Your Brain can do amazing things!!!

Try to read this...

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- Team Shirsa

Men who like sports and culture are happier and healthier!!!!

Researchers recently found that people, especially men, who actively watch or participate in sports and cultural activities are happier and healthier than those who stay at home. 

The Norwegian study involved 50,000 people, and found that men who were active in a variety of activities, like sports, social events, music shows, or going to museums, were 14% more likely to report being satisfied with life and 12-13%  less likely to have anxiety or be depressed. There was an effect in women also, but it was less significant than in men.

The effect might seem small, but one of the researchers noted that ”even if cultural participation might not do much for an individual’s likelihood of being unhappy or ill… small changes can have a big effect across an entire population.” It’s important to mention that this proved only a correlation, not a cause and effect–so it might be that happier and healthier people are more interested in getting out in the world, or it might be that the activities are positively impacting lives. I would be interested in learning whether it was related to the social aspects of sports and culture, since we know that socializing is good for happiness and health too.

- Team Shirsa

Milk - "Newest Brain Food"

We’ve long heard about the brain-boosting powers of things like blueberries, nuts,wines and chocolate – but is milk the newest brain food? A new study of nearly 1,000 people suggests that it may be.

The study, a collaboration between researchers from the University of Maine and the University of South Australia, found that “participants who consumed dairy products at least once per day had significantly higher scores on multiple domains of cognitive function compared with those who never or rarely consumed dairy foods. They also found that, in general, "frequent dairy food intake is associated with better cognitive performance but underlying causal mechanisms are still to be determined.” In other words, people who consume more dairy do better than non-dairy consumers, but it’s not 100% clear why.

10 brain damaging habits!!!

Avoid these 10 brain damaging habits to maintain a strong and healthy brain:

1. No breakfast
Skipping breakfast decreases blood sugar level, leading to an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain, ultimately causing brain deterioration.

2 . Overeating
Overeating hardens of the brain arteries, hence weakening mental power.

3. Smoking
Smoking causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer disease.

4. High sugar consumption
Consuming large amounts of sugar disrupts the absorption of proteins and nutrients. The brain suffers malnutrition brain development is interrupted.

5. Air pollution
Effective brain functioning requires oxygen. Inhaling polluted air cuts down the supply of oxygen to the brain, reducing brain efficiency.

Alzheimer's - A women's disease

Many theories exist as to the cause of Alzheimer’s disease, but one thing scientists know for certain: Women are being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia at almost twice the rate of men.  According to the Alzheimer’s Association 2011 report, 5.4 million women in india are living with Alzheimer’s and 90 percent of this cases are undiagnosed..

Symptoms and side effects of the disease also appear to affect men and women differently.

• Men often become more aggressive. This may manifest itself in verbal, physical or even sexual aggression.  Men also are prone to wander and can become socially inappropriate more so than women.

• Women are apt to become more emotional and reclusive.  They are more likely to begin hoarding things and often suffer from depression and even delusions.  Crying spells are not uncommon and periods of extreme anxiousness can occur.

Optical illusion

optical illusion

What did you see in this picture?

Brain fog during Manopause

Millions of women in their 40s and 50s won’t be surprised to learn that the memory problems commonly referred to as brain fog are real.   Results of a recent study conducted by scientists from the University of Illinois and the University of Rochester Medical Center validate brain fog and offer explanations as to what is happening when women enter menopause.

Brain fog

The study followed 75 women between the ages of 40 and 60 who were approaching or entering into menopause.   Testing included patient interviews and cognitive testing.  Results demonstrated that almost half of all women who go through menopause have measurable changes in their brains performance.  Often the biggest frustration and measured difference is the reduced ability to concentrate when learning and retaining new information.

"Puzzles for you brain!"

Children love to play. It’s how they learn.  Creating block towers teaches spatial reasoning and motor skills.  Playing Crazy Eights and Monopoly help develop logical reasoning abilities.  Adults need to play too but don’t seem to get enough of it.  Our brains are stimulated by the unique challenges and problems that games and brain teasers offer.

