The power of brain plasticity

This article was contributed by Paul Li, who teaches cognitive science at UC Berkeley.

The human brain is quite remarkable. It does not remain static, but instead ceaselessly changes throughout life. Everything you learn or experience impacts the biology of your brain.

Though some cognitive abilities typically begin to decline in the third decade of life, cortical plasticity renews our hope that new connections can be willfully forged. For example, there was a little girl who was born with very little cortical tissue. Doctors did not see much of a future for her because she did not have a “normal” brain; however, because of cortical plasticity and the brain’s ability to reorganize itself, she learned to function quite well (Distelmaier et al., 2007).

The article highlighted that this “case teaches us that clinicians and parents should not give up in the face of an apparently hopeless case!”

In a previous post, Almost No Brain, a man managed to lead a normal life despite having minimal gray matter inside his skull. These two cases show how amazingly adaptable the brain is. The ability to shift the nature-nurture tension toward the nurture side is empowering for us, and provides hope even in the face of serious abnormalities of the brain.

References:
Distelmaier et al., “How Much Brain Is Really Necessary?” A Case of Complex Cerebral Malformation and Its Clinical Course, J Child Neurol 2007; 22; 756

Special thanks to Bradley Voytek, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, Berkeley, for his assistance.

Genetic Component of Alzheimer’s Disease

By Lumos Labs Science Associate, Paul Li, MS Neuroscience.

There is some new evidence that Alzheimer’s disease is much more likely for people whose parents both have the neurodegenerative disorder than if only one parent has it. Researchers examined families in which both parents have Alzheimer’s, and found that their children ended up with the disease 42% of the time.

This finding supports the evidence that genes play an important role in determining whether you end up with Alzheimer’s. One of the genetic components responsible for the disease is known as the gene Apolipoprotein E (ApoE). Fortunately your genes do not entirely determine your fate. Your lifestyle is important too, and although we do not have control of our genetic makeup, we can control how we live. With the proper cognitive and physical exercise, brain food, and even attitude toward life, one can better buffer their brain from later years of cognitive decline and delay the risk of dementia.

The incidence of Alzheimer’s increases with age, and is typically diagnosed after the age of 65. By then, there’s not much you can do to slow the disease. So what can you do earlier to help your chances of preserving cognitive function? For me personally, I have been implementing some of the brain health tips on this blog, as well as training my brain with Lumosity, as part of my daily routine. This is not just to practice what I preach, but rather to address a concern I have when I constantly need to remind my parents about certain things, such as taking their meds. I’d rather start my cognitive training regimen early so that when I someday reach my parents’ age my brain will be in the best condition it can be.

Brain activity across languages

By Lumos Labs Science Associate, Paul Li, MS Neuroscience.

Different languages are represented differently across the brain. This is especially true for languages that are very dissimilar, such as English and Chinese. English is learned from pronouncing its 26-letter alphabet, whereas to learn the Chinese language, one needs to memorize thousands of characters in order to understand a string of pictographs.

Dyslexia, a learning disability that causes difficulty in reading and writing, affects the brain in different ways according to language. Professor Li-Hai Tan, along with his research team from the University of Hong Kong, discovered that Chinese-speaking dyslexics have a different pattern of brain activity than English-speaking dyslexics. Professor Tan told Lumos Labs that “the left middle frontal gyrus, rather than the posterior brain regions, is a perpetrator of reading disorders in Chinese, suggesting the possibility that a person who is dyslexic in Chinese reading would not be in alphabetic language reading, and vice versa.” One implication is that different interventions may be more or less suitable depending on language. 

Keeping Your Brain Fit

By Lumos Labs Science Associate Paul Li, MS Neuroscience.

