Staying Healthy And Vital Improves Your Brain Function This June's issue of the "Journal of Neural Engineering" reports that scientists are making progress on a sort of "prosthetic memory switch" they hope will help victims of Alzheimer's disease, stroke, or brain injury.
Their research on rats has been promising, and has enhanced their (the rats') memory capability.
The scientists used an electronic system that replicates the sort of neural signals associated with memory, and eventually were able to mimic the brain function in rats that has to do with long-term learned behavior.
They implanted a device in normal animals (those with a regularly-functioning hippocampus), and the gadget actually strengthened the memory in the rats' brains.
As I jump in the car this morning and head down to visit my 94-year-old Granny in Oklahoma, I'm reflecting about what it takes to maintain healthy brain function in normal humans.
I'd be thrilled to make it to the advanced age Granny has achieved, especially if I can be as sharp mentally as she is.
She struggles to find a word sometimes (so do you and I), but she has all her marbles, and has been sharp for nearly a century.
I'd love to be a sharp 94-year-old, but I'd rather not get there by having an electronic prosthetic planted in my little rat brain! My theory is that your overall physical health is a big help in keeping your brain in good working order.
Granny studied nursing, and was well-read and educated...
but she also spent decades eating right, getting exercise through the hard work she had to do, and generally living a healthy lifestyle.
It can't be denied that luck plays a role in longevity and vitality, but I think you can help it along.
That's why I am a big proponent of the five key daily health habits I call The NEWSS: Nutrition, Exercise, Water, Sleep, and Supplements.
My clients who own a business often say they're too busy to attend to The NEWSS, but I think anyone can start small and build to a pretty healthy lifestyle if they begin with some discipline in those five areas.
Eat fresh food, and cut the garbage out of your diet (it's making you tired and groggy - and forgetful).
Get your heart rate up, and keep it there for twenty minutes, at least three times a week.
Drink two liters of water every day and get eight hours of sleep every night.
And take at least one good multi-nutrient supplement to give your body the good stuff it can't otherwise get.
If you have a stroke, or develop Alzheimer's, you'll be thankful for the research being done to help victims of such maladies recover.
Same here.
But I'm going to do everything I can in the meantime to keep my body and mind strong.
Stroke or disease aside, the challenging times (and worse times coming) will require all the energy - and mental sharpness - each of us can muster.