Research is finally demonstrating that our brains do better in the long term if they are exposed to novel activities including brain teasers, brain games and logic puzzles.  Publishers seem to get that point too, that it’s always a good time for a puzzle.

So what are the benefits of brain teasers? 

•    Boosts brain activity
•    Provides emotional satisfaction and sense of accomplishment
•    Enhances memory and processing speed
•    Helps slow the decline and reduce the risk for dementia
•    Improves concentration
•    Reduces boredom

Remember that variety is important to maximize the benefit you get from working logic puzzles. Just don't focus on crosswords or Sudoku.  Instead change up your brain workout by trying a variety of brain teasers.  Even if you can’t solve a puzzle your brain will still receive an excellent and much-needed workout.

- Team Shirsa

Smile and say cheese!!!!

A  healthy attitude can lead to a healthy body and a healthy lifestyle!!!! 

Studies are revealing that smiles and a positive mental outlook correlate highly with everything from a lowered risk for disease and better  immunity system, to an overall increase in life expectancy.

Happy Heart is a Healthy Heart

A  study conducted by Dr. Karina Davidson ofColumbia University, found that people who held a positive outlook on life were significantly less likely to develop heart disease when compared to their more pessimistic peers. Dr. Davidson also suggested that optimistic individuals also sleep better, eat better and handle stress more easily.

 A University of Kentucky four-year study of 124 law students found that individuals who stayed upbeat despite being under pressure felt more positive about their law program and showed stronger immune system function. Researchers extended their finding to conclude that when people go into stressful situations, such as surgery, and hold a more positive outlook, they may enjoy a better outcome overall.

Keep Smiling

Smile therapy and even laughter yoga are now capitalizing on the notion that taking time to practice being cheery may pay big dividends for our overall health.

- Team Shirsa

Do you have a photographic memory?

Eidetic imagery, more commonly known as  photographic memory, has long been the subject of curiosity and debate among us and especially for scientist.

People with photographic memories explain that they can still “see” a picture even after it is removed from sight. They often use present tense when answering questions about the missing picture and can recall in extraordinary detail what it contained because they are actually still viewing the picture on a blank canvas in their mind.

The majority of people identified as possessing a photographic memory are children. Scientists estimate the ability occurs in 2 percent to 10 percent of young children. Boys and girls are equally likely to have a photographic memory. With very few exceptions, however, researchers have shown that almost no adults seem to have the ability to form photographic images.

So why don’t adults demonstrate photographic memory? Experts believe that talking (either out loud or in your mind) while viewing an original image interferes with the mind’s ability to photograph the image. Because adults are much more likely to try and encode the picture, both visually and verbally the image is not stored as a photographic image.

Stephen Wiltshire is one of a rare few documented adults with photographic memory capabilities.  He is capable of drawing the entire skyline of a city after a helicopter ride. Stephen is autistic and communicates through his art. 

So friends tell me, whether you have photoggraphic memory?  

- Team Shirsa

Interesting secrets of brain!!!

While doing research for Shirsa, i came across to an interesting article from Glamour Magazine’s February 2008 issue talks about 5 secrets of your brain.  The article was based on the content written by neuroscientist Sandra Aamodt, Ph.D., coauthor of Welcome to Your Brain, speaks about in her book.

While I question whether any of them are really a ‘secret’, I do find Secrets #2 and #3 interesting and relevant for those interested in Brain Fitness.

Secret #2: Because of sex hormone’s in a woman’s brain, women tend to be able to recall objects’ locations better than men – such as where you parked your car or left your glasses.  The ability to recall locations relies on what is often referred to as Visual Working Memory.  One of our products, actually focuses on improving visual working memory.

Secret #3: Human brains do have a memory peak in their thirties.  And unfortunately, as we age, our memories do get weaker.  Dr. Aamodt suggests physical exercise as the best way to stay sharp as exercise increases blood flow to the brain.  However, we also have proven that brain fitness exercises like those in The Brain Fitness Program can also keep your memory sharp well into your later years.

