Everyone has seen or heard of someone with a photographic memory. We have also seen or know people afflicted with alzheimers, dementia, and low IQ's. Why do some people have such memory power and others either never have it or are stripped of it by disease and neglect.
Studies have shown that 50% of brain power and function is genetic, and 50% is environment derived. What that means is that, yes, there are some that are born better off than others - Just like some people are born with more wealth than the rest of us (Paris Hilton, Martin Sheen, etc...), but for every one inherently better off rich kid (spoiled brat) there are 3 or more selfstarters that have equaled or surpassed them with hard work. This is the same with inherent genius. This means that 50% of your brain power is a direct result of its environment - what it is exposed to, the activity it receives, and can be seriously developed to even surpass the born super geniuses.
The brain is very similar to a muscle. We have all heard of stories of the underdog in sports. Someone whom has overcome great difficulty, diseases like cancer (Lance Armstrong), etc... and risen to be the best - far exceeding people with better genetics, better training, etc... The brain is no different. The number one thing to increase your brain's thinking power is activity. Just like muscles it needs to be exercised and stretched out.
Dr's know that the way to avoid mental decline is to constantly expose the brain to new activities. Keep it active. Studies have shown that the harder you work your brain the more it will improve. It has actually been proven that those who work their minds the hardest have actually shown definite and marked improvement in scores on various intelligence tests. It has also been proven that stagnation will cause a marked decline on those same tests. This same activity has even been proved to help those whose minds have already started to decline - even in alzheimers patients.
Now, just like the body has many different muscles, the brain has numerous functions and each has its own area or region. This is why there is autism and savants like Rainman. Gentics just like the environment can lead to gross overdevelpment of a region and underdevelopment of others (autism). Just like body builders wouldn't want to just work on their chest muscles, you want to try and expand your whole range of thought for a more well rounded brain. There are many different areas of brain thought like short term and long term memory, spatial perception, logic, some even say there is an unknown area that has been related to psychics and communication with the unknown (studies have actually shown that there is an area of the mind unlinked with any known thought processes that is highly developed (extensive increases in neuropathways and blood flow) that is only seen in psychic and paranormal activities - interesting!
We will not go into how to exercise each of the areas of the brain as there are numerous books on this (a great one is by Harry Lorraine - The Memory Book. Just remember crossword puzzles, college and adult education classes, reading - especially different subject matter, brainstorming, etc... will all help you develope your mind and reach your peak mental fitness and potential. I just want you to realize how important it is to keep your mind active and sharp. This mental exercise will inherently improve your IQ, bolster your confidence, make you and your life more interesting, earn you more friends, and make you more money for all these same reasons, regardless your profession - what have you got to lose. Maybe through brainstorming and streching the limits of your mind you will invent new ideas, products, or maybe even start your own business. This is how we invented our patented headlight cleaner and restorer, formed a biochemical company, and became the number one supplier of TCA peel skin peels in the world. Start exercising your brain today - you never know where it may take you!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Monday, September 15, 2008
Top 10 Tips to Improve your Memory
Virtually every day we are required to remember a name, a face, a number, or some other piece of information. For many people it is a struggle. It no longer needs to be so - here is a list of ten great tips to improving your memory.
1. Patterns
An excellent way to remember a large number or phrase, is to look for patterns. Here is a simple example:
3810151722242931363843
The number appears to be random until you realize that it is following a pattern: add 5, then add 2, repeat. Once you know the pattern, you only need to remember the first number in the sequence. This can be a useful way to create a numeric password that changes regularly. Another way to use this system is to remember the numbers in the form of a numerical keyboard. You can use your spatial awareness to remember the number rather than just blind memorizing.
2. Associations
This is an excellent method for memorizing numbers. In this system, you associate portions of the number with a word that has some relation to it. For example:
74736052007365
Split the number up and make an association for each sequence. Doing so can give us a list like this: Jumbo Jet (747), XBox (360), Deck of Cards (52), James Bond (007), Days in the year (365). This method can again be used for passwords that are easy to remember. To help you remember your images, try to imagine a scene that incorporates all of the items. For example, you may see a calendar with a photograph of James Bond playing poker on his XBox on a private 747. Sounds weird, but it works.
3. Alphabetize
We are all very familiar with the system of alphabetization - we see it every day in phone books, online directories, and a variety of other places. If you have a list of words to remember, put them into alphabetical order. If you wanted to learn a very long list - such as the States of the USA, start with one state per letter. Once you have that memorized, go back and add another state for each letter. Repeat until the whole list is stored in your mind. You would be surprised how much more effective this is than just trying to remember the whole list in one go.
4. Categorize
In a way, alphabetizing is categorizing, but with this method you can go a lot further. If you have a big list of things to remember, you can find similarities and group them. For example a shopping list:
Apples, Shampoo, Cheese, Milk, Sugar, Bananas, Soap, Coconut, Flour
Now, reorder them into categories and we have this:
Fruit: Apples, Bananas
Dried Goods: Coconut, Sugar, Flour
Dairy: Milk, Cheese
Bathroom: Shampoo, Soap
Another great way to remember your categories (especially in the case of a shopping list) is to remember your categories in the order that they are found in the supermarket. For example, if your first aisle is Fruit, remember the fruit first and think of the fruit aisle while you are doing so.
5. Chunking
Chunking is such a useful method of remembering things that we all use it every day. The best example is telephone numbers. When we are told a phone number we have to remember we chunk it up - usually into area code - 3 digits - four digits. This is not out of conformity - it is because it is the most effective way to remember such random numbers. This is also an excellent way to remember long sequences like pi to n digits. Taking just four extra digits a day you can easily remember pi to many decimal places. Great for a party trick.
6. Images
This is the most effective way to remember a person’s name. If you meet John Key, imagine his face with a big key right in the center of his face. If you meet someone called Patty Grant, you can try to remember a meat patty wrapped in wads of cash. I will leave it up to your own imagination if you meet Bob Johnson. Another way to do this is to find an association between this person and someone else you know - imagine them shaking hands or standing next to each other.
7. Visualize
This is a very ancient technique of memorization called Loci. In this method you imagine a location (something easy like your home) and you place the objects you need to remember in to a different part of the room. The famous Cicero had this to say:
“One must employ a large number of places which must be well-lighted, clearly set out in order, at moderate intervals apart, and images which are active, which are sharply defined, unusual, and which have the power of speedily encountering and penetrating the mind.”
For example, if you need to remember a list of vegetables, put each vegetable in a different place in the room. When you need to recall the list, move in your mind through each location in the room and see what you put there. If you find this one especially helpful, you can expand on it by adding additional floors to your location.
8. Story Method
This one can be very fun. Make up a story and include all of the things you need to remember in it. The story can be totally ridiculous. Let’s say you need to remember to buy a bucket, a dozen apples, a hairbrush, and some kitty litter, you might make a story like this:
After Jane emptied the kitty litter from Felix’s dirtbox in to the red bucket, she gave him a good brushing with his new hairbrush while she ate an apple for lunch.
It is not the most thrilling or original story, but it can be very effective in helping you to remember your list
9. Mnemonics
A mnemonic is a word or short phrase that you can use to remember something because it is like a key to the rest of the information. For example, if you learned music as a child, you probably remember the phrase: “every good boy deserves fruit” - each word stands for a note on the musical staff - EGBDF. No doubt you were also taught a mnemonic to remember the colors of the rainbow as well.
Another slight variation is to use a phrase: desert and dessert: the sweet one has two sugars. We also use this to remember daylight savings time: Spring forward, fall back.
