Everything you have ever experienced, felt, or conducted in life is due to brain function. The ability to enjoy, perceive, sense and experience live is dictated by the firing rate and health of your brain. It is impossible for a person to become healthy mentally or physiologically without a healthy brain. – Datis Kharrazian, DC, MS
Maybe this goes without saying, but I think it’s worth pointing out: our ability to enjoy life is brain-based. The capacity to taste food, appreciate and create art and music, smell a flower, feel the sun or wind on our skin, experience orgasm, and contribute to life in a meaningful way is entirely mediated by the brain.
In fact, everything we’ve ever done, are doing now or will do depends on brain function.
With that in mind, consider this. Two things in life we can be absolutely sure of are:
- We are all going to die.
- Our brains are going to degenerate before we die.
While this might seem morbid to some, it’s the simple truth. And the more you’re able to accept this truth and act accordingly, the better chance you’ll have of aging gracefully.
Aging = neurodegeneration
We associate the symptoms of neurodegeneration with normal aging. We see advertisements for Depends diapers, nursing homes, medications for Alzheimers and Parkinson’s and laxatives all around us. Expressions like “having a senior moment” are part of the vernacular, and we’re often quick to explain loss of brain or physiological function as “just getting older”.
But as I’ve pointed out many times, what’s common isn’t necessarily normal.
Studies that have looked only at only the healthiest elderly people find minimal cognitive decline even into the ninth decade. These data suggest that significant cognitive decline is not an inevitable consequence of advanced age.
Yet more than 4 million Americans have dementia today, and that number is projected to grow to 14 million in the next 50 years. 1 in 100 Americans over the age of 60 have full-blown Parkinson’s disease, and a greater number has “Parkionsonian-like” symptoms (early Parkinson’s).
There is no cure for dementia, Alzheimer’s and Parkison’s, and they are devastating diseases. What’s more, conventional medicine is hopeless when it comes to diagnosing and treating these conditions. If you go to the doctor with early dementia signs, most will tell you to come back when your symptoms have progressed to the point that they are irreversible. By then it’s too late. You’ve lost too many neurons, and your brain is quite literally atrophied and shrunken. And there are no drugs that improve brain function.
You had more brain cells the day you were born than you’ll ever have again
The first, and perhaps most important thing you need to know about the brain is that you have the most neurons (brain cells) you’ll ever have on the day you’re born. Brain tissue is post-mytotic, which means it does not regenerate. You start losing neurons from the first day of your life, and whatever neurons you lose are forever lost.
While that might sound depressing (and it is, really), it’s not the whole story. Because of a phenomenon called neurotropism, neurons have the ability to form new connections with other neurons to preserve function even in the face of declining quantity or quality of brain cells.
Let’s say neuron A is connected to neuron B which is connected to neuron C. If neuron B dies, or loses function, the connection between A & C will be interrupted. But neurotropism, also known as neuroplasticity, means that neuron A can form a new connection with neuron C without involving neuron B. This occurs through something called dendritic branching, where the threadlike extensions of a neuron reach out and form new connections with other neurons.
The short video below illustrates an example of this occurring with a single neuron over 36 hours.
httpv://youtube.com/4Vx_FzG1m5E
But there’s a limit, of course, to how much function neuroplasticity can preserve. The more brain cells you lose, the fewer neurons there will be to form connections. So while plasticity can prevent some of the loss of function we experience from neurodegeneration, it’s not magic.
3 signs that you’re losing brain cells (neurodegenerating)
The following are the 3 earliest signs of neurodegeneration.
Fatigue promoted by brain activity
Let’s say you used to be able to study for 3 hours at a time without getting tired, but now you can only go for 30 minutes before your brain turns to mush. Or maybe you get really tired after driving, or doing your taxes or performing other tasks that heavily involve your brain. This is a sign your neurons are degenerating and have lost the ability to make ATP.