- Team Shirsa

Drive safe!!

'Talking on phone'..'texting while driving'... is dangerous and irresponsible behavior and it should be banned.  However, there are a significant number of accidents that occur where there is no device being used behind the wheel. 

Research about how the brain works and its impact in situations such as driving make it clear that brain performance is the biggest factor in driving safely. Whether it be responding to visual cues such as tracking multiple objects, widening peripheral view or maintaining a clear sight of what is straight ahead, it is the brain’s job to process and respond to the thousands of stimuli and information taken in every second. And according to our research on brain plasticity, the brain has the ability to rewire and therefore improve the cognitive functions that are essential for safe driving.

So many lives can be saved on the roads today if people would only pay attention to their real reason for being behind the wheel  to operate a motor vehicle while we help drivers deal with the multitude of distractions that get in their way of doing it safely.

- Team Shirsa

Is your brain is diabetic?

As we all know that high blood sugar levels can effect your brain health. Now a new research suggests that even levels that are only the upper range of the normal level could potentially be detrimental.

The researchers took a group of people whose blood sugars level are high but not high enough to be classified as having diabetes. They found that even at below pre-diabetes level, a high level of blood sugar could create shrinkage in specific areas of the brain when compared with individuals which have a lower or average blood sugars level.

This study demonstrates the link between blood sugar and brain health even when those levels are not that high. It is therefore important not only for important for your physical health but also for your mental health to check carefully your blood sugar levels.

- Team Shirsa

Use it or lose it!!

You want your retired life should be like this as shown in the picture? , think again! A recent paper with the title “Mental Retirement” is currently suggesting that early retirement may lead to quicker memory decline.
According to study conducted by  Laura L. Carstensen from Stanford University, suggests that work actually provides an important component of the environment that keeps people functioning optimally.” The analysis of the data which was collected for the study suggested people may have to engage in stimulating activities to preserve memory and reasoning skills after their retirement.

The study which was published by economists Susann Rohwedder and Robert J. Willis in The Journal of Economic Perspectives supports the “use it or lose it” theory, further they also supports the idea that cognitively stimulating activities may delay cognitive aging. 

It was started about 20 years ago by the National Institute on Aging on a sample of 22,000 Americans who were submitted to memory tests every two years. Several European then started their own national studies and are being followed by countries such as Japan and Corea, using similar proceedings in order to obtain comparable data. It was found that “the longer people in a country keep working, the better, as a group and also lives healthy, think healthy!!!

- Team Shirsa

Want to burn calories? Think hard!

Are you aware that  thinking burns calories? I wasn’t knowing about  that till now, and today while doing some research for Shirsa,  I came across a Q&A article in New Scientist on this topic. According to behavorial neuroscientist Ewan McNay, who has conducted research in some particular area,

“A rough calculation suggests that thinking hard about a task for 30 minutes might burn about 1/30th of a gram of fat. Thinking is not likely to turn an intellectual couch potato into a lean machine.”

Some other neuroscientist  ‘Roger Hicks said it in a simpler way :

“It appears that the thinking part of brain function,  consumes a relatively small amount of extra energy and is therefore of little use in weight loss-unless, of course, some of that thinking is aimed at producing exercise.”

My  suggestion is, better sign off your computer and hit the gym. As there’s lots of evidences  shows  that  physical exercise is good for your brain too, instead thinking hard!!!!

-  Team Shirsa

Why You Need It So Badly - Sleep!!!

I came across recent studies and articles about the importance of sleep, so I thought it is very good topic to share with you guys! After writing this, I think I’ll definitely be getting a good night’s sleep tonight–if I can stop worrying about all the sleep I’ve lost to date!