10. Senses
If you have to remember a word, try remembering it with your other senses. For example, if you have to remember to buy soap, try to conjure up an image of soap and whilst doing so, imagine what it smells like. You can also use your other senses in the same way: to remember to buy an alarm clock, remember the sound it makes when it goes off in the morning.
All of the items on this list can be used on their own, or in conjunction with the others to help you improve your memory. The more you practice these tips, the better you will become.
Source: 5 Minute Memory Workout
Friday, September 12, 2008
How to increase your memory
You should have left the house five minutes ago. Instead you're demolishing the place in search of your car keys. You finally find them (how on earth did they get there?) and pull up to the school just as the bell rings. That's when your six-year-old pouts, "Mommy, it's my day to bring snack, remember?" You race to the store, deliver a box of Goldfish to the teacher (no time to run home for the homemade treats you left in the fridge), and make it to work with seven minutes to spare until your very important meeting. The meeting for which you created a fabulous Power Point presentation, which is sure to impress your superiors. The Power Point that is saved on your laptop. On your desk. At home.
Wouldn't life be easier if you could only remember things better? Good news! You can boost your powers of recall and become healthier simultaneously.
Dr. Paul Bendheim, a renowned neurologist who specializes in memory loss and Alzheimer's disease says there is a way to actually increase your brain's function. Bendheim, an authority on Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, helped pioneer a lifestyle program called BrainSavers (www.brainsavers.com), which emphasizes nutrition, memory enhancement exercises and physical fitness as a three-pronged approach to increase and preserve cognitive skills and even ward off Alzheimer's. Could this approach help you with your everyday recall?
"Absolutely!" says Bendheim. "The brain is like a muscle that needs to be exercised to increase memory and cognitive function."
Bendheim recommends building brain reserve over your lifetime. Professor Shlomo Breznitz, founder of CogniFit, Ltd., concurs, stating that just like a muscle the mind requires exercise to keep fit and strong and that you must either "use it or lose it!" In order to develop your "brain muscle" you should embark on what might be called a cognitive fitness program.
Cognitive skills include decision making, problem solving, and abstract thinking. Increasing these skills will not only improve your day-to-day memory function, but can help ward off Alzheimer's as you age.
MindFit is a brain power fitness software program created by CogniFit. (BrainSavers is a distributor of the software). A demo is available here . Also offered are a corporate program for employers, a program called "Back on Track" for breast cancer patients experiencing chemo fog (a beta version is available here, and a DriveFit program which can improve the different cognitive processes related to driving.
MindFit engages your mind by exercising your cognitive skills. Once you complete the evaluation section you will be able to log on daily and perform challenging, enjoyable scheduled tasks that border on addictive! Feedback is provided by a virtual "personal coach" and the software adapts to your training requirements.
Other ways to exercise your cognitive skills include seeking higher education, undertaking challenging employment opportunities, attending interesting and informative lectures, and even entertaining yourself with games of chess or mind-bending word puzzles.
Foods rich in antioxidants and Omega 3 fatty acids are the second aspect that should be considered, according to Bendheim. Make sure your diet includes loads of fresh produce, fish, healthy fats such as olive oil, and - if you are so inclined - a modest amount of wine. (BrainSavers offers delicious bars that are loaded with mind-enhancing nutrients.) Along with a healthy diet, supplements that can help improve your memory include vitamins C and E and ginkgo biloba.
The third factor of the memory building equation is physical fitness. Dr. Bendheim states that this aspect is very important.
"Even an aging, older brain can generate new cells with only modest physical exercise," affirms Bendheim.
Medical studies have shown that aerobic exercise will increase the number of neurons in the brain, the number of connections between neurons, and the even size of the frontal and temporal lobes.
You don't need to swim the English Channel or run the Boston Marathon, either. Any aerobic exercise - walking, swimming, biking - performed at a comfortable pace with only a slight increase in heart rate and breathing will do. Aim for 30 to 60 minutes, at least three times each week.
Other forms of exercise may help your memory improve as well. Nicole Persley, a certified yoga instructor in Fort Lauderdale, FL recommends yoga. Her fiancé Randy Schneider attests that since he started practicing yoga every morning, in particular headstands for two to five minutes, his memory has increased tremendously. Yoga helps improve concentration and focus, and spine lengthening postures can activate the spinal column and stimulate the nervous system. Inverted postures such as standing on one's head increase oxygen and blood circulation to the brain.
So get moving, make brain-nourishing food choices and work on increasing that brain muscle. Before you know it, you will find yourself walking out that door on time, with keys, snacks and laptop in hand. An added bonus: with all that healthful living, your memory will be the only thing that resembles an elephant!
Wouldn't life be easier if you could only remember things better? Good news! You can boost your powers of recall and become healthier simultaneously.
Dr. Paul Bendheim, a renowned neurologist who specializes in memory loss and Alzheimer's disease says there is a way to actually increase your brain's function. Bendheim, an authority on Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, helped pioneer a lifestyle program called BrainSavers (www.brainsavers.com), which emphasizes nutrition, memory enhancement exercises and physical fitness as a three-pronged approach to increase and preserve cognitive skills and even ward off Alzheimer's. Could this approach help you with your everyday recall?
"Absolutely!" says Bendheim. "The brain is like a muscle that needs to be exercised to increase memory and cognitive function."
Bendheim recommends building brain reserve over your lifetime. Professor Shlomo Breznitz, founder of CogniFit, Ltd., concurs, stating that just like a muscle the mind requires exercise to keep fit and strong and that you must either "use it or lose it!" In order to develop your "brain muscle" you should embark on what might be called a cognitive fitness program.
Cognitive skills include decision making, problem solving, and abstract thinking. Increasing these skills will not only improve your day-to-day memory function, but can help ward off Alzheimer's as you age.
MindFit is a brain power fitness software program created by CogniFit. (BrainSavers is a distributor of the software). A demo is available here . Also offered are a corporate program for employers, a program called "Back on Track" for breast cancer patients experiencing chemo fog (a beta version is available here, and a DriveFit program which can improve the different cognitive processes related to driving.
MindFit engages your mind by exercising your cognitive skills. Once you complete the evaluation section you will be able to log on daily and perform challenging, enjoyable scheduled tasks that border on addictive! Feedback is provided by a virtual "personal coach" and the software adapts to your training requirements.
Other ways to exercise your cognitive skills include seeking higher education, undertaking challenging employment opportunities, attending interesting and informative lectures, and even entertaining yourself with games of chess or mind-bending word puzzles.
Foods rich in antioxidants and Omega 3 fatty acids are the second aspect that should be considered, according to Bendheim. Make sure your diet includes loads of fresh produce, fish, healthy fats such as olive oil, and - if you are so inclined - a modest amount of wine. (BrainSavers offers delicious bars that are loaded with mind-enhancing nutrients.) Along with a healthy diet, supplements that can help improve your memory include vitamins C and E and ginkgo biloba.
The third factor of the memory building equation is physical fitness. Dr. Bendheim states that this aspect is very important.
"Even an aging, older brain can generate new cells with only modest physical exercise," affirms Bendheim.
Medical studies have shown that aerobic exercise will increase the number of neurons in the brain, the number of connections between neurons, and the even size of the frontal and temporal lobes.
You don't need to swim the English Channel or run the Boston Marathon, either. Any aerobic exercise - walking, swimming, biking - performed at a comfortable pace with only a slight increase in heart rate and breathing will do. Aim for 30 to 60 minutes, at least three times each week.
Other forms of exercise may help your memory improve as well. Nicole Persley, a certified yoga instructor in Fort Lauderdale, FL recommends yoga. Her fiancé Randy Schneider attests that since he started practicing yoga every morning, in particular headstands for two to five minutes, his memory has increased tremendously. Yoga helps improve concentration and focus, and spine lengthening postures can activate the spinal column and stimulate the nervous system. Inverted postures such as standing on one's head increase oxygen and blood circulation to the brain.