Depression
In depression, the frontal cortex (the part of the brain thought to be involved with higher level thinking, planning and goal formation) is not firing well and actually atrophies. This is one reason why taking antidepressants, which increase neurotransmitter levels in the synaptic cleft but do nothing to increase the health of the brain environment, are often limited in their effect.
Poor digestive function
90 percent of the brain’s output goes into something called the pontomedullary system. The brain is constantly receiving input from receptors, and it is constantly sending outputs as well. The main output conduit is the brain stem; specifically, the parasympathetic cranial nerve nuclei and especially the vagus nerve.
The vagus nerve enervates the digestive tract and controls everything from the secretion of stomach acid and pancreatic enzymes to intestinal motility and gall bladder contraction.
If 90 percent of the brain’s output goes into the vagus area, and your brain is not firing well, you’re going to have digestive problems. (I recently recorded a podcast on the gut-brain axis with much more detail on this topic. You can find it here.)
Other symptoms of gut-brain axis dysregulation include cold hands and feet, toenail fungus that won’t heal and brain fog.
Okay. Now, guess what 3 of the main problems seniors experience are? That’s right – fatigue, depression and digestive problems. That is not a coincidence. That’s neurodegeneration.
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What causes neurodegeneration?
As I said at the beginning of the article, some amount of neurodegeneration is completely unavoidable. However, the following factors are likely to kill your brain cells at a much faster rate:
- blood sugar problems (Alzheimer’s is now referred to as “diabetes of the brain” in some circles)
- hypoxia (reduced oxygen deliverability, often caused by poor circulation or anemias)
- systemic inflammation (autoimmunity, leaky gut, chronic infections, food toxins, etc.)
- hormone imbalances
- altered methylation (leading to elevated homocysteine and atrophy of the hippocampus)
- traumatic brain injury
Anti-aging = fix your brain
The current anti-aging movement is about botox and plastic surgery, tanning machines and hormone creams. That’s a complete joke. There’s nothing about these activities that does anything at all to slow down neurodegeneration and improve plasticity, which is the ultimate goal of any true “anti-aging” program.
You do this by following these guidelines:
- Avoid food toxins. These include industrial seed oils, excess sugar (especially fructose), cereal grains and processed soy
- Ensure adequate micronutrient status. Especially those nutrients involved in oxygen deliverability (B12, iron & folate)
- Improve fatty acid balance (n-6:n-3 ratio). 60% of the brain is phospholipid, and DHA has been shown to enhance plasticity and brain function while reducing inflammation and neurodegenerative conditions.
- Fix the gut. There’s a saying in functional medicine, “Fire in the gut = fire in the brain”. Inflammation in the gut will cause activation of the microglial cells (immune cells) of the brain.
- Stay mentally active. Neurons need constant stimulation or they will atrophy and die. This is why elderly people that stay active and mentally engaged in something age better than those that view retirement as an opportunity to watch golf on TV for 6 hours a day.
- Increase blood flow to the brain. Exercise is one of the best ways to do this. Acupuncture and stress management are also important.
- Get enough sleep. Not getting enough sleep can sabotage brain health in just about every conceivable way.
Finally, there are certain nutrients and botanicals that have been shown to protect against neurodeneration, prevent and even reverse neuroinflammation and preserve brain function. In fact, nutritional medicine really shines in this area.
These include:
- DHA (as mentioned above)
- Huperzine A. Has been shown to increase acetyl-choline activity, activate eNOS and nNOS systems (increasing blood flow to the brain) and suppress iNOS (which causes tissue damage).
- Vinpocetine. Also increases blood flow to peripheral tissues, including the brain.
- Gingko Biloba. Increases blood flow to the brain and promotes healthy brain function via multiple mechanisms.
- Polyphenols like apigenin, luteolin, baicalin, rutin, catechin and tumeric. Shown to reduce microglial activation and inflammation, which protect the neurons against degeneration.
Please don’t go out and buy a shopping bag full of these and start taking them all. The key is to identify the underlying mechanism and address that. Is it gut inflammation? Is it micronutrient deficiency? Is it blood sugar dysregulation? You’ll make far more progress correcting those problems than you will taking a bunch of supplements.