Sleep affects your ability to do a good job at work. A study published in The Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine found that people with insomnia or insufficient sleep showed worse productivity and performance on the job. Lack of sleep can have serious consequences on and off the job

A study published in JAMA found that surgeons who worked a night shift and got less than 6 hours of sleep had more complications in the surgeries they performed, compared to others. Another study showed that sleep-deprived medical residents were more likely to crash their cars and make more mistakes on the job.

Poor sleep in kids and teens leads to poor performance in school. studies have shown that kids and teens who get up during the night or don’t get enough sleep do worse in school than their sleep-sound schoolmates. They have problems paying attention and equals more depression and suicidal thoughts in teens. A study on parent-mandated bedtimes found that adolescents who went to bed at 10 PM had significantly lower rates of depression and suicidal thoughts versus those who went to bed at midnight.

Sleep-deprived people don’t realize how impaired they are. Harvard sleep expert Charles Czeisler has been quoted as saying “Like a drunk, a person who is sleep deprived has no idea how functionally impaired he or she truly is. Most of us have forgotten what it really feels like to be awake.”

Lack of sleep combined with alcohol is far more dangerous than you think. Says Cornell expert James Maas, “One drink on six hours of sleep, in terms of your ability to drive a car, is the equivalent of six drinks on eight hours a sleep.

Poor sleep can make you fat and also leads to higher blood pressure. People who sleep less are hungrier and consume more calories–perhaps because they’re looking for food to perk them up. This leads to hormonal changes that make you crave more carbohydrates and make you feel less like exercising.

Beauty and  sleep is not a myth. people were considered to be less attractive and less healthy after sleep deprivation than when they had gotten a full night’s sleep. Lack of sleep can’t be repaired in just one night. Many people believe that one good night’s sleep is sufficient to make up for previous poor sleep, but research has found that chronic sleep loss has residual negative effects, particularly when sleep is lost during the Circadian “night.”

Lack of sleep can literally kill you. People who sleep fewer than six hours a night are 12% more likely to die prematurely than people who sleep between six and eight hours. Another study showed that an average of 7 hours a night for older women was correlated with the best chance of longevity.

- Team Shirsa

How Does Your Memory Work?

You might think that your memory is there to help you remember facts, such as birthdays or shopping lists. If so, you would be very wrong. The ability to travel back in time in your mind is, perhaps, your most remarkable ability, and develops over your lifespan.

Horizon takes viewers on an extraordinary journey into the human memory. From the woman who is having her most traumatic memories wiped by a pill, to the man with no memory, this film reveals how these remarkable human stories are transforming our understanding of this unique human ability.

The findings reveal the startling truth that everyone is little more than their own memory.

- Team Shirsa

Why isn’t brain health on top of your mind?

Recently I’ve been speaking to peoples about what a healthy lifestyle means to them.  The reason I’m doing this is to understand where brain health fits in with overall health:  eating right, exercise and emotional health.  What I mostly hear from folks is that brain health isn’t top of mind unless someone has a close family member suffering from a disease like Alzheimer, dementia.

Most of the people want to stay mentally fit as they grow older but they don't have specific things  doing about it, and the reason is they don’t see or feel a need for it yet. 

 What’s striking to me about this is that the same people will go on and on about what they do for their physical exercise, a healthy diet and in some cases, therapy or meditation for mental health.  They attend Weight Watchers and track their points religiously.  They don’t miss a day with gym.  They hit the gym and track how much weight they move.  They shop at the  market weekly for organic vegetables, use little salt in their foods, etc.  They attend yoga and aerobics.  And they do these and that things to be healthy overall.

 But why not brain health?  Why hasn’t it hit mainstream yet? 

 I think its just a matter of time.  We need to continue to get the word out to the news media about how important brain health is.  Its not about waiting until you are 70 anymore to do something about your brain health.  Its about living a brain healthy lifestyle from now until you are 70 and afterwards. 

  Earlier in 80s people use to eat a high-fat diet and rarely exercised.  There were no gyms.  And as far as mental health, it wasn’t ‘normal’ to go to therapy till last decades. 

