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How can I prevent age-related cognitive decline?

March 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Answer:  Increase your intake of foods rich in flavanols–such as tea, cocoa, red wine (within reason!), etc.

J Nutr. 2009 Jan;139(1):120-7. Epub 2008 Dec 3.

Intake of flavonoid-rich wine, tea, and chocolate by elderly men and women is associated with better cognitive test performance.

Nurk E, Refsum H, Drevon CA, Tell GS, Nygaard HA, Engedal K, Smith AD.

Abstract

In a cross-sectional study, we examined the relation between intake of 3 common foodstuffs that contain flavonoids (chocolate, wine, and tea) and cognitive performance.

2031 participants (70-74 y, 55% women) recruited from the population-based Hordaland Health Study in Norway underwent cognitive testing. A cognitive test battery included the Kendrick Object Learning Test, Trail Making Test, part A (TMT-A), modified versions of the Digit Symbol Test, Block Design, Mini-Mental State Examination, and Controlled Oral Word Association Test. Poor cognitive performance was defined as a score in the highest decile for the TMT-A and in the lowest decile for all other tests. A self-reported FFQ was used to assess habitual food intake.

Participants who consumed chocolate, wine, or tea had significantly better mean test scores and lower prevalence of poor cognitive performance than those who did not. Participants who consumed all 3 studied items had the best test scores and the lowest risks for poor test performance. The associations between intake of these foodstuffs and cognition were dose dependent, with maximum effect at intakes of approximately 10 g/d for chocolate and approximately 75-100 mL/d for wine, but approximately linear for tea. Most cognitive functions tested were influenced by intake of these 3 foodstuffs. The effect was most pronounced for wine and modestly weaker for chocolate intake.

Thus, in the elderly, a diet high in some flavonoid-rich foods is associated with better performance in several cognitive abilities in a dose-dependent manner.

Read the complete scientific paper:

Intake of flavonoid-rich wine, tea, and chocolate by elderly men and women is associated with better cognitive test performance.


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How can I reduce my chances of getting Alzheimer’s?

March 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Ans:  Perhaps eat a flavanol-rich diet:

Free Radic Biol Med. 2012 Jan 1;52(1):35-45. Epub 2011 Sep 17.

Flavonoids, cognition, and dementia: actions, mechanisms, and potential therapeutic utility for Alzheimer disease.

Williams RJ, Spencer JP.

Abstract

There is increasing evidence that the consumption of flavonoid-rich foods can beneficially influence normal cognitive function. In addition, a growing number of flavonoids have been shown to inhibit the development of Alzheimer disease (AD)-like pathology and to reverse deficits in cognition in rodent models, suggestive of potential therapeutic utility in dementia.

The actions of flavonoid-rich foods (e.g., green tea, blueberry, and cocoa) seem to be mediated by the direct interactions of absorbed flavonoids and their metabolites with a number of cellular and molecular targets. For example, their specific interactions within the ERK and PI3-kinase/Akt signaling pathways, at the level of receptors or kinases, have been shown to increase the expression of neuroprotective and neuromodulatory proteins and increase the number of, and strength of, connections between neurons.

Concurrently, their effects on the vascular system may also lead to enhancements in cognitive performance through increased brain blood flow and an ability to initiate neurogenesis in the hippocampus.

Additional mechanisms have been suggested for the ability of flavonoids to delay the initiation of and/or slow the progression of AD-like pathology and related neurodegenerative disorders, including a potential to inhibit neuronal apoptosis triggered by neurotoxic species (e.g., oxidative stress and neuroinflammation) or disrupt amyloid β aggregation and effects on amyloid precursor protein processing through the inhibition of β-secretase (BACE-1) and/or activation of α-secretase (ADAM10).

Together, these processes act to maintain the number and quality of synaptic connections in key brain regions and thus flavonoids have the potential to prevent the progression of neurodegenerative pathologies and to promote cognitive performance.

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How can I preserve the cognitive function of mice designed to get Alzheimer’s?

March 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Answer: Feed them the LMN diet, rich in polyphenols.

