By contributing author Paul Li, a neuroscience graduate student at Columbia.
When I was a kid, I was constantly scolded by my mother for spending countless hours on my 1989 Nintendo Entertainment System. She thought reading or playing outside would be more beneficial for me than Duck Hunt or Super Mario Brothers. My mother could have [...]
Elizabeth Buchen, neuroscientist, science writer and advisor to Lumos Labs, continues her discussion of cognitive reserve with a specific example.
The cognitive reserve hypothesis has recently been supported by findings of Dr. Margit Bleecker, who studied the effects of lead exposure on cognitive function. The study involved 112 lead smelter workers in New Brunswick, who [...]
Contributing author Paul Li is a graduate student in neuroscience at Columbia. Here he explains a new reason to avoid stress:
Whoever came up with the saying ‘take a chill pill’ probably did not know it can also mean having long-term cognitive benefits regarding a healthier, working brain. See our past post on the importance of [...]
Mounting evidence suggests that omega-3 fatty acids are good for your brain. Thanks to Marge, a cow from New Zealand with a fortuitous genetic mutation, milk or butter could soon be a good source of omega-3s. Marge produces milk with elevated levels of omega-3s and reduced saturated fat, making her milk better for the brain [...]
I used to consider coffee consumption to be a mild vice, but there are several ways that caffeinated coffee can benefit the brain:
Immediate improvements in certain cognitive abilities: reaction time, short-term memory, attention and alertness.
A lifetime of drinking coffee is correlated with better cognitive function in old age.
Coffee (including decaf) is an excellent source of [...]
Will taking ginkgo biloba help my memory?
Ginkgo biloba, a tree that has been cultivated in China for thousands of years, is widely heralded as a useful memory enhancer, and sells by the boatload. In fact, there is little if any reliable evidence that ginkgo actually improves memory in healthy people. The only trusted study that [...]
“It’s hard to keep all the diet news straight… What should I eat to keep my brain healthy?”
A complete and balanced diet is probably the most sound advice, but some specific types of food are especially good for brain health. Here are a few of the best:
Fish: The original “brain food” contains lots of omega-3 [...]
The flavanol epicatechin, which is found in grapes, bluberries, tea and cocoa, was found to improve memory in mice. Mice that also exercised showed significantly more substantial memory gains. The combination of epicatechin and exercise led to changes in the structure of the dentate gyrus, one of only two areas of the brain that creates [...]
For many of us, stress is an unavoidable part of life. In short bouts (minutes, hours), stress can actually make people more effective - consider how much faster you can complete a task if the deadline is looming - and does not have a significant health impact.
