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Tero Toivanen

Map of Synapse May Help Understand Basis of Many Diseases - NYTimes.com - 3 views

www.nytimes.com/...21brain.html

synapse map brain research neuroscience neurons science

shared by Tero Toivanen on 22 Dec 10 - No Cached
  • The research team, led by Seth Grant of the Sanger Institute near Cambridge, England, compiled the first exact inventory of all the protein components of the synaptic information-processing machinery. No fewer than 1,461 proteins are involved in this biological machinery, they report in the current issue of Nature Neuroscience.
  • Each neuron in the human brain makes an average 1,000 or so connections with other neurons. There are 100 billion neurons, so the brain probably contains 100 trillion synapses, its most critical working part.
  • The 1,461 genes that specify these synaptic proteins constitute more than 7 percent of the human genome’s 20,000 protein-coding genes, an indication of the synapse’s complexity and importance.
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  • Dr. Grant believes that the proteins are probably linked together to form several biological machines that process the information and change the physical properties of the neuron as a way of laying down a memory.
  • The new catalog of synaptic proteins “should open a major new window in mental disease,” said Jeffrey Noebels, an expert on the genetics of epilepsy at the Baylor College of Medicine. “We can go in there and systematically look for disease pathways and therefore druggable targets.”
  • Tero Toivanen on 22 Dec 10
     
    The research team, led by Seth Grant of the Sanger Institute near Cambridge, England, compiled the first exact inventory of all the protein components of the synaptic information-processing machinery. No fewer than 1,461 proteins are involved in this biological machinery
  • Ruth Howard on 26 Dec 10
     
    Seeing mental health as a druggable target is psychotic...
Tero Toivanen

Use It or Lose It: The Principles of Brain Plasticity - 3 views

articles.mercola.com/...brain-plasticity.aspx

brain plasticity research learning neurons memory Use It or Lose It Brain Gym nutrition

shared by Tero Toivanen on 09 Dec 12 - No Cached
  • You probably haven't realizd it, but as you acquire an ability – for example, the ability to read – you have actually created a system in the brain that does not exist, that's not in place, in the non-reader. It [the ability; the brain system that controls the ability] actually evolves in you as it has been acquired through experience or learning.
  • "There are some very useful exercises at www.BrainHQ.com that are free, and using them can give a person a better understanding of how exercising your brain can drive it in a rejuvenating direction. Using exercises at BrainHQ, most people, of any age, can drive sharp improvements in brain speed and accuracy, and thereby rewire the brain so that it again represents information in detail," he says.
  • Children operating in the 10th to 20th percentile of academic performance are commonly able to improve their scores to the middle or average level with 20-30 hours of intensive computer-based training. "That's a big difference for the child," he says. "It carries most children who are near the bottom of the class, on the average, to be somewhere in the middle or above average in the class. And that gives struggling children a chance to really succeed and in many cases excel in school."
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  • Careful controlled studies in seniors have also been reported in scientific journals. After 40 hours of computer-based training, the average improvement in cognitive performance across the board was 14 years. On average, if you were 70 years old when you underwent the training after 40 hours of brain training, your cognitive abilities operated like that of a 56-year old. Equally strong or even greater effects were seen in 40 to 50 year olds using the program. Individuals who worked on the BrainHQ exercises at home did just as well as those who completed training in a clinic or research center.
  • Ideally, it would be wise to invest at least 20 minutes a day. But no more than five to seven minutes is to be spent on a specific task. When you spend longer amounts of time on a task, the benefits weaken. According to Dr. Merzenich, the primary benefits occur in the first five or six minutes of the task.
  • Find ways to engage yourself in new learning
  • "When it matters to you, you are going to drive changes in your brain," he explains. "That's something always to keep in mind. If what you're doing seems senseless, meaningless, if it does not matter to you, then you're gaining less from it."
  • Get 15-30 minutes of physical exercise each day,
  • Spend about five minutes every day working on the refinement of a specific, small domain of your physical body.
  • You can typically improve yourself to the highest practical or possible level in anywhere between five to a dozen brief sessions of seven or eight minutes each. Again, having a sense of purpose is crucial.
  • Stay socially engaged.
  • Practice "mindfulness,"
  • Foods have an immense impact on your brain, and eating whole foods as described in my nutrition plan will best support your mental and physical health.
  • The medical literature is also showing that coconut oil can be of particular benefit for brain health, and anecdotal evidence suggests it could be very beneficial in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.
  • Optimize your vitamin D levels
  • Take a high-quality animal-based omega-3 fat.
  • Avoid processed foods and sugars, especially fructose
  • Avoid grains
  • Avoid artificial sweeteners
  • Avoid soy
  • Men who ate tofu at least twice weekly had more cognitive impairment, compared with those who rarely or never ate the soybean curd, and their cognitive test results were about equivalent to what they would have been if they were five years older than their current age.
  • Tero Toivanen on 09 Dec 12
     