Behav Brain Res. 2012 Mar 17;228(2):261-71. Epub 2011 Nov 22.

LMN diet, rich in polyphenols and polyunsaturated fatty acids, improves mouse cognitive decline associated with aging and Alzheimer’s disease.

Fernández-Fernández L, Comes G, Bolea I, Valente T, Ruiz J, Murtra P, Ramirez B, Anglés N, Reguant J, Morelló JR, Boada M, Hidalgo J, Escorihuela RM, Unzeta M.

Abstract

We examined whether LMN diet, reported to induce neurogenesis in adult mice, was able to antagonize the age-related behavioural impairment and neuropathology in wild type (WT) mice and Tg2576 mice, a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease (AD).

Thirteen-month-old mice (once the amyloid (Aβ) plaques were formed) were fed with the LMN diet for 5 months, and in the last 2 months of the regimen they received a battery of behavioural tests. In general, both aging and (to a higher extent) Tg2576 genotype deteriorated sensorimotor reflexes, exploratory behaviour in the hole board, activity (but not anxiety) in the elevated plus-maze, ambulation in the home cage during the dark phase, and spatial learning in the Morris water maze. LMN diet did not affect the detrimental effects observed in sensorimotor reflexes, but clearly reversed the effects of both aging and Tg2576 genotype. This behavioural amelioration was correlated with a 70% increase in cellular proliferation in subventricular zone (SVZ) of the brain, but did not correlate with a decrease of amyloid plaques.

In contrast, administration of LMN diet to 10 months old mice (before the plaques are formed) strongly suggested a putative delay in the formation of plaques, as indicated by a decreasing tendency of soluble and fibrillar Aβ levels in hippocampus which correlated with a decrease in Aβ (1-40, 1-42) plasma content. Herein we describe for the first time that LMN diet rich in polyphenols, dry fruits and cocoa, was able to decrease behavioural deterioration caused by aging and Tg2576 genotype and to delay the Aβ plaque formation. These results corroborate the increasing importance of polyphenols as human dietary supplements in amelioration of the cognitive impairment during aging and neurological disorders such as AD.

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J Alzheimers Dis. 2009;18(4):849-65.

A diet enriched in polyphenols and polyunsaturated fatty acids, LMN diet, induces neurogenesis in the subventricular zone and hippocampus of adult mouse brain.

Valente T, Hidalgo J, Bolea I, Ramirez B, Anglés N, Reguant J, Morelló JR, Gutiérrez C, Boada M, Unzeta M.

Source

Departament de Bioquimica i Biologia Molecular, Institut de Neurociències, Facultat de Medicina, Torre M2, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain. tonyvalente@gmail.com.

Abstract

At present it is widely accepted that there are at least two neurogenic sites in the adult mammalian brain: the subventricular zone (SVZ) of lateral ventricles and the subgranular zone (SGZ) of the hippocampus dentate gyrus. The adult proliferation rate declines with aging and is altered in several neurodegenerative pathologies including Alzheimer’s disease.

The aim of this work was to study whether a natural diet rich in polyphenols and polyunsaturated fatty acids (LMN diet) can modulate neurogenesis in adult mice and give insight into putative mechanisms.


Results with BrdU and PCNA demonstrated that the LMN fed mice had more newly generated cells in the SVZ and SGZ, and those with DCX (undifferentiated neurons) and tyrosine hydroxylase, calretinin, and calbindin (differentiated neurons) immunostainings and western blots demonstrated a significant effect on neuronal populations, strongly supporting a positive role of the LMN diet on adult neurogenesis. In primary rat neuron cultures, the LMN cream dramatically protected against damage caused by both hydrogen peroxide and Abeta(1-42), demonstrating a potent antioxidant effect that could play a major role in the normal adult neurogenesis and, moreover, the LMN diet could have a significant effect combating the cognitive function decline during both aging and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease.

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How can I improve my cognitive function?

March 7, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Ans: Try drinking flavanol-rich cocoa or eating dark chocolate.

