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Health

Challenging, nurturing the brain keeps it healthy

By STEPHEN NOHLGREN
Published March 13, 2005

PHILADELPHIA - If you are reading this story right side up, you may be missing the boat.

Brain experts agreed last week that mental challenges nurture the old noggin - and they weren't just talking about the occasional crossword puzzle or bridge game down at the senior center.

More and more evidence shows that regular, complex stimulation bolsters brain cells and sharpens wits at every stage in life.

Suggestions included reading the newspaper upside down, brushing teeth with the weak hand and giving public speeches into the mirror - even sleeping on a different side of the bed every night.

"If you don't eat, what happens? If you don't learn new things, what happens?" Pittsburgh neurologist Paul Nussbaum told an audience at a joint meeting of the National Council on Aging and the American Society on Aging.

"When you don't eat, you see the results on your body. When you don't learn, you can't see the damaging results, but trust me, it's the same."

Doctors and society should encourage brain-healthy habits right from birth, Nussbaum said. That would include some of the same diet and exercise regimens needed for healthy hearts, but also specific training for the brain, such as sign language for toddlers before they can communicate verbally.

Sign language not only boosts IQ, Nussbaum said, but it starts a lifetime of brain growth that, if continued, can stave off dementia and other brain diseases when people get older.

Teenagers and young adults should learn to play instruments, speak a second language and stay away from the passivity of television. Prayer and meditation may help as well, Nussbaum said.

Autopsies have recently identified people who suffered from Alzheimer's disease, with dead neurons and shrinking brains, but never showed any symptoms, Nussbaum said. The common denominator was a high level of formal education or occupations that presented rigorous mental tasks.

The conclusion?

"Alzheimer's is not a disease of later life; it's a disease of childhood," Nussbaum said. "If I'm 23 and I say I'll wait 42 years before I deal with this, I'm lost."

The first inkling surfaced about 40 years ago in lab rats.

Old theories had held that humans stopped producing new brain cells at about age 5, Nussbaum said. Because scientists couldn't monitor human brain cells directly, that theory held sway.

Rats were different: Researchers could slice up their brains. So they took some very wizened rats - about 70 years old in human terms - and altered their environments. On-the-spot autopsies showed that, lo and behold, some rats developed larger cortexes, new neurons in the hippocampus, which is the brain's learning center, and more synaptic connections between brain cells.

Three factors apparently beefed up their brains, Nussbaum said.

They were caged with plenty of rat companions to socialize with. They had to exercise on their little wheels. And their cages were stocked with stimulating toys.

Not every experiment translates from humans to animals, so rat-brain growth initially didn't overcome conventional wisdom. But about five years ago, a study of throat cancer patients inadvertently revealed there had been recent development of brain cells in the hippocampus. This demonstrated that the human brain remains in flux throughout a person's life span, Nussbaum said.

"People began to ask, "If the brain has capacity to make new brain cells, same as in rats, we should go back to the animal model and ask the same question: What leads to new cells? What might be the triggers?' "

Clearly diet and exercise are important, Nussbaum said. The brain consumes 25 percent of the blood from every heartbeat. So the same activities that help the heart help the brain. That means walk every day, cut down on saturated fats, eat fatty fish, greens, fruit and nuts. Other beneficial activities have nothing directly to do with the heart.

Learning a second language as an adult is a powerful brain stimulant, he said. It's harder for adults than for children, but that's what makes new synaptic connections take root.

People conduct normal conversation on autopilot, but public speaking requires planning, structure and adjustment as you go - all of which stimulate the cortex, a critical information processing center. "Get up in the privacy of your home, look in the mirror and give a speech about what you love in life or what you plan to do that day," Nussbaum said.

Most people have one dominant hand, and their brain circuits are wired to process information via that hand. Nussbaum says people should work to become ambidextrous, which will force the brain to develop new circuits.

Learning to play an instrument is a terrific challenge. Writing and brushing teeth with the weaker hand will help - as will gardening and knitting, he said.

Gardening requires use of both hands, spatial skills and planning. "I didn't know about knitting," he said, "until a lady knitting in the audience told me, "I'll bet you don't know what I am doing. I am already five steps ahead.' "

Golf requires two hands, spatial relationship and planning, but actually unfolds more by rote, Nussbaum said. "There are people with dementia who can still drive the ball 200 yards down the fairway, but they don't remember they did it."

Video games? Maybe in moderation, Nussbaum said, but beware of the endemic overuse common among boys and teens.

Animal studies show that constant overstimulation can retard brain development. That's why decent sleep and relaxation are important to brains as well as hearts.

"Our country is moving too fast," he said. "There are seven things kids do on Friday nights, and No. 8 is homework."

While the verdict is still out, Nussbaum suspects that prayer and meditation probably improve brain health. Scans show that Buddhist monks definitely change their thought patterns through meditation. Multiple hospital studies show that people who pray get well faster.

"Even with advanced Alzheimer's disease, the brain is not robbed of an appreciation of a higher being, and I can't explain it," he said. "People can say the "Our Father' when they can't remember their own names. Their behavior can be uncontrollable, and then they sit in front of a sermon at Mass for 30 minutes.

"Whether prayer, spirituality or meditation, we need to learn how to use that therapeutically."

Several scientists are exploring how the creative process affects brain health.

One chorale group in the nation's capital produced some tantalizing research results along with sweet music. Participants ranged from 65 to 100 years old, with an average age of 80.

A year of rigorous, weekly practices clearly nurtured the singers' bodies and minds. They averaged nine visits to the doctor, compared with 13 for a control group of nonsinging peers who were equally healthy when the year began.

The singers averaged seven medications, compared with 8.5 for the nonsingers. The chorale group reported fewer falls and fewer vision problems during their singing year than they experienced the year before they started.

"You would expect decline in this age group, but you actually saw improvement," said George Washington University professor Gene Cohen, who presented the results.

Any regular social outing fosters mental health, Cohen said. And certainly singing can start the day out right. But the study suggested something more powerful at work: The complexity of organized singing tested the singers' limits.

"The key point is when they have a sense of mastery and control, there is a very positive response to the immune system," Cohen said.

The research project is now adding groups in New York and California to see whether poetry, painting, dance and drama can produce similar results.

Simply changing habits and environment jogs brain patterns enough to create new connections, said Kari Berit Gufstason, a Minnesota consultant who trains caregivers on brain health.

Sleep on the right side of the bed some nights instead of the left, Gufstason said. Switch seats at the dining table. Move the trash can to the other side of the kitchen. Read part of the newspaper upside down. "We have to get out of ruts," she said. "The brain doesn't like ruts."

[Last modified March 13, 2005, 00:24:03]