    "It was once thought that any brain function lost was irretrievable. Today, research into what's referred to as "brain plasticity" has proven that this is not the case. On the contrary, your brain continues to make new neurons throughout life in response to mental activity."
Tero Toivanen

The five ages of the brain: Adolescence - life - 04 April 2009 - New Scientist - 0 views

www.newscientist.com/...-of-the-brain-adolescence.html

Adolescence brain scanning grey-matter neural connections prefrontal cortex white matter

shared by Tero Toivanen on 21 Jun 09 - Cached
  • Jay Giedd at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and his colleagues have followed the progress of nearly 400 children, scanning many of them every two years as they grew up. They found that adolescence brings waves of grey-matter pruning, with teens losing about 1 per cent of their grey matter every year until their early 20s (Nature Neuroscience, vol 2, p 861).
  • This cerebral pruning trims unused neural connections that were overproduced in the childhood growth spurt, starting with the more basic sensory and motor areas.
  • Among the last to mature is the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex at the very front of the frontal lobe. This area is involved in control of impulses, judgement and decision-making, which might explain some of the less-than-stellar decisions made by your average teen. This area also acts to control and process emotional information sent from the amygdala - the fight or flight centre of gut reactions - which may account for the mercurial tempers of adolescents.
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  • These changes have both benefits and pitfalls. At this stage of life the brain is still childishly flexible, so we are still sponges for learning. On the other hand, the lack of impulse control may lead to risky behaviours such as drug and alcohol abuse, smoking and unprotected sex.
  • As grey matter is lost, though, the brain gains white matter
  • Substance abuse is particularly concerning, as brain imaging studies suggest that the motivation and reward circuitry in teen brains makes them almost hard-wired for addiction.
  • since drug abuse and stressful events - even a broken heart - have been linked to mood disorders later in life, this is the time when both are best avoided.
  • Making the most of this time is a matter of throwing all that teen energy into learning and new experiences - whether that means hitting the books, learning to express themselves through music or art, or exploring life by travelling the world.
  • Tero Toivanen on 21 Jun 09
     
    Jay Giedd at the National Institute of Mental Health in Bethesda, Maryland, and his colleagues have followed the progress of nearly 400 children, scanning many of them every two years as they grew up. They found that adolescence brings waves of grey-matter pruning, with teens losing about 1 per cent of their grey matter every year until their early 20s (Nature Neuroscience, vol 2, p 861).
Tero Toivanen

Low Pessimism Protects Against Stroke: The Health and Social Support (HeSSup) Prospecti... - 2 views