So get moving, make brain-nourishing food choices and work on increasing that brain muscle. Before you know it, you will find yourself walking out that door on time, with keys, snacks and laptop in hand. An added bonus: with all that healthful living, your memory will be the only thing that resembles an elephant!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Top 10 Memory Improvement tips
Before you study for your next exam, you might want to use a few strategies to boost your memory of important information. There are a number of tried and tested techniques for improving memory. These strategies have been established within cognitive psychology literature and offer a number of great ways to improve memory, enhance recall, and increase retention of information.
1. Focus your attention on the materials you are studying.
Attention is one of the major components of memory. In order for information to move from short-term memory into long-term memory, you need to actively attend to this information. Try to study in a place free of distractions such as television, music, and other diversions.2. Avoid cramming by establishing regular study sessions.
According to Bjork (2001), studying materials over a number of session’s gives you the time you need to adequately process the information. Research has shown that students who study regularly remember the material far better that those did all of their studying in one marathon session.3. Structure and organize the information you are studying.
Researchers have found that information is organized in memory in related clusters. You can take advantage of this by structuring and organizing the materials you are studying. Try grouping similar concepts and terms together, or make an outline of your notes and textbook readings to help group related concepts. 4. Utilize mnemonic devices to remember information.
Mnemonic devices are a technique often used by students to aid in recall. A mnemonic is simply a way to remember information. For example, you might associate a term you need to remember with a common item that you are very familiar with. The best mnemonics are those that utilize positive imagery, humor, or novelty. You might come up with a rhyme, song, or joke to help remember a specific segment of information.5. Elaborate and rehearse the information you are studying.
In order to recall information, you need to encode what you are studying into long-term memory. One of the most effective encoding techniques is known as elaborative rehearsal. An example of this technique would be to read the definition of a key term, study the definition of that term, and then read a more detailed description of what that term means. After repeating this process a few times, your recall of the information will be far better. 6. Relate new information to things you already know.
When you are studying unfamiliar material, take the time to think about how this information relates to things that you already know. By establishing relationships between new ideas and previously existing memories, you can dramatically increase the likelihood of recalling the recently learned information.7. Visualize concepts to improve memory and recall.
Many people benefit greatly from visualizing the information they study. Pay attention to the photographs, charts, and other graphics in your textbooks. If you don’t have visual cues to help, try creating your own. Draw charts or figures in the margins of your notes or use highlighters or pens in different colors to group related ideas in your written study materials.8. Teach new concepts to another person.
Research suggests that reading materials out loud significantly improves memory of the material. Educators and psychologists have also discovered that having students actually teach new concepts to others enhances understanding and recall. You can use this approach in your own study by teaching new concepts and information to a friend or study partner. 9. Pay extra attention to difficult information.
Have you ever noticed how it's sometimes easier to remember information at the beginning or end of a chapter? Researchers have found that the position of information can play a role in recall, which is known as the serial position effect. While recalling middle information can be difficult, you can overcome this problem by spending extra time rehearsing this information or try restructuring the information so it will be easier to remember. When you come across an especially difficult concept, devote some extra time to memorizing the information.10. Vary your study routine.
Another great way to increase your recall is to occasionally change your study routine. If you are accustomed to studying in one specific location, try moving to a different spot to study. If you study in the evening, try to spend a few minutes each morning reviewing the information you studied the previous night. By adding an element of novelty to your study sessions, you can increase the effectiveness of your efforts and significantly improve your long-term recall.
1. Focus your attention on the materials you are studying.
Attention is one of the major components of memory. In order for information to move from short-term memory into long-term memory, you need to actively attend to this information. Try to study in a place free of distractions such as television, music, and other diversions.2. Avoid cramming by establishing regular study sessions.
According to Bjork (2001), studying materials over a number of session’s gives you the time you need to adequately process the information. Research has shown that students who study regularly remember the material far better that those did all of their studying in one marathon session.3. Structure and organize the information you are studying.
Researchers have found that information is organized in memory in related clusters. You can take advantage of this by structuring and organizing the materials you are studying. Try grouping similar concepts and terms together, or make an outline of your notes and textbook readings to help group related concepts. 4. Utilize mnemonic devices to remember information.
Mnemonic devices are a technique often used by students to aid in recall. A mnemonic is simply a way to remember information. For example, you might associate a term you need to remember with a common item that you are very familiar with. The best mnemonics are those that utilize positive imagery, humor, or novelty. You might come up with a rhyme, song, or joke to help remember a specific segment of information.5. Elaborate and rehearse the information you are studying.
In order to recall information, you need to encode what you are studying into long-term memory. One of the most effective encoding techniques is known as elaborative rehearsal. An example of this technique would be to read the definition of a key term, study the definition of that term, and then read a more detailed description of what that term means. After repeating this process a few times, your recall of the information will be far better. 6. Relate new information to things you already know.
When you are studying unfamiliar material, take the time to think about how this information relates to things that you already know. By establishing relationships between new ideas and previously existing memories, you can dramatically increase the likelihood of recalling the recently learned information.7. Visualize concepts to improve memory and recall.
Many people benefit greatly from visualizing the information they study. Pay attention to the photographs, charts, and other graphics in your textbooks. If you don’t have visual cues to help, try creating your own. Draw charts or figures in the margins of your notes or use highlighters or pens in different colors to group related ideas in your written study materials.8. Teach new concepts to another person.
Research suggests that reading materials out loud significantly improves memory of the material. Educators and psychologists have also discovered that having students actually teach new concepts to others enhances understanding and recall. You can use this approach in your own study by teaching new concepts and information to a friend or study partner. 9. Pay extra attention to difficult information.
Have you ever noticed how it's sometimes easier to remember information at the beginning or end of a chapter? Researchers have found that the position of information can play a role in recall, which is known as the serial position effect. While recalling middle information can be difficult, you can overcome this problem by spending extra time rehearsing this information or try restructuring the information so it will be easier to remember. When you come across an especially difficult concept, devote some extra time to memorizing the information.10. Vary your study routine.
Another great way to increase your recall is to occasionally change your study routine. If you are accustomed to studying in one specific location, try moving to a different spot to study. If you study in the evening, try to spend a few minutes each morning reviewing the information you studied the previous night. By adding an element of novelty to your study sessions, you can increase the effectiveness of your efforts and significantly improve your long-term recall.
Scientists discover way to reverse loss of memoryloss
Your brain is a vital organ, and like the other vital organs in your body, it can be damaged by poor diet, stress, exposure to toxins, and aging.
Just like your heart, your brain won’t work as well if cholesterol deposits or high blood pressure damages the arteries that supply its blood. In fact, a study from the Netherlands found that the same high-saturated-fat diet raises your risk of having a heart attack or stroke also makes you more prone to developing dementia. That word doesn’t mean demented, exactly. But dementia does include age-related memory impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.
"What works for the heart, works for the brain, with some modifications," says Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., president and medical director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Foundation in Tucson and co-author of Brain Longevity. That’s why many of the nutritional supplements recommended to shield your brain from age-related memory impairment also offer protection from heart disease.
"Memory loss used to be considered a somewhat normal occurrence with age, but it isn’t," says Dr. Khalsa. "People don’t have to inevitably decline."
Some researchers regard Alzheimer’s disease as a kind of a subcategory of normal memory loss that’s associated with aging, Dr. Khalsa says. "Experts now think that there is a continuum from age-associated memory loss into Alzheimer’s disease, at least in some people."