Physiol Behav. 2011 Jun 1;103(3-4):255-60. Epub 2011 Feb 12.

Consumption of cocoa flavanols results in an acute improvement in visual and cognitive functions.

Field DT, Williams CM, Butler LT.

Abstract

Cocoa flavanols (CF) influence physiological processes in ways that suggest their consumption may improve aspects of neural function, and previous studies have found positive influences of CF on cognitive performance. In this preliminary study we investigated whether visual, as well as cognitive, function is influenced by an acute dose of CF in young adults.

We employed a randomized, single-blinded, order counterbalanced, crossover design in which 30 healthy adults consumed both dark chocolate containing 720mg CF and a matched quantity of white chocolate, with a one week interval between testing sessions.

Visual contrast sensitivity was assessed by reading numbers that became progressively more similar in luminance to their background. Motion sensitivity was assessed firstly by measuring the threshold proportion of coherently moving signal dots that could be detected against a background of random motion, and secondly by determining the minimum time required to detect motion direction in a display containing a high proportion of coherent motion. Cognitive performance was assessed using a visual spatial working memory for location task and a choice reaction time task designed to engage processes of sustained attention and inhibition.

Relative to the control condition, CF improved visual contrast sensitivity and reduced the time required to detect motion direction, but had no statistically reliable effect on the minimum proportion of coherent motion that could be detected. In terms of cognitive performance, CF improved spatial memory and performance on some aspects of the choice reaction time task.

As well as extending the range of cognitive tasks that are known to be influenced by CF consumption, this is the first report of acute effects of CF on the efficiency of visual function. These acute effects can be explained by increased cerebral blood flow caused by CF, although in the case of contrast sensitivity there may be an additional contribution from CF induced retinal blood flow changes.

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another positive study:

J Psychopharmacol. 2010 Oct;24(10):1505-14. Epub 2009 Nov 26.

Consumption of cocoa flavanols results in acute improvements in mood and cognitive performance during sustained mental effort.

Scholey AB, French SJ, Morris PJ, Kennedy DO, Milne AL, Haskell CF.

Abstract

Cocoa flavanols (CF) positively influence physiological processes in ways that suggest their consumption may improve aspects of cognitive function.

This study investigated the acute cognitive and subjective effects of CF consumption during sustained mental demand.

In this randomized, controlled, double-blinded, balanced, three period crossover trial 30 healthy adults consumed drinks containing 520 mg, 994 mg CF and a matched control, with a three-day washout between drinks.

Assessments included the state anxiety inventory and repeated 10-min cycles of a Cognitive Demand Battery comprising of two serial subtraction tasks (Serial Threes and Serial Sevens), a Rapid Visual Information Processing (RVIP) task and a ‘mental fatigue’ scale, over the course of 1 h.

Consumption of both 520 mg and 994 mg CF significantly improved Serial Threes performance. The 994 mg CF beverage significantly speeded RVIP responses but also resulted in more errors during Serial Sevens. Increases in self-reported ‘mental fatigue’ were significantly attenuated by the consumption of the 520 mg CF beverage only.

This is the first report of acute cognitive improvements following CF consumption in healthy adults. While the mechanisms underlying the effects are unknown they may be related to known effects of CF on endothelial function and blood flow.

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This study showed that drinking flavanol-rich cocoa for 5 days increased blood flow in the brain during a cognitive task, but didn’t show improved cognitive function:

J Cardiovasc Pharmacol. 2006;47 Suppl 2:S215-20.

The effect of flavanol-rich cocoa on the fMRI response to a cognitive task in healthy young people.

Francis ST, Head K, Morris PG, Macdonald IA.

Abstract

Flavanols are the main flavonoids found in cocoa and chocolate, and can be especially abundant in certain cocoas. Research over the past decade has identified flavanols as showing diverse beneficial physiologic and antioxidant effects, particularly in context of vascular function.

The present study employed functional magnetic resonance imaging based on blood oxygenation level-dependent (BOLD) contrast to explore the effect of flavanols on the human brain. Magnetic resonance imaging was used to measure BOLD responses to a cognitive task in 16 healthy young subjects.