That said, the supplements and botanicals can provide additional support and therapeutic effect, especially when the problem is advanced or recalcitrant.
A healthy brain is the key to aging well
The next time someone says they’re having a senior moment, you’ll know what that really means: their brain is neurodegenerating. If you don’t want to be “that guy”, start following the guidelines above if you’re not already. You’ve only got one brain, you’re not making any more neurons, and your capacity to enjoy life and be productive is entirely dependent upon your brain health.
Better supplementation. Fewer supplements.
Close the nutrient gap to feel and perform your best.
A daily stack of supplements designed to meet your most critical needs.
It looks like stress reduction plays a major role in maintaining neural plasticity:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/24/us-brain-age-idUSTRE74N84420110524
-B
“With that in mind, consider this. Two things in life we can be absolutely sure of are:
1. We are all going to die.
2. Our brains are going to degenerate before we die.
While this might seem morbid to some, it’s the simple truth. And the more you’re able to accept this truth and act accordingly, the better chance you’ll have of aging gracefully.”
Well, not necessarily. There is no way to be sure what the future will look like, but there are plenty of people who think aging will be cured one day (Aubrey de Grey among others):
http://inhumanexperiment.blogspot.com/2009/04/how-to-live-forever-my-5-steps-to.html
And as for aging gracefully, that’s a meaningless euphemism. There’s no such thing as aging gracefully; you can’t put a positive spin on deterioration.
– JLL
I couldn’t disagree more. It is possible to age gracefully, and our culture’s irrational obsession with life extension is simply fear of death and denial of the natural cycle all living organisms on this planet go through.
Well, I’m a bit late for the party, but I couldn’t agree more with you Chris! Luckily we can age gracefully and it certainly starts with a positive attitude combined with a constant awareness and care of oneself. It is a constant and daily struggle to go through the cycle of life without the stigma of ugly deterioration. And by the way, at what age does deterioration start to become ugly? And indeed, it is much this society’s obsession with quantity (life extension) rather than quality that is to blame.
Interesting article, Chris, you may be interested in the research for ashwagandha. There’s a lot of it in relation to neurodegeneration, and quite a bit of evidence that, at least in rats, certain ashwagandha extracts show a tremendous power for neuroregeneration: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18670181
A quick search in pubmed also points to evidence of the anticancer, antioxidative, antiinflamatory and pro-inmune properties of ashwagandha. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=ashwagandha
There’s even evidence of it’s ability to support the thyroid! http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9811169
Not to say it is a panacea, but it is certainly promising.
I’d like to see an articel about foods to include and foods to avoid to enhance brain function. Sugar we know to avoid. Others?
Hi Dave, IMHO, foods that contribute to chronic inflammation are best avoided. Here is a list of some common inflammatory foods you may want to cut down.
On the other hand, there are also foods that could enhance brain functions. Many of these foods also turn out to be anti-inflammatory in nature. Here are some brain foods to check out.
Hope these info are useful to you.
Other symptoms of gut-brain axis dysregulation include cold hands and feet, toenail fungus that won’t heal and brain fog
I’ve had toenail fungus for over 30 years, (since I was in my 20s), but no brain fog or cold extremities. I also get fungal infections–I assume that’s what it is– on my left knee and crotch rot. I’ve taken various medications, but it always came back, sometimes after a few years, sometimes a few months, sometimes a few weeks. I eat paleo (grassfed beef, safe starches, no vegetable oils or processed foods), drink lots of raw milk, kefir and yogurt. I’m normal weight, exercise, and in otherwise excellent health, and have been my entire life. I do all the right things to keep my gut and body healthy. I cut out most wheat in the last year, and the crotch rot is almost gone, although running seems to aggravate it and the knee fungus temporarily. I started rubbing virgin coconut oil on the knee and that seems to be helping.