Other researchers aren’t so sure. When people have Alzheimer’s disease, microscopic changes occur in the brain, and those changes are somewhat different from the changes seen in people who have declining memories as a result of the aging process, says Jay Lombard, M.D., assistant clinical professor of neurology at Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York City and co-author of The Brain Wellness Plan. There’s also a genetic component to Alzheimer’s disease, so your risk may be higher if a parent or grandparent had it.
Some forgetfulness—and even some memory loss—doesn’t mean that you’re on the brink of Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, there are a number of ways that you may be able to slow the progression, Dr. Khalsa says. "Reducing stress is really important because stress may be the main cause of memory problems in people under age 40," he says. The amount of sleep you get and the quality of your diet can also have a major impact on how fast your brain can compute.
Even exercise can protect your brain. One study showed that people who were least active from the ages of 20 to 59 were 2½ times more likely to have Alzheimer’s disease than those who were most active.
Nutritional supplements or herbs can also help. Some can protect neurons in the brain from being damaged by free radicals. Unstable molecules can harm cells, and free radicals can sometimes prevent the breakdown of the important messenger chemicals called neurotransmitters, says Dr. Khalsa. Other supplements can actually stimulate the production of neurotransmitters. If you want to give your memory a boost, here’s what is recommended.
Save Your Brain with Ginkgo
Ginkgo has long been used to improve mental function. In Europe, an extract of this herb is an approved treatment for dementia, including that caused by Alzheimer’s disease. The first clinical study done in the United States found that 120 milligrams daily of ginkgo extract not only stabilized Alzheimer’s disease but also led to significant improvements in mental function in 20 percent of the patients. The concentration used was standardized to 24 percent ginkgoflavoglycosides and 6 percent terpenelactones, which are believed to be the active agents. There were no side effects.
Ginkgo also acts as a potent antioxidant, says Dr. Lombard, so it can help to protect your brain from oxidative damage due to aging, heart disease, or toxins. It can also inhibit the breakdown of some kinds of neurotransmitters that are involved in mood and memory and enhance the release of others.
Ginkgo can be used to treat the early stages of Alzheimer’s and to protect against further damage. Dr. Lombard recommends twice-daily doses of 120 milligrams of extract standardized to 24 percent ginkgoflavoglycosides. Don’t expect immediate results, however. It may take up to six months of taking ginkgo consistently before the benefits begin to show.
Antioxidants Prevent "Brain Rust"
Our brains are prone to damage from free radicals just like the rest of our bodies. When they damage brain cells, we pay the price with memory loss. In addition, the immune system reacts to the damage with a process that actually generates even more free radicals, so there’s a cascade of free radical production. One study by Canadian researchers found evidence of significantly more free radicals than normal in samples of brain tissue from people with Alzheimer’s disease.
Chinese Moss May Help Restore Memory
A natural substance extracted from a rare moss found in the cold climates of China is being sold in the United States as a nutritional supplement that may alleviate symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.
Called Huperzine A, this substance can be extracted from the club moss Huperzia serrata, which has been used for centuries in China to treat fever and inflammation, says Alan Kozikowski, Ph.D., director of the drug discovery program at Georgetown Institute of Cognitive and Computational Sciences at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Huperzine A works by interfering with an enzyme that influences acetylcholine, an important brain neurotransmitter. An Alzheimer’s drug on the market, donepezil hydrochloride (Aricept), works the same way. “Preventing the breakdown of acetylcholine allows the small amount that is present in the brain to exert its benefits so you can retrieve memories or form new ones,” says Dr. Kozikowski. Several studies have shown that Huperzine A improves brain function in patients with dementia.
Huperzine A seems to have additional properties that may help it to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s, Dr. Kozikowski says. One study showed that it can slow the formation of a harmful kind of plaque, a buildup of protein deposits in the brain. Other studies indicate that it can protect brain cells from glutamate, a neurotransmitter that becomes toxic when it is secreted in large amounts. Scientists suspect that the brain releases these super-high secretions when it’s low on oxygen. Some research also indicates that Huperzine A helps to block the process of inflammation that occurs as Alzheimer’s disease progresses, Dr. Kozikowski says.
The amount of Huperzine A used in the Chinese studies was four 50-microgram tablets a day. The dosage currently being recommended on the product sold in the United States is just half that amount—two 50-microgram tablets a day. More research on Huperzine A is currently under way in the United States, says Dr. Kozikowski.
There is good reason to believe that antioxidant nutrients, especially vitamin E, can help prevent damage to brain cells, Dr. Khalsa says. Vitamin E protects signal-sensitive neurons in the brain from free radical damage. Certain areas of the neurons, called neurotransmitter receptor sites, benefit from some fix-it work when vitamin E is present, he notes, "so vitamin E can not only prevent deterioration of the brain, it also actually reverses an important element of deterioration."
Vitamin E is fat-soluble, so it has a free pass around the brain, which contains a lot of fats. In its travels, vitamin E interacts with cell membranes, traps free radicals, and interrupts the rapid-fire chain reactions that produce even more free radicals. When scientists did animal studies using vitamin E, they found that this important antioxidant reduces the degeneration of cells in the hippocampus, which is precisely the part of the brain that’s hit hardest by Alzheimer’s. After blood flow was cut off for a time, vitamin E could help the cells recover, and it enhanced the recovery of motor function after spinal cord injury.
Some test-tube studies have also been done, and they suggest how vita min E can do even more: It can help protect cells that have suffered from a lack of oxygen. It can also reduce cell death associated with a protein that causes damage in Alzheimer’s disease.
A study that involved people with Alzheimer’s showed some positive results when the participants took vitamin E. Recruited from 23 centers participating in the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study, people with moderately severe disease received 2,000 international units (IU) a day of vitamin E for two years. According to researchers, those people survived an average of 230 days longer than those not getting supplements.
Both Dr. Lombard and Dr. Khalsa recommend taking antioxidant nutrients, including vitamin E. But they favor a mixture of antioxidants and less vitamin E than was used in the cooperative study. "If you are on an antioxidant program, you just don’t need that much vitamin E," Dr. Khalsa says. "The antioxidants act synergistically, so 1 and 1 equals 11, not 2. A mixture of antioxidants is more effective than large amounts of just one."
Dr. Khalsa recommends 400 to 800 IU of vitamin E, 3,000 milligrams of vitamin C in divided doses, 10,000 to 25,000 IU of vitamin A, and 50 to 100 micrograms of selenium. In addition, he suggests that people take 100 to 200 milligrams a day of coenzyme Q10, which acts as an antioxidant and helps energy production in cells throughout the body. With doses this high, however, it’s important to have a doctor approve the supplement program.
Boost Your Brain with B Vitamins
Most of the B vitamins play a role in brain function. They help the breakdown of blood sugar, or glucose. Since the brain relies on a perpetual supply of glucose for energy, this is very important, Dr. Khalsa says.
Deficiencies of both vitamin B12 and folic acid have been associated with memory loss. When someone complains of problems with memory, a doctor usually begins an examination by checking for deficiencies of these vitamins, Dr. Khalsa says.
A study has helped establish the connection between these vitamins and Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists at England’s Oxford University and in Bergen, Norway, found that 76 Alzheimer’s patients had lower blood levels of the two vitamins than 108 people of the same age with no signs of Alzheimer’s symptoms. The researchers also found that the Alzheimer’s patients had higher blood levels of homocysteine, an amino acid by-product that other studies have shown to be a factor in atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). This offers further support for supplementing with folic acid and B12, since both are known to reduce homocysteine levels.