stroke.ahajournals.org/...187

pessimism optimism stroke brain research

shared by Tero Toivanen on 07 Jan 10 - Cached
  • Tero Toivanen on 07 Jan 10
     
    It's good for your life and health to be optimist.
  • Ruth Howard on 11 Jan 10
     
    It' s a slightly different perspective that I' m enjoying at this time but I appreciate it may only be true for some-I' ve just begun to understand what "faith" means tho I' m not religious-still! (I feel some empathy now as to why people are) I feel much more inclined to just sit still and connect inside with the Source of me-any meditation or spiritual practice can lead me there or creativity,music too,nature! But to deliberately connect to the part of us all that is connected and knows/is All. From that place I' ve understood that theres noone to be, nowhere to go, nothing to do as we are all there already as we are all IT! So of course daily I forget this but this insight has gifted me much more optimism as I can assume that whatever I really ask for/intend/desire is already in the big melting pot that we can Life/God. That is ' faith' Ive realised now- to ask and know intimately that it' s already a given and to STOP Worrying and completely ignore the naysayers etc. It' s really trusting that I' m connected to it all and I am not separate. I' m beginning to observe quite distinctly the thoughts that separate me from what I want/intend. Particularly in relation to my fellow beings! But then I turn to the place that is connected and I feel so good! and just thinking of the situation from that place and holding that good feeling in relation and giving it over (the problem) really helps! I know several spiritual teachers have said "give it over to me". I' m starting to understand it really is that simple. Trying hard and worrying just create such muck and mire! This may be part of the surrender letting go and letting God that others speak of also? I reckon it would be interesting to see where how people get there faith/trust in life that creates the underlying optimism. What gives that to them? I remember as a child I had it naturally I often got what I asked for and intended and there was an abundance of flow and optimism. No resistance. Fear and doubt come later
Tero Toivanen

Does Vitamin D Improve Brain Function?: Scientific American - 0 views

www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm

vitamin D improve brain function

shared by Tero Toivanen on 03 Nov 09 - Cached
  • And although vitamin D is well known for promoting bone health and regulating vital calcium levels—hence its addition to milk—it does more than that. Scientists have now linked this fat-soluble nutrient’s hormonelike activity to a number of functions throughout the body, including the workings of the brain.
  • We know there are receptors for vitamin D throughout the central nervous system and in the hippocampus
  • We also know vitamin D activates and deactivates enzymes in the brain and the cerebrospinal fluid that are involved in neurotransmitter synthesis and nerve growth.
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  • In addition, animal and laboratory studies suggest vitamin D protects neurons and reduces inflammation.
  • The scientists found that the lower the subjects’ vitamin D levels, the more negatively impacted was their perform­ance on a battery of mental tests. Compared with people with optimum vitamin D levels, those in the lowest quartile were more than twice as likely to be cognitively impaired.
  • The data show that those people with lower vitamin D levels exhibited slower information-processing speed. This correlation was particularly strong among men older than 60 years.
  • Although we now know that low levels of vitamin D are associated with cognitive impairment, we do not know if high or optimum levels will lessen cognitive losses. It is also unclear if giving vitamin D to those who lack it will help them regain some of these high-level functions.
  • So how much is enough vitamin D? Experts say 1,000 to 2,000 IU daily—about the amount your body will synthesize from 15 to 30 minutes of sun exposure two to three times a week—is the ideal range for almost all healthy adults. Keep in mind, however, that skin color, where you live and how much skin you have exposed all affect how much vitamin D you can produce.
  • Tero Toivanen on 03 Nov 09
     
    And although vitamin D is well known for promoting bone health and regulating vital calcium levels-hence its addition to milk-it does more than that. Scientists have now linked this fat-soluble nutrient's hormonelike activity to a number of functions throughout the body, including the workings of the brain.
Tero Toivanen

Music as Medicine for the Brain - US News and World Report - 0 views

health.usnews.com/...as-medicine-for-the-brain.html

music therapy Parkinson's Alzheimer's brain neuroscience medicine

shared by Tero Toivanen on 27 Sep 09 - No Cached
  • Tero Toivanen on 27 Sep 09
     
    Music therapy has been practiced for decades as a way to treat neurological conditions from Parkinson's to Alzheimer's to anxiety and depression. Now, advances in neuroscience and brain imaging are revealing what's actually happening in the brain as patients listen to music or play instruments and why the therapy works.
Tero Toivanen