I stopped taking any meds for the toenail fungus at least 10 years ago because it didn’t ultimately help, I don’t like any chronic medications and the toenail fungus just looks bad but does not cause any discomfort. But your posts and Paul Jaminet’s seem to imply that longterm fungal infections are a sign of potential problems.
Do you recommend medications or diet to clear up the toenail fungus or both? Is toenail fungus really a symptom of a larger, more serious issue?
toenail fungus: look at your shoes. Sometimes toe nail fungus results from an allergy to the dyes in leather shoes. Dead serious. It can go through socks. It destroys the skins pH level and allows the fungus to replicate.
Great article, Chris.
Another association with age related mental conditions include heavy metals like aluminum. Several epidemiological studies have shown a link between aluminum in drinking water and Alzheimer’s. I’m sure you already knew this, but to those who weren’t aware, take caution.
“When you lose the mental game, you lose the physical game.”
I too followed a low fat diet for 2 years because of my MS. I definitely improved but now realize that was probably due to the fact that I gave up sugar,gluten and dairy. I was terrified to bring fat into my diet sure that it would cause my MS to spike. When I brought the fat back in I lost a lingering fatigue in my legs that I just couldn’t get rid of on the low-fat diet. I have had no exacerbation of my MS and continue to feel better and while I give credit to my MS diet for introducing me to the notion of leaky-gut, I feel that the low fat part of most MS diets is holding back MSer’s from feeling their optimum.
Lions Mane mushroom supplement stimulates myelin sheath to regenerate.
@ Brent
Admittedly, most of what I understand about neurobiology beyond a few biology and A & P classes in my education is due to life with my husband, a “basic” research scientist in the apoptosis field; I’m not a scientist or trained in medicine, but I’m always picking his brain about things I find curious. He’s many times during our child’s infancy and early childhood mentioned in discussions that humans have more brain cells at birth than at any other point in post-natal life.
The growth of the skull size during infancy and childhood shouldn’t be confused with neurogenesis. Any increases in brain size (which isn’t the same as skull size) are more likely due to increase in number and mass of glial cells, not an increase in neurons. My understanding is that post-natal neural development is thought to be due to forming new neural pathways (connections) and that actually involves the death of a lot of neurons. As my husband’s research is often cited in neuroscience papers, he is quite familiar with this subject matter. He tells me that a lot of the interest surrounding adult neurogenesis is based on rat olfactory-brain research (with a major player in this area working at an institute very near to his own), but in humans olfactory-brain function isn’t as an important function as it is in rats, so it remains to be seen if it is significant for humans.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9809557
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1567918/?tool=pubmed
Chris, Dr. Larry McLeary, a pediatric neurosurgeon, lists nearly the same supplements/botanicals for brain health that you list. Are you familiar with him?
Any increases in brain size (which isn’t the same as skull size) are more likely due to increase in number and mass of glial cells, not an increase in neurons.
Thanks for your comment, againstthegrain. That’s exactly what the paper I linked to earlier argued.
Yes, I’ve heard of Dr. McLeary. I just want to be clear that I don’t recommend taking a bunch of these supplements without identifying and addressing the underlying mechanisms. I said that in the article but I’ll say it again here.
One thing is sure, discussions about brain aging can bring out strong opinions. You would not believe the stink I raised by mentioning that Myelin sheaths are made out of fat – in a low fat household with MS… backing away with hands raised to my sides….
Which, BTW, myeliation may account for some of the increasing brain weight in youth.
You might want to add references to your post, lots of them… If you don’t, it’s just another load of unsubstantiated claims.
I don’t want to sound too negative, I like the post, but good luck finding evidence for ginkgo and vinpocetine, for example.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21193009
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15631851
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10625217
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11200083
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21193009
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2890434/?tool=pubmed
Those are a few papers on vinpocetine’s effect. There’s still work to be done, but considering the alternatives (rapid neurodegeration and loss of function) I think the risk/potential benefit analysis here is clear.