Diagnosing a deficiency of vitamin B12 can sometimes be difficult because a person can be low in the vitamin even if blood tests appear normal. Many doctors are now recommending a more sensitive screening to detect a B12 deficiency by measuring homocysteine levels. With some people who have Alzheimer’s disease, homocysteine levels are abnormal, and Dr. Lombard has found that vitamin B12 treatment can be effective for them.
Since the B vitamins are generally beneficial, your best tactic may be to take a high-potency B-complex formula that includes 50 milligrams of most of the different kinds, Dr. Lombard says. Look for one that includes 1,000 micrograms of both vitamin B12 and folic acid along with the other ingredients.
A Memory Pill
Dr. Lombard suggests that people who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease should also take 300 milligrams of a nutritional supplement called phosphatidylserine (PS) daily with meals. "Phosphatidylserine is an important component of cell membranes and helps cells in the brain to retain their fluidity—an important property for proper function," he says.
Several studies have shown PS to be helpful for age-related memory decline, Alzheimer’s disease, or depression. In one six-month study, a group of people with moderate to severe senility were given three daily 100- milligram doses of PS. In another group with similar symptoms, participants received inactive pills (placebos). Researchers assessed both groups to measure their mental performance and behavior at the beginning and end of the study. Significant improvements were noted in the mental function and behavior of members of the group receiving PS.
The substance used in these studies was derived from cow brains. Since reports of mad cow disease began surfacing in the mid-1990s, cow brains are no longer considered a safe source, says Dr. Khalsa. The PS that is now on the market is derived from soybeans. "It appears to be pretty much the same and to have the same benefit, but there are no published studies to confirm that," he says.
Memory Aid from Acetyl-L-Carnitine
Acetyl-l-carnitine, derived from the natural substance l-carnitine, is structurally similar to the memory neurotransmitter acetlylcholine and displays similar actions in the brain, Dr. Lombard says.
Acetyl-l-carnitine protects nerve cell membranes from free radical attack. It also is essential for the production of energy in brain cells and helps transport fatty acids into the cells’ tiny power plants, the mitochondria.
Several studies have shown that acetyl-l-carnitine is helpful for people with Alzheimer’s disease, Dr. Lombard says. One multicenter study was done with 357 people age 55 or older who had Alzheimer’s. It showed that the memories of those 65 or younger who received 3,000 milligrams of l-carnitine a day didn’t decline as quickly as those of a comparative group of people who weren’t given the supplement.
Dr. Lombard suggests 2,000 milligrams of acetyl-l-carnitine daily for treatment of people with mild to moderate memory loss. Take this supplement between meals, he advises.
As for
Just like your heart, your brain won’t work as well if cholesterol deposits or high blood pressure damages the arteries that supply its blood. In fact, a study from the Netherlands found that the same high-saturated-fat diet raises your risk of having a heart attack or stroke also makes you more prone to developing dementia. That word doesn’t mean demented, exactly. But dementia does include age-related memory impairment and Alzheimer’s disease.
"What works for the heart, works for the brain, with some modifications," says Dharma Singh Khalsa, M.D., president and medical director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Foundation in Tucson and co-author of Brain Longevity. That’s why many of the nutritional supplements recommended to shield your brain from age-related memory impairment also offer protection from heart disease.
"Memory loss used to be considered a somewhat normal occurrence with age, but it isn’t," says Dr. Khalsa. "People don’t have to inevitably decline."
Some researchers regard Alzheimer’s disease as a kind of a subcategory of normal memory loss that’s associated with aging, Dr. Khalsa says. "Experts now think that there is a continuum from age-associated memory loss into Alzheimer’s disease, at least in some people."
Other researchers aren’t so sure. When people have Alzheimer’s disease, microscopic changes occur in the brain, and those changes are somewhat different from the changes seen in people who have declining memories as a result of the aging process, says Jay Lombard, M.D., assistant clinical professor of neurology at Weill Medical College of Cornell University in New York City and co-author of The Brain Wellness Plan. There’s also a genetic component to Alzheimer’s disease, so your risk may be higher if a parent or grandparent had it.
Some forgetfulness—and even some memory loss—doesn’t mean that you’re on the brink of Alzheimer’s disease. In fact, there are a number of ways that you may be able to slow the progression, Dr. Khalsa says. "Reducing stress is really important because stress may be the main cause of memory problems in people under age 40," he says. The amount of sleep you get and the quality of your diet can also have a major impact on how fast your brain can compute.
Even exercise can protect your brain. One study showed that people who were least active from the ages of 20 to 59 were 2½ times more likely to have Alzheimer’s disease than those who were most active.
Nutritional supplements or herbs can also help. Some can protect neurons in the brain from being damaged by free radicals. Unstable molecules can harm cells, and free radicals can sometimes prevent the breakdown of the important messenger chemicals called neurotransmitters, says Dr. Khalsa. Other supplements can actually stimulate the production of neurotransmitters. If you want to give your memory a boost, here’s what is recommended.
Save Your Brain with Ginkgo
Ginkgo has long been used to improve mental function. In Europe, an extract of this herb is an approved treatment for dementia, including that caused by Alzheimer’s disease. The first clinical study done in the United States found that 120 milligrams daily of ginkgo extract not only stabilized Alzheimer’s disease but also led to significant improvements in mental function in 20 percent of the patients. The concentration used was standardized to 24 percent ginkgoflavoglycosides and 6 percent terpenelactones, which are believed to be the active agents. There were no side effects.
Ginkgo also acts as a potent antioxidant, says Dr. Lombard, so it can help to protect your brain from oxidative damage due to aging, heart disease, or toxins. It can also inhibit the breakdown of some kinds of neurotransmitters that are involved in mood and memory and enhance the release of others.
Ginkgo can be used to treat the early stages of Alzheimer’s and to protect against further damage. Dr. Lombard recommends twice-daily doses of 120 milligrams of extract standardized to 24 percent ginkgoflavoglycosides. Don’t expect immediate results, however. It may take up to six months of taking ginkgo consistently before the benefits begin to show.
Antioxidants Prevent "Brain Rust"
Our brains are prone to damage from free radicals just like the rest of our bodies. When they damage brain cells, we pay the price with memory loss. In addition, the immune system reacts to the damage with a process that actually generates even more free radicals, so there’s a cascade of free radical production. One study by Canadian researchers found evidence of significantly more free radicals than normal in samples of brain tissue from people with Alzheimer’s disease.
Chinese Moss May Help Restore Memory
A natural substance extracted from a rare moss found in the cold climates of China is being sold in the United States as a nutritional supplement that may alleviate symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease.
Called Huperzine A, this substance can be extracted from the club moss Huperzia serrata, which has been used for centuries in China to treat fever and inflammation, says Alan Kozikowski, Ph.D., director of the drug discovery program at Georgetown Institute of Cognitive and Computational Sciences at Georgetown University Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Huperzine A works by interfering with an enzyme that influences acetylcholine, an important brain neurotransmitter. An Alzheimer’s drug on the market, donepezil hydrochloride (Aricept), works the same way. “Preventing the breakdown of acetylcholine allows the small amount that is present in the brain to exert its benefits so you can retrieve memories or form new ones,” says Dr. Kozikowski. Several studies have shown that Huperzine A improves brain function in patients with dementia.
Huperzine A seems to have additional properties that may help it to slow the progression of Alzheimer’s, Dr. Kozikowski says. One study showed that it can slow the formation of a harmful kind of plaque, a buildup of protein deposits in the brain. Other studies indicate that it can protect brain cells from glutamate, a neurotransmitter that becomes toxic when it is secreted in large amounts. Scientists suspect that the brain releases these super-high secretions when it’s low on oxygen. Some research also indicates that Huperzine A helps to block the process of inflammation that occurs as Alzheimer’s disease progresses, Dr. Kozikowski says.