 So, I am hopeful we’ll see the same phenomenon with brain health and brain fitness.  The more the media writes about it, the more mainstream health insurance and doctors acknowledge the benefits and the more we talk to our friends of any age about it, the faster we’ll spread the word and make it mainstream.  
Someday brain fitness will be top of mind just like eating healthy and exercising. I just hope it comes sooner than later.

- Team Shirsa

How long were you able to keep your eyes open?

We've all challenged our friends to staring contests before. Do you remember  your best time? 

This topic  came to my mind when i came across to an article stating,  "a man in Australia's Northern Territory kept his eyes open for over 40 minutes!", no its not a joke. He set this record last year at "So You Think You Can Stare," Australia's first staring competition in the Northern Territory. When asked he quoted (Australian guy ) that "it feels like getting a tattoo on my eyeball."

But how did he do it? And was it dangerous? I mean, what really happens if you intentionally keep your eyes open for that long without blinking? 

I think this guy just has a lot of focus and control. And I doubt he had any lasting damage.
Its universal fact that we all have to blink. It's an involuntary reflex that keeps our corneas from drying out and stops dust and other junk from getting in . Normaly, we blink about 15 times a minute. But if it's windy or smoky, that rate goes way up.

We also blink for psychological reasons. Like if we're attentively reading or listening, our blink rate cuts to less than half. A team of researchers at the University of Waterloo found that even while reading, if our minds wander, we blink significantly more often than when we're focused.

 So how long were you able to keep your eyes open? Try it yourself. I want to know your best time.

Share  your best time on Twitter, Facebook, Now!!

- Team Shirsa

Do you hate it when people complain?

Listening to too much complaining is bad for your brain in multiple ways. The brain works more like a muscle than we thought, So if you're pinned in a corner for too long listening to someone being negative, you're more likely to behave that way as well.

Even worse, being exposed to too much complaining can actually make you dumb. Research shows that exposure to 30 minutes or more of negativity, including viewing such material on TV actually peels away neurons in the brain's hippocampus. "That's the part of your brain you need for problem solving," he says. "Basically, it turns your brain to mush."

But if you're running a company, don't you need to hear about anything that may have gone wrong? "There's a big difference between bringing your attention to something that's awry and a complaint.
Typically, people who are complaining don't want a solution; they just want you to join in the indignity of the whole thing. You can almost hear brains clink when six people get together and start saying, 'Isn't it terrible?' This will damage your brain even if you're just passively listening. And if you try to change their behavior, you'll become the target of the complaint."

So, how do you defend yourself and your brain from negativity? 

Get some distance

You should look at complaining the same way, he says. "The approach I've always taken with complaining is to think of it as the same as passive smoking." Your brain will thank you if you get yourself away from the complainer, if you can.

Ask the complainer to fix the problem

Try to get the person who's complaining to take responsibility for a solution.  Respond to a complaint with, 'What are you going to do about it?'" Many complainers walk away huffily at that point.


Imagine Your Favorite Spot!

A strategy is to mentally retreat to your favorite holiday spot, someplace you'd go if you could wave a magic wand. take yourself to your private retreat while people were ranting and raving and keep smiling at them and nod in all the right places and meanwhile take a peaceful walk on your "private beach."

- Team Shirsa

Good news for Music lovers!!!

New research published in Neuropsychology shows that kids who take music lessons get a brain boost that lasts even into old age.

Researchers looked at a group of older adults between ages 60 and 83, and compared them based on how much experience they had playing music. Those who knew music or had practiced an instrument performed better on a variety of cognitive tests.
The head researcher Dr. Brenda Hanna-Pladdy mentioned that because music practice can be “a challenging cognitive exercise” it may help in “making your brain fitter and more capable of accommodating the challenges of aging.” She added, “Since studying an instrument requires years of practice and learning, it may create alternate connections in the brain that could compensate for cognitive declines as we get older.”
So thanks  mom-dad,  now I know that, all that torturous practice might help me keep my marbles as I age!

- Team Shirsa