Effects of Gingko are much better known.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11166702
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10886329
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/13130384
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10481350
Chris, how do you reconcile the positive results of those Ginkgo studies with the negative results of large, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled studies on the effectiveness of Ginkgo Biloba? For example, this USA Today story is on a 3000 person, 7-year Ginkgo study:
“It just continues to show that in properly designed, placebo-controlled studies, we can’t seem to find an effect for ginkgo biloba,” says Lon Schneider, an Alzheimer’s and gerontology expert at the University of Southern California. The size of this study is larger than all previous ginkgo biloba studies combined, he says.”
Other large, randomized, placebo-controlled studies with negative results are listed in the AMA journal:
http://jama.ama-assn.org/search?fulltext=Ginkgo+Evaluation+of+Memory+&submit=yes&x=4&y=9
Given the apparent rigour of these studies, how can one still conclude that Gingko is effective?
Thanks,
Brent
I’d be interested in hearing this as well. I’m in the middle of a project on Alzheimer’s disease for my nutrition class, and was going to promote the use of gingko until I came across that study showing no positive effects.
Hi,
You wrote-off hormone creams as useless. Would you like to comment on the following?
Allopregnanolone reverses neurogenic and cognitive deficits in mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease.
Also. you left Vitamin D off your list of neuroprotective agents.
Ditto Vitamin K2, which is involved with sphingolipid metabolism in the brain.
Cheers, Nige.
I didn’t say they were useless. I said I think it’s best to try to address the underlying mechanisms. In this case, that would mean addressing the cause of the hormone imbalance instead of just using exogenous hormone creams, which bypass the body’s natural regulatory mechanisms and can cause problems in the long-term.
Wasn’t there a study connecting dementia and forgetfulness with statins?
Doesn’t physical and mental activity play a role as well? I’d include the social aspect of ones life also additive in its effects on quality of life at late stage. All stages actually.
I mentioned physical and mental activity in the post. Yes, statins can cause memory loss (including global transient amnesia – as was the case with Duane Graveline) and cognitive problems, probably because of their extreme cholesterol-lowering effect.
Can you please send link to research support GTA and statin comment.
Would the best exercise to maintain brain function be aerobic or anerobic. A rhetoric question from me as I routinely do both. I’d like to remember what I was up to on my 60th next year.
I’m not an absolute expert but do know a bit about exercise/nutrition…. I would say both aerobic and anerobic are good for the brain….. but aerobic primarily because it is most beneficial to your heart and thus maintaining healthy blood flow to the brain. But weigh training (anerobic) is good for maintaining bone strength and preventing osteoperosis and slows the ageing process. So I say do a bit of both and you’ll be best off!!
Kirsch et al found that antidepressant drugs work no better than dummy pills – reported here: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1579876/Anti-depressants-no-better-than-dummy-pills.html. And most antidepressants make you fatter because of fluid retention, and damage health in many ways. The one I am most acquainted with is amitriptyline, which is still very widely prescribed. It is an extremely harmful drug. I have written about it here: http://www.wildeaboutsteroids.co.uk/ami.html
Margaret….. I think you have taken it out of context….. you always need to read the full peer reviewed article not just a news/media article written by some journalist who just pulls out the info he/she wants to……. Kirsch et al. were obviously referring to mild depression as the article quotes him as saying “reserve these drugs for very severely depressed patients.” If it was not for anti-depressants I would have killed myself years ago…. I have been on them for 19 years and tried to come off them several times – every time I do I just become completely suicidal. It’s true that they are probably overprescribed for mild cases but that doesn’t mean they are as useless as placebo drugs – I agree they are not not neccessary for everyone and care should definitely be taken in prescribing them, but for some, like me, they are a lifeline.
Mary
I have indeed read the full peer-reviewed article and much more besides, and I do not agree with your interpretation of Kirsch’s views. Obviously your own experience is your experience and I would not question that, but the great majority of people prescribed anti-depressants, they are no better than dummy pills. And of course their harmful, and lasting, side-effects are very commonly experienced.