The amount of Huperzine A used in the Chinese studies was four 50-microgram tablets a day. The dosage currently being recommended on the product sold in the United States is just half that amount—two 50-microgram tablets a day. More research on Huperzine A is currently under way in the United States, says Dr. Kozikowski.
There is good reason to believe that antioxidant nutrients, especially vitamin E, can help prevent damage to brain cells, Dr. Khalsa says. Vitamin E protects signal-sensitive neurons in the brain from free radical damage. Certain areas of the neurons, called neurotransmitter receptor sites, benefit from some fix-it work when vitamin E is present, he notes, "so vitamin E can not only prevent deterioration of the brain, it also actually reverses an important element of deterioration."
Vitamin E is fat-soluble, so it has a free pass around the brain, which contains a lot of fats. In its travels, vitamin E interacts with cell membranes, traps free radicals, and interrupts the rapid-fire chain reactions that produce even more free radicals. When scientists did animal studies using vitamin E, they found that this important antioxidant reduces the degeneration of cells in the hippocampus, which is precisely the part of the brain that’s hit hardest by Alzheimer’s. After blood flow was cut off for a time, vitamin E could help the cells recover, and it enhanced the recovery of motor function after spinal cord injury.
Some test-tube studies have also been done, and they suggest how vita min E can do even more: It can help protect cells that have suffered from a lack of oxygen. It can also reduce cell death associated with a protein that causes damage in Alzheimer’s disease.
A study that involved people with Alzheimer’s showed some positive results when the participants took vitamin E. Recruited from 23 centers participating in the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study, people with moderately severe disease received 2,000 international units (IU) a day of vitamin E for two years. According to researchers, those people survived an average of 230 days longer than those not getting supplements.
Both Dr. Lombard and Dr. Khalsa recommend taking antioxidant nutrients, including vitamin E. But they favor a mixture of antioxidants and less vitamin E than was used in the cooperative study. "If you are on an antioxidant program, you just don’t need that much vitamin E," Dr. Khalsa says. "The antioxidants act synergistically, so 1 and 1 equals 11, not 2. A mixture of antioxidants is more effective than large amounts of just one."
Dr. Khalsa recommends 400 to 800 IU of vitamin E, 3,000 milligrams of vitamin C in divided doses, 10,000 to 25,000 IU of vitamin A, and 50 to 100 micrograms of selenium. In addition, he suggests that people take 100 to 200 milligrams a day of coenzyme Q10, which acts as an antioxidant and helps energy production in cells throughout the body. With doses this high, however, it’s important to have a doctor approve the supplement program.
Boost Your Brain with B Vitamins
Most of the B vitamins play a role in brain function. They help the breakdown of blood sugar, or glucose. Since the brain relies on a perpetual supply of glucose for energy, this is very important, Dr. Khalsa says.
Deficiencies of both vitamin B12 and folic acid have been associated with memory loss. When someone complains of problems with memory, a doctor usually begins an examination by checking for deficiencies of these vitamins, Dr. Khalsa says.
A study has helped establish the connection between these vitamins and Alzheimer’s disease. Scientists at England’s Oxford University and in Bergen, Norway, found that 76 Alzheimer’s patients had lower blood levels of the two vitamins than 108 people of the same age with no signs of Alzheimer’s symptoms. The researchers also found that the Alzheimer’s patients had higher blood levels of homocysteine, an amino acid by-product that other studies have shown to be a factor in atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries). This offers further support for supplementing with folic acid and B12, since both are known to reduce homocysteine levels.
Diagnosing a deficiency of vitamin B12 can sometimes be difficult because a person can be low in the vitamin even if blood tests appear normal. Many doctors are now recommending a more sensitive screening to detect a B12 deficiency by measuring homocysteine levels. With some people who have Alzheimer’s disease, homocysteine levels are abnormal, and Dr. Lombard has found that vitamin B12 treatment can be effective for them.
Since the B vitamins are generally beneficial, your best tactic may be to take a high-potency B-complex formula that includes 50 milligrams of most of the different kinds, Dr. Lombard says. Look for one that includes 1,000 micrograms of both vitamin B12 and folic acid along with the other ingredients.
A Memory Pill
Dr. Lombard suggests that people who have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease should also take 300 milligrams of a nutritional supplement called phosphatidylserine (PS) daily with meals. "Phosphatidylserine is an important component of cell membranes and helps cells in the brain to retain their fluidity—an important property for proper function," he says.
Several studies have shown PS to be helpful for age-related memory decline, Alzheimer’s disease, or depression. In one six-month study, a group of people with moderate to severe senility were given three daily 100- milligram doses of PS. In another group with similar symptoms, participants received inactive pills (placebos). Researchers assessed both groups to measure their mental performance and behavior at the beginning and end of the study. Significant improvements were noted in the mental function and behavior of members of the group receiving PS.
The substance used in these studies was derived from cow brains. Since reports of mad cow disease began surfacing in the mid-1990s, cow brains are no longer considered a safe source, says Dr. Khalsa. The PS that is now on the market is derived from soybeans. "It appears to be pretty much the same and to have the same benefit, but there are no published studies to confirm that," he says.
Memory Aid from Acetyl-L-Carnitine
Acetyl-l-carnitine, derived from the natural substance l-carnitine, is structurally similar to the memory neurotransmitter acetlylcholine and displays similar actions in the brain, Dr. Lombard says.
Acetyl-l-carnitine protects nerve cell membranes from free radical attack. It also is essential for the production of energy in brain cells and helps transport fatty acids into the cells’ tiny power plants, the mitochondria.
Several studies have shown that acetyl-l-carnitine is helpful for people with Alzheimer’s disease, Dr. Lombard says. One multicenter study was done with 357 people age 55 or older who had Alzheimer’s. It showed that the memories of those 65 or younger who received 3,000 milligrams of l-carnitine a day didn’t decline as quickly as those of a comparative group of people who weren’t given the supplement.
Dr. Lombard suggests 2,000 milligrams of acetyl-l-carnitine daily for treatment of people with mild to moderate memory loss. Take this supplement between meals, he advises.
As for
Scientists discover way to reverse loss of memory
Scientists performing experimental brain surgery on a man aged 50 have stumbled across a mechanism that could unlock how memory works.
The accidental breakthrough came during an experiment originally intended to suppress the obese man's appetite, using the increasingly successful technique of deep-brain stimulation. Electrodes were pushed into the man's brain and stimulated with an electric current. Instead of losing appetite, the patient instead had an intense experience of déjà vu. He recalled, in intricate detail, a scene from 30 years earlier. More tests showed his ability to learn was dramatically improved when the current was switched on and his brain stimulated.
Scientists are now applying the technique in the first trial of the treatment in patients with Alzheimer's disease. If successful, it could offer hope to sufferers from the degenerative condition, which affects 450,000 people in Britain alone, by providing a "pacemaker" for the brain.
Three patients have been treated and initial results are promising, according to Andres Lozano, a professor of neurosurgery at the Toronto Western Hospital, Ontario, who is leading the research.
Professor Lozano said: "This is the first time that anyone has had electrodes implanted in the brain which have been shown to improve memory. We are driving the activity of the brain by increasing its sensitivity – turning up the volume of the memory circuits. Any event that involves the memory circuits is more likely to be stored and retained."
The discovery had caught him and his team "completely by surprise", Professor Lozano said. They had been operating on the man, who weighed 190kg (30st), to treat his obesity by locating the point in his brain that controls appetite. All other attempts to curb his eating had failed and brain surgery was the last resort.
The treatment for obesity was unsuccessful. But, while the researchers were identifying potential appetite suppressant points in the hypothalamus, the part of the brain associated with hunger, the man suddenly began to say that memory was flooding back.
