Brain News
Vegetables may help keep the brain young according to a 6 year study
Eating two or more servings of vegetables a day could slow a person’s mental decline by about 40 percent compared with someone who consumes few vegetables, according to a six-year study of nearly 4,000 Chicago residents age 65 and older
[...]
The slowdown in the rate of cognitive decline experienced by people who ate 2.8 or more servings of vegetables a day is “equivalent to about five years of younger age” compared with people who ate less than one vegetable per day, Morris reports in today’s issue of Neurology, the scientific journal of the American Academy of Neurology [MORE...]
Chronic drinking may damage brain, memory
Chronic, heavy drinking may damage the part of the brain related to learning and short-term memory, researchers have found.
In a recent study, alcoholic men had lower hippocampus volumes than men without a drinking history. A lower volume could mean a loss of tissue in that part of the brain. [MORE...]
Forgetful? Virus may be eating your brain
Viruses that cause a range of ills from the common cold to polio may be able to infect the brain and cause steady damage, a team at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota reports.“Our study suggests that virus-induced memory loss could accumulate over the lifetime of an individual and eventually lead to clinical cognitive memory deficits,” says Dr Charles Howe, who reports the findings in the latest issue of the journal Neurobiology of Disease. [MORE...]
Heinz to put brain boosting supplement in tinned spaghetti
The company has added omega 3 fatty oils, which tackle heart disease and help keep nails, skin and hair healthy.
It comes after the firm cut up to 60 per cent of the salt and sugar from its tinned pastas.
Omega 3–found in oily fish like salmon and herring–also improves brain function and concentration in hyperactive children, it is claimed.
A new brain chip under development established new connections in the brains of monkeys in a region that controls movement. Scientists hope to eventually make a version that could help humans with movement disorders.
Behavior issues come with low IQ, study says
Children with low intelligence often exhibit behavioral or mental problems such as banging their heads or getting excessively upset over small changes in routine, and most don’t grow out of it, researchers say.
And finally, this article says that stress and over-thinking weakens the immune system - something we all pretty much knew…
Health psychologists are not like psychiatrists, who try to uncover childhood roots of emotional problems. Rather, their practice, called behavioral medicine, is based on studies showing that stress, anxiety and depression - which show up as physical symptoms and are a major reason 60 percent of patients visit doctors - can harm the body just as directly as germs, artery-clogging diets, lack of exercise, obesity and misbehaving genes. They are at the interface of psychology and biology, where what people think and their beliefs can either increase the risk of disease on the one hand, or restore equanimity on the other [MORE...]
Filed under: Children's Issues, Practical Solutions
re; vegetables; look at Japan. People live a long time, stay healthy as they age, are known for not getting senile in old age, and tend to avoid a lot of medical problems that are prevalant in America and the Middle East, and increasingly in Europe. Same with the Chinese, though they have less access to modern health care. When I spend time with Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese nationals (as I often do), I’m amazed how healthy they eat and how much (often incidental) excercise they get. Every meal is basically; a portion of rice, a portion of meat (or often fish or tofu), and a huge amount of vegetables.