Mary
Just a little more. You may be interested to read Kirsch’s outspoken views about anti-depressants here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/irving-kirsch-phd/antidepressants-the-emper_b_442205.html where he writes, “Antidepressants are supposed to be the magic bullet for curing depression. But are they? I used to think so. As a clinical psychologist, I used to refer depressed clients to psychiatric colleagues to have them prescribed. But over the past decade, researchers have uncovered mounting evidence that they are not. It seems that we have been misled. Depression is not a brain disease, and chemicals don’t cure it.” He later refers to them as “dangerous but largely ineffective drugs.”
They certainly caused me, and many other people who have written to me over the years, a great deal of permanent harm – and of course SSRIs, the most common type of antidepressants, increase the risk of suicide for children, adolescents and young adults.
They are recklessly over-prescribed.
Sure, they have caused me many bad side effects too – but I have tried going off them and only got WORSE so I weighed the pros and cons and decided I was better on them than off. I take SSRIs (EFEXOR) and yes, I agree they are NOT A NICE DRUG to be dependent on. If I could find an alternative I would certainly go off them, but short of ECT (which I refuse to have as it has caused a few of my friends to lose their memory) I have tried EVERYTHING. I would certainly RATHER be drug free but it seems that I need them… when I go off them I am extrememly suicidal and non-functional.
I was actually prescribed antidepressants at the age of 13…. sometimes I wonder if they did me more harm than good back then and maybe that’s why 25 years later I am still unwell.
I would have to add to the guidelines suggested:
Kegels- or similar pelvic floor exercises- for obvious reasons
Hatha Yoga including inverted poses, which contribute to cerebral circulation and general vascular toning
Avoid or Reduce interaction w/ all unnatural electromagnetic frequencies
Many herbal formulations, including those prepared over a hundred years ago by Naturopaths Alfred Vogel and Dr. Christopher – are focused in strengthening Cerebral Circulation.
I challenge ANYONE to go on a complete sugar fast, with the exception of a few whole unprocessed fruits daily- including ALL sugar in ALL products (salad dressing, soups, sauces, read labels)- and compare your mental clarity.
I gave up all sugar and it’s made an amazing difference! Once or twice when I’ve fallen off the wagon and eaten sweets, it’s taken a few days to wake up again.
I must agree. I have cut way back on the sugar. Then I made some delicious cheese cake, only 2/3 c sugar in the recipe. But made me feel lousy, headache, indigestion, yuck!
I agree with everything you said, except your advice regarding Kegels. Kegels are not effective at maintaining the integrity of the pelvic floor. Check out Katy Bowman’s awesome site at http://www.alignedandwell.com to understand why kegels are just not effective, and why squatting regularly, with good alignment will do far more for your pelvic floor than those over-hyped kegels ever dreamed of doing. (I am not affiliated with the blog in any way, nor do I benefit from it in any way other than pee no longer leaking when I laugh.)
What do you think about nootropics like Piracetam and/or Hydergine.
http://www.hyperhealth.com/demo/piracetam.htm
Just to make it clear why, since they are mostly used to boost memory :
– Piracetam prolongs the life of mice and rats under conditions of Hypoxia. Since hypoxia can occur in varous patological situations of the brain, the prolonged survival under such conditions can prevent severe brain damage.
– Piracetam improves Blood Circulation to the Brain. This means more nutrients and more efficient functioning.
– Piracetam regenerates the Central Nervous System. The good CNS influence the brain gut axis also.
– Piracetam facilitates the Interhemispheric Flow of Information between the two hemispheres of the Brain. This means that more of the brain’s potential is used since people have hemisphere bias.
– Piracetam increases the body’s tolerance to Stress. This can mean bunch of things, among others, reduced weight.
– Piracetam is good for sleep. Good sleep is essential for multiple health issues and weight control.
Does neurotropism work in the brains of those with Alzheimer’s and dementia if they take the steps you’ve outlined? Even if so, it isn’t easy to change people that have already gone downhill.