Adult Learning - Neuroscience - How to Train the Aging Brain - NYTimes.com - 1 views

www.nytimes.com/...03adult-t.html

neuroscience brain aging adult learning tots research training

shared by Tero Toivanen on 02 Jan 10 - Cached
  • One explanation for how this occurs comes from Deborah M. Burke, a professor of psychology at Pomona College in California. Dr. Burke has done research on “tots,” those tip-of-the-tongue times when you know something but can’t quite call it to mind. Dr. Burke’s research shows that such incidents increase in part because neural connections, which receive, process and transmit information, can weaken with disuse or age.
  • But she also finds that if you are primed with sounds that are close to those you’re trying to remember — say someone talks about cherry pits as you try to recall Brad Pitt’s name — suddenly the lost name will pop into mind. The similarity in sounds can jump-start a limp brain connection. (It also sometimes works to silently run through the alphabet until landing on the first letter of the wayward word.)
  • Recently, researchers have found even more positive news. The brain, as it traverses middle age, gets better at recognizing the central idea, the big picture. If kept in good shape, the brain can continue to build pathways that help its owner recognize patterns and, as a consequence, see significance and even solutions much faster than a young person can.
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  • The trick is finding ways to keep brain connections in good condition and to grow more of them.
  • Educators say that, for adults, one way to nudge neurons in the right direction is to challenge the very assumptions they have worked so hard to accumulate while young. With a brain already full of well-connected pathways, adult learners should “jiggle their synapses a bit” by confronting thoughts that are contrary to their own, says Dr. Taylor, who is 66.
  • Teaching new facts should not be the focus of adult education, she says. Instead, continued brain development and a richer form of learning may require that you “bump up against people and ideas” that are different. In a history class, that might mean reading multiple viewpoints, and then prying open brain networks by reflecting on how what was learned has changed your view of the world.
  • Such stretching is exactly what scientists say best keeps a brain in tune: get out of the comfort zone to push and nourish your brain. Do anything from learning a foreign language to taking a different route to work.
  • “As adults we have these well-trodden paths in our synapses,” Dr. Taylor says. “We have to crack the cognitive egg and scramble it up. And if you learn something this way, when you think of it again you’ll have an overlay of complexity you didn’t have before — and help your brain keep developing as well.”
  • Tero Toivanen on 02 Jan 10
     
    Dr. Burke has done research on "tots," those tip-of-the-tongue times when you know something but can't quite call it to mind. Dr. Burke's research shows that such incidents increase in part because neural connections, which receive, process and transmit information, can weaken with disuse or age.
David McGavock

The Top 10 Challenges for Brain Science in 2013 - Forbes - 0 views

www.forbes.com/...nges-for-brain-science-in-2013

shared by David McGavock on 31 Dec 12 - No Cached
  • 1. Figure out what fMRI can truly tell us about our brains. 
  • There’s little question fMRI is valuable, but too many disparate forces are out there spinning brain scans in too many ways. Perhaps one solution, or start of a solution, is a summit hosted by a credible, well-respected institute or organization to gather the best of the best minds in the field to establish a game plan moving forward.
  • 2. Determine what role, if any, neuroscience should play in the courtroom.
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  • . Continue crafting a constructive consilience between disciplines.
  • Neuroscience, behavioral science, evolutionary biology, economics, engineering, and even the humanities have all come to the proverbial table in the last few years
  • Produce more applicable knowledge and less curious meanderings.
  • 7. Join forces with more public health sources to engender broader awareness of critical issues. 
  • Try to fight the urge to spin off more headline pablum like “Brain Porn.”
  • How about we spend more time trying to solve the problems and less time concocting clever catch phrases?
  • Shine the light on how far the forces of marketing have exploited brain science advances (this is a genuine public service).
  • I am an unwavering advocate of making sure people understand how the forces of marketing are using the field to sell more products.
  • Again, what is truly “solid applicable knowledge” is frequently debatable (see #1 above), but every year the field–and by that I mean the interdisciplinary field (#3)–has more to offer the public.
  • 8. Put the brakes on “building a brain” — we already have plenty of them.
  • in my opinion we have enough to do with respect to figuring our how our organic brain works without spending massive resources on trying to recreate one.
  • 9. Turn the corner from “what’s wrong with our brains” to “what we can really do about it.” 
Tero Toivanen

