything is fine. If you linger in bed for a long time or a lot of sleep during the day, it is likely there is something wrong.
Try practicing in the evenings Yoga NidraOr practice conscious relaxation - scientists installedMindfulness meditation and improvement in sleep quality and daytime impairment among older adults with sleep disturbances: a randomized clinical trialThat it improves the quality of sleep. On the Internet a lot of videos, with which you can start practicing.
Choose any action from above and start the hard work with it, until it becomes a habit. Then move on to the next and so on. You will find that within a year will feel healthier, more energetic and motivated than they are now. Even though that will become a year older.
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