You’re right. Unfortunately, much of the damage in Alzheimer’s and dementia is irreversible and permanent. However, if you take steps to improve plasticity and create a healthy brain environment, improvements are possible. I’ve seen this is two patients I’m working with currently that have dementia.
Chris,
Interesting post. It is conventional wisdom that drinking alcohol kills brain cells as well. Can you comment on that?
Matt
Chris — I’m with Matt in wondering about alcohol. I’m off all sugars, grains, processed foods, and alcohol, and subsequently my energy and mental clarity have much improved — but I don’t have a clear picture about alcohol. One of my docs swears a glass of wine a way is useful for brain health, and the other says it’s a known neurotoxin and must be avoided.
Have you addressed this in any posts? Thanks!
Hi Chris, I love and appreciate your work, but lately you’ve been making two claims that I do not believe are correct. If you have some good references to back them up, I’d love to check them out — perhaps I’m wrong.
The claims that I take issue with are 1) new born baby brains have more neurons than adult brains. It’s been a decade since I took a course in developmental psychology, but I remember being taught that the opposite is so — newborns have very little neural development in the cerebral cortex, and brain cells of all types grow prolifically after birth.
The second claim I question is 2) that new neurons are not created throughout life, only lost. From reading articles in the science press over the past few years, I got the impression that adult neurons have much greater plasticity and genesis than was previously thought. A quick read of the Wikipedia entry on neurogenesis confirms this (“New neurons are continually born throughout adulthood…”):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neurogenesis
Indeed, the physical size of a newborn’s head compared to that of an adult’s should be enough to make one pause and reflect about these claims.
Thanks, and keep up the good work.
Brent
You may be right, Brent. I can give you several references that support the idea that the brain is post-mytotic, but as Bill suggested, there are other studies showing neurogenesis is possible. But to what extent? Clearly not enough to prevent the conditions caused by accelerated neurodegeneration.
In any event, I don’t think it really changes the thrust of the post, which is A) neurodegenration is primarily responsible for many of the diseases we associate with “normal aging”, and B) protecting against neurodegeneration to the greatest possible extent is the key to aging well.
I don’t think neurogenesis happens with all brain tissue types, and you see more turnover in the hippocampus than pretty much anywhere else. Rule of thumb: If it has to do with memory and learning, you probably make new cells for it. But with other functions, don’t count on it.
1) BRAIN HORMONES are effectively supported by supplementation with E-EPA. E-EPA is an ethylated form of EPA which is able to cross the blood brain barrier at a 95% uptake rate, and is used by the brain to produce seratonin, dopamine, etc. EPA is usually delivered with DHA. The body firstly absorbs DHA with EPA absorption a poor second. DHA is stored in the body, where as EPA is not stored by the body. EPA is rapidly used when the body is under stess, anxiety, etc, and requires regular replenishment.
E-EPA works well for me – nothing else has worked for depression / anxiety.
2) Several supplements which support BRAIN HEALTH for degenerative conditions are LIONS MANE MUSHROOM and MILK THISTLE.
Lions Mane Mushroom is trditionally used for memory and concentration, and also for stomach and digestion. Research has confirmed these, and added immune system support, cancer treatment, growing myelin sheath, and stimulating NGF. Clinical trials confirm its successful use with degenerative neural conditions ranging from dementias, stroke, acquired brain injury, MS, Parkinsons disease, etc.
The silymarin in Milk Thistle not only detoxes the liver, it also protects nerves, slows the brain aging process and Inhibits plaque formation, preventing Alzheimer`s Disease.
And some have claimed that what has been thought to be the adult generation of neurons is actually the generation of glial cells. http://www.jneurosci.org/content/22/3/614.long
Hot off the press:
Article at:
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-brain-environmental.html
To be fair, while babies do start out high with lots of neurons and then rapidly prune them down, it’s not a ‘loss’ per se. That pruning of some areas is how babies learn; they’re born with an equal ability to learn spoken language or how to climb a tree (to make a gross oversimplification). Depending on what kind of enviroment they’re born into, their brains go on to specialize in certain basic life skills. If they retained that basic even keel they start with, they’d never learn how to understand human speech, or that television pictures aren’t real (just to give two examples our ancestors’ didn’t need, but we learn almost immediately).
