The Walton Centre For Neurology and Neurosurgery How

The Walton Centre For Neurology and Neurosurgery How to have a healthy brain! Gus A Baker Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology / Consultant Clinical Neuropsychologist

Making a Healthy Brain • What is a healthy brain • What do we need to know about the brain What do we need to know! • What strategies can we employ • We will be able to become more intelligent from listening to this presentation. 2

What is a healthy Brain • Your brain is only about 3 pounds, or about 2 percent of your body’s weight. Yet, it uses 20 to 30% of the calories you consume, 20% of the oxygen you breathe and 25% of the blood flow in your body. the brain is 85% water! It is estimated that the brain has 100 billion nerve cells and more connections in it than there are stars in the universe, which is about the number of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy. There also trillions of supportive cells in the brain called glia. Each neuron is connected to other neurons by up to 40, 000 individual connections (called synapses) between cells. 3

What the Brain does and needs to do Frontal Lobe Parietal Lobe • Initiation • Problem solving • Judgment • Inhibition of behavior • Planning/anticipation • Self-monitoring • Motor planning • Personality/emotions • Awareness of abilities/limitations • Organization • Attention/concentration • Mental flexibility • Speaking (expressive language) • Sense of touch • Differentiation: size, shape, color • Spatial perception • Visual perception Temporal Lobe • Memory • Hearing • Understanding language (receptive language) • Organization and sequencing Frontal Lobe Parietal Lobe Occipital Lobe • Vision Temporal Lobe Cerebellum Brain Stem Cerebellum • Balance • Coordination • Skilled motor activity Brain Stem • Breathing • Heart rate • Arousal/consciousness • Sleep/wake functions • Attention/concentration

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Physical exercise and the Brain • Exercise affects the brain on multiple fronts. It increases heart rate, which pumps more oxygen to the brain. • Exercise stimulates the brain plasticity by stimulating growth of new connections between cells in a wide array of important cortical areas of the brain. • From a behavioral perspective, the same antidepressant-like effects associated with "runner's high" found in humans is associated with a drop in stress hormones. • A study from Stockholm showed that the antidepressant effect of running was also associated with more cell growth in the hippocampus, an area of the brain responsible for learning and memory. 7

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Healthy Lifestyle = Healthy Brain • Researchers found that people who participate in multiple healthy behaviors significantly reduce their risk for dementia. • The PLOS ONE US study, looked at 2, 235 men for 30 years and measured their participation in five healthy lifestyle behaviors: non-smoking, optimal BMI, high fruit and vegetable intake, regular physical activity, and low to moderate alcohol intake. • The study participants who followed four or all five of the behaviors were about 60 percent less likely to develop cognitive impairment and dementia. 11

Ten things to do to improve brain performance Test your recall. Make a list — of grocery items, things • Learn a foreign language. The listening and to do, or anything else that comes to mind — and hearing involved stimulates the brain. What’s more, memorize it. An hour or so later, see how many items a rich vocabulary has been linked to a reduced risk you can recall. Make items on the list as challenging as for cognitive decline. possible for the greatest mental stimulation. • Create word pictures. Visualize the spelling of a Let the music play. Learn to play a musical instrument word in your head, then try and think of any other or join a choir. Studies show that learning something new words that begin (or end) with the same two letters. and complex over a longer period of time is ideal for the • Draw a map from memory. After returning home aging mind. from visiting a new place, try to draw a map of the Do math in your head. Figure out problems without the area; repeat this exercise each time you visit a new aid of pencil, paper, or computer; you can make this location. more difficult — and athletic — by walking at the same • Challenge your taste buds. When eating, try to time. identify individual ingredients in your meal, including Take a cooking class. Learn how to cook a new cuisine. subtle herbs and spices. Cooking uses a number of senses: smell, touch, sight, • and taste, which all involve different parts of the brain. Refine your hand-eye abilities. Take up a new hobby that involves fine-motor skills, such as knitting, drawing, painting, assembling a puzzle, etc. • Learn a new sport. Start doing an athletic exercise that utilizes both mind and body, such as yoga, golf, 12 or tennis.

Meditation Stress and anxiety is like a constant pressure on your brain. Some ‘healthy’ stress might be important for motivation but it can cause adrenal fatigue, affect memory, make you age faster and create mental and mood issues. To avoid it, best hack is to practice breathing techniques when stress strikes. 13

Thank you for your time and attention Gus A Baker Professor Gus A Baker 9/29/2020 14 14