"He reported the experience of being in a park with friends from when he was around 20 years old and, as the intensity of stimulation increased, the details became more vivid. He recognised his girlfriend [from the time] ... The scene was in colour. People were wearing identifiable clothes and were talking, but he could not decipher what they were saying," the researchers write in Annals of Neurology, published today.
The man, who has not been identified, was also tested on his ability to learn lists of paired objects. After three weeks of continuous hypothalamic stimulation, his performance on two learning tests was significantly improved. He was also much more likely to remember a list of unrelated paired objects with the electrodes turned on than when turned off.
Speaking to The Independent yesterday, Professor Lozano said: "His performance improved dramatically. As we turned the current up, we first drove his memory circuits and improved his learning. As we increased the intensity of the current, we got spontaneous memories of discrete events. At a certain intensity, he would slash to the scene [in the park]. When the intensity was increased further, he got more detail but, when the current was turned off, it rapidly decayed."
The discovery surprised the scientists as the hypothalamus has not usually been identified as a seat of memory. The contacts that most readily produced the memories were located close to a structure called the fornix, an arched bundle of fibres that carries signals within the limbic system, which is involved in memory and emotions and is situated next to the hypothalamus.
Professor Lozano is a world authority on deep-brain stimulation who has undertaken 400 operations on Parkinson's disease sufferers and is developing the technique as a treatment for depression, for which he has performed 28 operations. He said the discovery of its role in stimulating memory had wide implications.
"It gives us insight into which brain structures are involved in memory. It gives us a means of intervening in the way we have already done in Parkinson's and for mood disorders such as depression, and it may have therapeutic benefit in people with memory problems," he said.
The researchers are testing the approach in six Alzheimer's patients in a Phase 1 safety study. Three have so far had electrodes surgically implanted. The electrodes are attached via a cable that runs below the skull and down the neck to a battery pack stitched under the skin of the chest. The "pacemaker" delivers a constant low-level current that stimulates the brain but cannot be perceived by the patient.
Professor Lozano said: "It is the same device as is used for Parkinson's disease. We have placed the electrodes in exactly the same area of the hypothalamus because we want to see if we can reproduce the findings in the earlier experiment. We believe the memory circuits we are stimulating are close by, physically touching the hypothalamus.
"It is a very effective treatment for the motor problems associated with Parkinson's disease and it has been used on 40,000 people. We are in the early stages of using it with Alzheimer's patients and we don't know if it will work. We want to assess if we can reach the memory circuits and drive improvement. It is a novel approach to dealing with this problem."
British researchers welcomed the discovery. Andrea Malizia, a senior lecturer in psychopharmacology at the University of Bristol who is studying deep-brain stimulation as a treatment for depression, said: "If they had said let's stick an electrode in the hypothalamus to modify Alzheimer's disease, I would have said 'Why start there?' But, if they have had a serendipitous finding, then that is as good. Serendipitous findings are how a lot of discoveries in science have been made."
Ayesha Khan, a scientific liaison officer at the Alzheimer's Disease Society, said: "This is very cutting-edge research. It is exciting, but the initial result is in one person. It will need much further investigation."
How deep-brain stimulation works
Deep -brain stimulation has been used for more than a decade to treat a range of conditions including depression, chronic pain, Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders.
It has been so successful in treating Parkinson's that 40,000 patients worldwide now have electrodes implanted in their brains driven by pacemakers stitched into their chests.
As the devices become smaller, requiring less risky surgery, and the target areas of the brain requiring stimulation are more precisely identified, demand for the treatment is expected to leap. Although it is expensive, the potential savings in care and treatment costs are immense. It does not lead to dependence on drugs and is reversible.
The electrodes are implanted under local anaesthesia while the patient is awake. Before the operation, the neurosurgeon performs an MRI scan and establishes the target location for the electrodes. He then carries out a craniotomy – lifting a section of the skull – and inserts the electrodes and leads. By stimulating the electrodes and checking the patient's response, the surgeon can check that they are positioned in the right place.
Different areas of the brain are targeted for different conditions. For Parkinson's disease, they are placed in the subthalamic nucleus; for depression, in area 25 of the cingulate cortex.
Deep-brain stimulation was developed in France and first licensed by the Food and Drug Administration in the US in 1997 as a treatment for tremor. In the UK, the surgery is performed at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, in Bristol, in Oxford and at a handful of other centres.
The name of the procedure is in some ways a misnomer as it often involves inhibiting electrical activity in an area of the brain rather than stimulating it. The technique is as much about restoring balance between competing brain areas which leads to the tremor characteristic of some types of Parkinson's disease
The accidental breakthrough came during an experiment originally intended to suppress the obese man's appetite, using the increasingly successful technique of deep-brain stimulation. Electrodes were pushed into the man's brain and stimulated with an electric current. Instead of losing appetite, the patient instead had an intense experience of déjà vu. He recalled, in intricate detail, a scene from 30 years earlier. More tests showed his ability to learn was dramatically improved when the current was switched on and his brain stimulated.
Scientists are now applying the technique in the first trial of the treatment in patients with Alzheimer's disease. If successful, it could offer hope to sufferers from the degenerative condition, which affects 450,000 people in Britain alone, by providing a "pacemaker" for the brain.
Three patients have been treated and initial results are promising, according to Andres Lozano, a professor of neurosurgery at the Toronto Western Hospital, Ontario, who is leading the research.
Professor Lozano said: "This is the first time that anyone has had electrodes implanted in the brain which have been shown to improve memory. We are driving the activity of the brain by increasing its sensitivity – turning up the volume of the memory circuits. Any event that involves the memory circuits is more likely to be stored and retained."
The discovery had caught him and his team "completely by surprise", Professor Lozano said. They had been operating on the man, who weighed 190kg (30st), to treat his obesity by locating the point in his brain that controls appetite. All other attempts to curb his eating had failed and brain surgery was the last resort.
The treatment for obesity was unsuccessful. But, while the researchers were identifying potential appetite suppressant points in the hypothalamus, the part of the brain associated with hunger, the man suddenly began to say that memory was flooding back.
"He reported the experience of being in a park with friends from when he was around 20 years old and, as the intensity of stimulation increased, the details became more vivid. He recognised his girlfriend [from the time] ... The scene was in colour. People were wearing identifiable clothes and were talking, but he could not decipher what they were saying," the researchers write in Annals of Neurology, published today.
The man, who has not been identified, was also tested on his ability to learn lists of paired objects. After three weeks of continuous hypothalamic stimulation, his performance on two learning tests was significantly improved. He was also much more likely to remember a list of unrelated paired objects with the electrodes turned on than when turned off.
Speaking to The Independent yesterday, Professor Lozano said: "His performance improved dramatically. As we turned the current up, we first drove his memory circuits and improved his learning. As we increased the intensity of the current, we got spontaneous memories of discrete events. At a certain intensity, he would slash to the scene [in the park]. When the intensity was increased further, he got more detail but, when the current was turned off, it rapidly decayed."
The discovery surprised the scientists as the hypothalamus has not usually been identified as a seat of memory. The contacts that most readily produced the memories were located close to a structure called the fornix, an arched bundle of fibres that carries signals within the limbic system, which is involved in memory and emotions and is situated next to the hypothalamus.
Professor Lozano is a world authority on deep-brain stimulation who has undertaken 400 operations on Parkinson's disease sufferers and is developing the technique as a treatment for depression, for which he has performed 28 operations. He said the discovery of its role in stimulating memory had wide implications.
"It gives us insight into which brain structures are involved in memory. It gives us a means of intervening in the way we have already done in Parkinson's and for mood disorders such as depression, and it may have therapeutic benefit in people with memory problems," he said.