So while these brain cells start off high and decrease (not sure what current research says about neurogenesis, I think it’s true) all the pop-science claims about baby brain potential (e.g. you have to cram in as much academic work as you can before their brain closes off and they’re doomed!) have been debunked. Two good books that touch on this are Nutureshock and Hothouse Kids (Nutureshock is particularly enjoyable [and shocking]).
I know that even after 40 years and some pretty strong evidence it is still controversial, but adult neurogenesis does happen and might work even better in a more normal insulin climate.
Yep. Here’s more info.
http://www.sfn.org/index.aspx?pagename=brainbriefings_adult_neurogenesis
Interestingly, most of it seems to be happening in the hippocampus.
FYI, for anyone reading this who’s been on antidepressants: If your medication did not work immediately, but took a couple weeks to kick in and become effective, it is very likely you weren’t making enough new brain cells in your hippocampus. I’m suspicious that most cases of depression have nothing to do with serotonin levels; if they did, SSRIs would work immediately in everyone.
As I understood it, less serotonin over time will cause the cells, or neurons or whatever to lose serotonin receptors. Therefore, one with low serotonin who starts taking an antidepressant might right away have more serotonin, but it takes time for the S receptors to grow back in the presence of increased S levels, so there is no effect right away.
I have to agree with you fully- at an earlier time I did not connect this w/ insulin climate but this makes perfect sense, as indigenous people’s elderly have typically been sharp minded, revered, and strong- people who are not exposed to degenerated diets.
RE: “Other symptoms of gut-brain axis dysregulation include cold hands and feet, toenail fungus that won’t heal and brain fog.Okay. Now, guess what 3 of the main problems seniors experience are? That’s right – fatigue, depression and digestive problems. That is not a coincidence. That’s neurodegeneration.” – I would say this is a allopathic-type view and over simplification of general lack of vitality of holistic, interrelated body-systems – one which ultimately remains limited.
“as indigenous people’s elderly have typically been sharp minded, revered, and strong- people who are not exposed to degenerated diets.”
What age are elders in indigenous societies and how many people grew old enough to be elders? I think you’d be comparing 60 year olds with 90 year olds; if people were eating diets that slowly cause degeneration, we probably wouldn’t know about, especially if that same diet were somehow beneficial when they were younger. Of course, we’re both arguing hypotheticals here…
Get your hands on Nutrition and Physical Degeneration ASAP. In most traditional societies before any kind of outside contact, if you didn’t die of acute injury (lion attack!), you lived to 80 or 90 with few wrinkles, fairly strong body, & strong mind. You declined rapidly at the end and died peacefully in your sleep.
That’s what happened to my grandparents. My grandmother who was 88 at the time, woke around 6am. She started boiling water to make her usual morning coffee. She told my aunt that she was feeling tired and was going to lay down a bit. She never woke up. My grandfather passed away two years later. His health deteriorated rapidly after my grandmother died. He wound up becoming paralyzed but his mind remained sharp. I am from what used to be known as North Borneo.
This is exactly how my grandmother, great-grandfather, and virtually everyone on my father’s side of the family went. Lived in excellent health (and for my mom’s side, unfuckingbelievable health) until mid- to late-nineties, then ‘got sick’ (caught something? sudden cancer? they didn’t check old people too carefully back then) and died a couple weeks later. But that was after decades of good health.
Seriously, my great-grandfather was still playing baseball, sliding into home and everything, into his seventies. His last team-mandated physical, at 73, his doctor said he would swear he was looking at a 35 year old man if he didn’t know any better. I wish I could have found out more about how he lived and ate, but my grandmother ‘left the farm’ so to speak, and except for a few downhome recipes I know nothing of how they lived.