Phasic Firing Of Dopamine Neurons Is Key To Brain's Prediction Of Rewards - 0 views

www.sciencedaily.com/...090403144032.htm

dopamine neurons brain learning rewards behavior

shared by Tero Toivanen on 23 May 09 - Cached
  • Our research findings provide a direct functional link between the bursting activity of midbrain dopamine neurons and behavior. The research has significant applications for the improvement of health, because the dopamine neurons we are studying are the same neurons that become inactivated during Parkinson's Disease and with the consumption of psychostimulants such as cocaine and amphetamine
  • Midbrain dopamine neurons fire in two characteristic modes, tonic and phasic, which are thought to modulate distinct aspects of behavior. When an unexpected reward is presented to an individual, midbrain dopamine neurons fire high frequency bursts of electrical activity. Those bursts of activity allow us to learn to associate the reward with cues in our environment, which may predict similar rewards in the future.
  • When researchers placed the mice in reward-based situations, they found that the mice without the NMDA receptor in their dopaminergic neurons could not learn tasks that required them to associate sensory cues with reward. Those same mice, however, were able to learn tasks that did not involve an association with rewards.
Tero Toivanen

YouTube - Health Matters: Behavior and Our Brain - 0 views

www.youtube.com/watch

youtube Sejnowski learning adaptation interaction brain human abilities environment brain change brain imaging music critical periods neurons fetus brain disorders genes evolution language distincion behavior addiction dopamine stimulus ratification intui

shared by Tero Toivanen on 19 Jul 09 - Cached
  • Tero Toivanen on 19 Jul 09
     
    In an interview Ph.D. Terrence Sejnowski from Salk Institute for biological studies explains about many things about brains and behavior.
Tero Toivanen

Learning keeps brain healthy: study - 0 views

www.physorg.com/news186765489.html

brain health study learning growth

shared by Tero Toivanen on 02 Mar 10 - Cached
  • Tero Toivanen on 02 Mar 10
     
    "The findings confirm a critical relationship between learning and brain growth and point to ways we can amplify that relationship through possible future treatments
Tero Toivanen

YouTube - Man without a memory - Clive Wearing [BBC - Time: Daytime] - 3 views

www.youtube.com/watch

youtube neuropsychology memory present moment

shared by Tero Toivanen on 03 Jan 10 - Cached
Ruth Howard liked it
  • Tero Toivanen on 03 Jan 10
     
    Man who don't have memory and is constantly living in the present moment.
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  • Ruth Howard on 04 Jan 10
     
    I love that ' bump up against' people and ideas counter to those which we' ve previously aligned-that' s kind of how I see aging gracefully-being able to see many more and others viewpoints-otherwise aging can seem like becoming caricatures of ourselves-we so believe our own thoughts (beliefs are after all only our much/most repeated thoughts!) and there' s no room for anyone or anything else! Mmmmmm yeah but now to live it!
  • Tero Toivanen on 04 Jan 10
     
    My mother had a stroke and now she has big problems to communicate. She understands allmost everything, but have great problems to express herself speaking. Aging is not easy thing if you have problems with your health.
  • Ruth Howard on 05 Jan 10
     
    Truly! It' s alot slower to align with our preferences for sure when sick. I sincerely recommend www.bruno-groening.org as a resource The Bruno Groning Circle of Friends-all volunteers!. It' s a type of Faith healing that I recognise as quite remarkable. It has strong old world Germanic Christian vibe and/but dont let that put you off the ' healing stream' which is very easy to teach to yourself/your mother and available to all regardless of religious affliations.
  • Tero Toivanen on 05 Jan 10
     
    Thak you for the link : )
Ruth Howard

BBC News - Brain scans 'can distinguish memories', say scientists - 0 views

news.bbc.co.uk/...8556422.stm

brainscan brain bbc news neuroscience science research learning memory neurons synapse

shared by Ruth Howard on 12 Mar 10 - Cached
  • Ruth Howard on 12 Mar 10
     
    Scientists say they have been able to tell which past event a person is recalling using a brain scan. The University College London researchers showed people film clips and were able to predict which ones they were subsequently thinking about.
Tero Toivanen

Jellinek - Drugs in de hersenen - 0 views

www.jellinek.nl/index.html

drugs flash brain health resource synapse memory neurons

shared by Tero Toivanen on 20 Mar 11 - Cached
  • Tero Toivanen on 20 Mar 11
     
    Really interesting resource about Drugs and the brain.
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