The data presented show an increase in the BOLD signal intensity in response to a cognitive task following ingestion of flavanol-rich cocoa (5 days of 150 mg of cocoa flavanols). This may arise either as a result of altered neuronal activity, or a change in vascular responsiveness, or both–the net effect then being dependent on which of the two effects is dominant.

No significant effects were evident in behavioral reaction times, switch cost, and heart rate after consumption of this moderate dose of cocoa flavanols. A pilot study evaluated the relationship between cerebral blood flow and a single acute dose (450 mg flavanols) of flavanol-rich cocoa and showed that flavanol-rich cocoa can increase the cerebral blood flow to gray matter, suggesting the potential of cocoa flavanols for treatment of vascular impairment, including dementia and strokes, and thus for maintaining cardiovascular health.


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How can I remember better what I’ve learned?

March 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Answer: Download the brilliant and free Anki program and write out some question and answer cards for the information you want to remember.

The Anki program is amazing! So is the effortless and fun learning that happens when you use the self-paced Anki flashcard system!

From the Anki website:

Anki

Anki is a program which makes remembering things easy. Because it is a lot more efficient than traditional study methods, you can either greatly decrease your time spent studying, or greatly increase the amount you learn.

Anyone who needs to remember things in their daily life can benefit from Anki. Since it is content-agnostic and supports images, audio, videos and scientific markup (via LaTeX), the possibilities are endless. For example:

  • learning a language
  • studying for medical and law exams
  • memorizing people’s names and faces
  • brushing up on geography
  • mastering long poems
  • even practicing guitar chords!

    • Watch these videos to see how Anki works:


    Click here to download Anki:

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    What are some good creativity exercises to try?

    March 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment

    Answer: Try these:

    Creative Thinking Exercises

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    How can I improve my mental rotation ability?

    March 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment

    Answer: Play tetris.

    Durable and Generalized Effects of Spatial Experience on Mental Rotation: Gender Differences in Growth Patterns

    A quote from the scientific paper:

    This study confirms the significant impact of long-term practice or repeated testing, and the potential of training in improving mental rotation performance.  .  .[I]t is socially and practically important to know that practice and training can dramatically improve mental rotation ability, regardless of previous spatial experience or gender. Even those who already had reported high levels of spatial experience did not reach ceiling on the MRT. Thus, we are optimistic that there exists great room for improvement in spatial ability, in both men and women. Perhaps more importantly, these effects can last over several months and the effects of [Tetris] videogame experience show results that are not task-specific. Training effects transferred to other spatial tasks which were not subject to practice effects (or minimally so). This finding is crucial to our goals in creating long-term improvements in real-world spatial skills.
    In summary, differences in levels of initial spatial experience do not constrain growth, although low-experience individuals may take some time to begin to show spatial gains. Thus, success in spatial performance is within reach for both men and women with appropriate experience, education and training.

    Play Tetris online for free and grow your mental rotation skills!

    Assess your mental rotation skills:

    Mental Rotation Test

    Mental rotation training

    Mental rotation is really hard! I am definitely going to practice my tetris and hope that a miracle happens inside my brain!

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    What is a great gift to give anyone?

    March 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment

    Answer: A Soma cube.

    This is a 7-piece puzzle that assembles into a cube. It is very soluble: apparently, there are at least 240 solutions!

    You can make countless other three-dimensional shapes out of the 7 pieces as well.

    This puzzle must be good for developing our visual-spatial skills! And it’s fun!

    If you can’t find the puzzle to buy online or in a shop, you can easily make one yourself out of one-inch wooden cubes. That’s what I did.

    Here are some you tubes showing you some solutions:

    Here are some links giving you more information:

    Soma Cubes

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    What free software can help me organize my ideas better?

    March 2, 2012 by Leave a Comment

    Answer: XMind and evernote.

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    How can I get myself to stay on task?

    March 1, 2012 by Leave a Comment

    Answer: Try a tomato (pomodoro):


    Can a tomato make you more productive?

    Click here for an online 25-minute tomato.

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