The researchers are testing the approach in six Alzheimer's patients in a Phase 1 safety study. Three have so far had electrodes surgically implanted. The electrodes are attached via a cable that runs below the skull and down the neck to a battery pack stitched under the skin of the chest. The "pacemaker" delivers a constant low-level current that stimulates the brain but cannot be perceived by the patient.
Professor Lozano said: "It is the same device as is used for Parkinson's disease. We have placed the electrodes in exactly the same area of the hypothalamus because we want to see if we can reproduce the findings in the earlier experiment. We believe the memory circuits we are stimulating are close by, physically touching the hypothalamus.
"It is a very effective treatment for the motor problems associated with Parkinson's disease and it has been used on 40,000 people. We are in the early stages of using it with Alzheimer's patients and we don't know if it will work. We want to assess if we can reach the memory circuits and drive improvement. It is a novel approach to dealing with this problem."
British researchers welcomed the discovery. Andrea Malizia, a senior lecturer in psychopharmacology at the University of Bristol who is studying deep-brain stimulation as a treatment for depression, said: "If they had said let's stick an electrode in the hypothalamus to modify Alzheimer's disease, I would have said 'Why start there?' But, if they have had a serendipitous finding, then that is as good. Serendipitous findings are how a lot of discoveries in science have been made."
Ayesha Khan, a scientific liaison officer at the Alzheimer's Disease Society, said: "This is very cutting-edge research. It is exciting, but the initial result is in one person. It will need much further investigation."
How deep-brain stimulation works
Deep -brain stimulation has been used for more than a decade to treat a range of conditions including depression, chronic pain, Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders.
It has been so successful in treating Parkinson's that 40,000 patients worldwide now have electrodes implanted in their brains driven by pacemakers stitched into their chests.
As the devices become smaller, requiring less risky surgery, and the target areas of the brain requiring stimulation are more precisely identified, demand for the treatment is expected to leap. Although it is expensive, the potential savings in care and treatment costs are immense. It does not lead to dependence on drugs and is reversible.
The electrodes are implanted under local anaesthesia while the patient is awake. Before the operation, the neurosurgeon performs an MRI scan and establishes the target location for the electrodes. He then carries out a craniotomy – lifting a section of the skull – and inserts the electrodes and leads. By stimulating the electrodes and checking the patient's response, the surgeon can check that they are positioned in the right place.
Different areas of the brain are targeted for different conditions. For Parkinson's disease, they are placed in the subthalamic nucleus; for depression, in area 25 of the cingulate cortex.
Deep-brain stimulation was developed in France and first licensed by the Food and Drug Administration in the US in 1997 as a treatment for tremor. In the UK, the surgery is performed at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, in Bristol, in Oxford and at a handful of other centres.
The name of the procedure is in some ways a misnomer as it often involves inhibiting electrical activity in an area of the brain rather than stimulating it. The technique is as much about restoring balance between competing brain areas which leads to the tremor characteristic of some types of Parkinson's disease
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Ideas to improve your memory
Ever since I entered college, I have been obsessed with improving memory. You see, I am pretty intelligent, but my memory has never matched my other intellectual skills. Normally, as soon as I finish studying for a test, I forget the information. If I am determined enough, I can keep it in to my mind for as long as it takes to pass the exam, but for no longer. Unfortunately, in college there is much more material to memorize than there ever was before. I barely made it through my first semester because I kept forgetting facts. I feared that if I didn't find a way to improve memory, I would probably fail a few classes. That was definitely something I did not want to do.
There are all kinds of different ways to improve your memory – so many that it is hard to remember all of them! Basically, they all break down into a few simple categories. You can improve memory through supplements, through mental exercises, and through self hypnosis. Many people start with supplements because they promise to improve memory with no work on your part. Unfortunately, they rarely deliver. I know that I was unable to improve my memory by taking these pills. All I did was waste money that I could have spent on memory improvement books.
Those books were quite a bit more successful. Although they take a long time to improve memory, they do eventually work. They have a lot of interesting techniques in them based on the way that memory works. If you can list things in different ways in your head, you can take advantage of the way that memory tends to group multiple pieces of data together. For example, if you can remember facts in chunks of three or four together, you can fit much more into your brain at once. The techniques are explained in simple ways that allow you to practice them over and over again until you get them right. Although these books don't deliver on improving your memory overnight like they say they will, they still do help in the long run.
Of course, the most novel way to improve working memory is through self hypnosis. A lot of companies sell hypnosis tapes they claim will help you improve memory by reprogramming your brain To function in a more efficient way. This is almost entirely nonsense. Although in theory hypnosis works, in practice you would be much better to work on improving short term memory through exercises.
one of the task that people tend to forget is a series of exercises let say in yoga or gymnastic. no matter how many times you saw the instructor doing the exercise and you follow him doing the exercises in the club or in class, when you go home trying to remember the sequence you fail. another example is jokes, people tend to forget jokes the minute after they hear the jokes. i have now more then 300 jokes and stories that i can tell just from the name or from 4 words from the story or the joke. so let me give you a simple method you can try yourself. first you have to commit that you go for it. it must be important for you so you take it seriously and make the effort necessary to accomplish the task. it seems long but as you see no matter how long you did something before you still don't remember so it worth the effort to succeed next time. the main principle is to do one at the time many time step by step with all the ceremony involved. if it has few steps take 1 step at a time, after 2 at a time then 3 at a time and repeat the group until you feel that it staked in your memory. after doing it and repeat for 10 time the full sequence you will see that you can't forget it anymore. if you let say jump one step you feel it and you must do it
There are all kinds of different ways to improve your memory – so many that it is hard to remember all of them! Basically, they all break down into a few simple categories. You can improve memory through supplements, through mental exercises, and through self hypnosis. Many people start with supplements because they promise to improve memory with no work on your part. Unfortunately, they rarely deliver. I know that I was unable to improve my memory by taking these pills. All I did was waste money that I could have spent on memory improvement books.
Those books were quite a bit more successful. Although they take a long time to improve memory, they do eventually work. They have a lot of interesting techniques in them based on the way that memory works. If you can list things in different ways in your head, you can take advantage of the way that memory tends to group multiple pieces of data together. For example, if you can remember facts in chunks of three or four together, you can fit much more into your brain at once. The techniques are explained in simple ways that allow you to practice them over and over again until you get them right. Although these books don't deliver on improving your memory overnight like they say they will, they still do help in the long run.
Of course, the most novel way to improve working memory is through self hypnosis. A lot of companies sell hypnosis tapes they claim will help you improve memory by reprogramming your brain To function in a more efficient way. This is almost entirely nonsense. Although in theory hypnosis works, in practice you would be much better to work on improving short term memory through exercises.
one of the task that people tend to forget is a series of exercises let say in yoga or gymnastic. no matter how many times you saw the instructor doing the exercise and you follow him doing the exercises in the club or in class, when you go home trying to remember the sequence you fail. another example is jokes, people tend to forget jokes the minute after they hear the jokes. i have now more then 300 jokes and stories that i can tell just from the name or from 4 words from the story or the joke. so let me give you a simple method you can try yourself. first you have to commit that you go for it. it must be important for you so you take it seriously and make the effort necessary to accomplish the task. it seems long but as you see no matter how long you did something before you still don't remember so it worth the effort to succeed next time. the main principle is to do one at the time many time step by step with all the ceremony involved. if it has few steps take 1 step at a time, after 2 at a time then 3 at a time and repeat the group until you feel that it staked in your memory. after doing it and repeat for 10 time the full sequence you will see that you can't forget it anymore. if you let say jump one step you feel it and you must do it
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