Recently, U.S. News did their cover story on Keeping Your Brain Fit. As you the readers might already know, there are ways to thwart the cognitive decline that often comes with aging, but there is no silver bullet that works every time for each person. It is possible to slow down the progression by eating the right foods, exercising regularly, and playing brain training games – all of which are beneficial in keeping your brain fit and healthy. Although the article highlights its share of critics who prefers one activity over the other, your brain lasts longest with a healthy combination of brain healthy activity. Research has also shown that mental decline begins as early as in the third decade of life, so it would be wise for even young adults to work towards a healthy brain early to help avoid ‘losing it’ later.

Berkeley’s Mind Reader

By Lumos Labs Science Associate, Paul Li, MS Neuroscience.

Movies like Being John Malkovich are based on the idea that one might be able to experience what another human’s mind is visualizing. Most would think that such movies are pure fantasy and science fiction, but researchers at U.C. Berkeley are one step closer to making this a reality.

Using a computational model calibrated to each individual subject, Professor Jack Gallant and his research team were able to use brain activity (measured with fMRI) to identify which of a large set of images was seen by a subject. Importantly, none of the images in the set had been previously seen by the subject, demonstrating the ability to generalize to novel situations. Though performance isn’t yet perfect, it’s impressive. Accuracy ranges from 80% when viewing 1,000 images, to 90% accuracy when viewing 120 images.

Dr. Gallant said, “there may theoretically be sufficient information available to decode memory, imagery and dreams some day, but it will likely be many decades before this is really possible.”

Brain activity during video gaming

By Lumos Labs Science Associate Paul Li, MS Neuroscience.

Males are bigger consumers than females when it comes to mainstream video games. A possible reason males enjoy playing (and end up addicted to) video games might be attributed to how the male brain is wired when compared to the female brain, particularly in the reward and addiction system.

Dr. Fumiko Hoeft and colleagues had subjects play a video game that involves acquiring territory while being scanned in an fMRI machine. Brain areas that showed activation were in the mesocorticolimbic center, along with the nucleus accumbens, amygdala and orbitofrontal cortex. In these areas, male brains had more activation – correlating with how much territory they gained – than female subjects. Since the study showed that males are territorial specimens, a follow-up approach might involve an fMRI study and a game that appeals more to females.

Dr. Fumiko Hoeft told me that, “We only examined one kind of game (one that is based on space infringement). Hence, when other types of games are examined, there may be a totally different response and perhaps females may show bigger physiological responses.” At least in the territorial game, though, female subjects actually “‘turn off certain regions during game play.” A game such as Lumosity’s Word Bubbles has been more popular among females than males and females also had greater improvement in their Brain Performance Index (BPI). We’d be interested in observing how the female and male brain activity compare when the women are more engaged with the game.

Go Fish!

By Lumos Labs Science Associate Paul Li, MS Neuroscience.

One of the top brain foods you can have in your diet is fish. This brain food, also in pill form, is a good source of omega-3 fatty acids that the body alone cannot produce. Recently, scientists from UCLA further discovered that omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, increases the production of a protein called LR11, which is known to destroy the beta amyloid plaques that are associated with Alzheimer’s. A fish diet may possibly be a deterrent against this debilitating neurodegenerative disease. With that said, take care of that brain of yours by eating right and exercising, both physically and mentally.

Cell phone use and brain activity Part II

By Lumos Labs Science Associate Paul Li, MS Neuroscience.

This post is a follow-up to our previous post on the role cell phones play in increasing the level of awareness. Recently, a different group of researchers have found evidence that using your cell phone before heading to bed can delay reaching the deep stages of sleep. This effect seems to be caused by radiation emitted by cell phones. As you might know, there are 5 stages of sleep that one normally goes through each night, and proper sleep can help to improve memory processing and consolidation. Although the findings may not come as a surprise to you given the results from the previous study, this is especially informative to teenagers and to others who frequently talk on their cell phone before sleeping. Professor Bengt Arnetz, who led the study, believes that cell phone radiation may activate the brain’s stress system “making people more alert and more focused, and decreasing their ability to wind down and fall asleep”.