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Neuroplasticity: How Women Can Stay Mentally Limber

The brain is an incredible machine, right?

Wrong.

It’s incredible, certainly, but it’s no machine.

BY Marcia Kaye


The latest neuroscience research is turning traditional thinking about the brain on its head, so to speak. For several centuries scientists had assumed that the brain developed rapidly during the crucial years of early childhood, then stopped, leaving a permanently hard-wired physical structure that was impervious to change. But a large, rapidly growing body of research is finding that unlike a mechanical apparatus made of a fixed number of parts, this organ is continually changing. It’s “plastic,” or malleable, meaning that it’s constantly reorganizing in response to things we do, sense, experience and learn.

“Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to adapt to a changing environment,” says Dr. Vivien Brown, a Toronto family physician and member of the Women’s Brain Health Initiative, a Canadian-based global foundation supporting international research into combating women’s aging brain disorders. “The more plastic the brain is, the better able it is to learn new things, process information quickly, recover from stroke and other brain trauma, decrease likelihood of depression and adapt to changing circumstances.” Brown adds that more plasticity means better cognitive and motor function, which helps us stay physically vital and mentally sharp longer.

The brain is proving to have an astonishing capacity to change itself both structurally and functionally. It can reorganize connections between cells, create new pathways, and even create new cells in response to changes in behaviour or environmental influences. And it can do all this into adulthood and even old age. It can also move functions from an injured region of the brain to an undamaged area. In his internationally bestselling book The Brain That Changes Itself: Stories of Personal Triumph From the Frontiers of Brain Science, Toronto psychiatrist and researcher Norman Doidge documents remarkable evidence of this, including a woman born with half a brain that rewired itself to work as a whole brain; a stroke survivor who learned how to regain use of his paralyzed left side; and a woman who eliminated her own severe learning disabilities.

Related: Carolyn Lawrence sits down with four leading female experts in women’s health.

Here’s three things women can do to optimize our brain health:

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[woitab title=”1.) Active Body, Active Brain” active=”active”]

Say_ActiveStaying physically active is crucial to the brain. “It’s not just a matter of exercise increasing blood flow to a certain area,” says Brown. “We actually see improvements in neurological functioning.” Moderate activity for three to four hours a week reduces your risk of even mild cognitive decline and is associated with better abilities for tasks such as delayed recall and multitasking, as well as improved attention span. Brown says that aerobic exercise, as opposed to non-aerobic stretching, increases levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a protein critical for neuroplasticity in the hippocampus, the area of the brain involved in learning and memory.

An active lifestyle also helps you maintain a healthy weight and reduce your risk of obesity, diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and stroke, any of which can cause cognitive decline.

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[woitab title=”2.) Smart Foods“]

Eat_HealthyThere’s a strong connection between a healthy diet and a healthy brain, says Leslie Beck, a registered dietitian based at the Medisys clinic in Toronto. “Certain foods positively influence the structure of your brain cells, not just in reducing your future risk of dementia and cognitive impairment, but in helping your memory today,” she says.

Beck points to the Mediterranean diet as the best brain-friendly eating plan. It centres on vegetables, legumes, leafy greens, whole grains, fish, nuts and olive oil, with red meat appearing at most a few times a month. Because it’s plant-based, it’s low in saturated fats and high in antioxidants, a dynamic combination that helps reduce inflammation, which can inhibit neuroplasticity. It also modifies oxidative stress, the damage caused by free radicals, to which the brain is particularly sensitive since it consumes 20 percent of the body’s oxygen. A large 2009 study from Columbia University Medical Center in New York found that people who ate a largely Mediterranean diet were 38 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s.

Berries, purple grapes, cherries, walnuts, pomegranates and black or green tea help activate microglia, the cells that act as the brain’s housekeepers. These little janitorial workers clean the brain by constantly scavenging for plaques (which build up in Alzheimer’s patients) and damaged neurons.

Beck recommends broad-based, low-dose multi-vitamin and mineral supplements, especially since most Canadians are deficient in vitamin D in winter, and vegans and vegetarians often in B12. But she cautions that the studies are mixed. For instance, women who consume dietary vitamin E (from wheat germ, almonds, sunflower seeds or oils made from these foods), have a lower risk of dementia than those who simply took vitamin E supplements.[/woitab]
[woitab title=”3.) Mind Games“]

Social_ConnectionCrossword puzzles, video games, brain fitness exercises—they can all keep you mentally alert, but no more than any other cognitively demanding task, Brown says. “Any kind of stimulation is important, but doing a game by yourself is not as good as interacting with other people.”

Social connectedness is the key, she says. “What having a conversation or playing a game with other people offers that is above and beyond these puzzles is the benefit of interacting with other people, engaging with the community and enjoying social support, which is possibly the most important thing for offsetting the negative effects of stress.” Chronic stress, she says, is probably the single biggest obstacle to optimal brain function and plasticity throughout life.

So instead of playing computer solitaire or studying a second language from an online program, Brown suggests meeting with others for bridge, chess or Scrabble, or joining a language class. Your brain will thank you for it.

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Related: Click here to watch our 2014 Women in Health Panel discuss the biggest issues in women’s health from chronic stress to Alzheimer’s disease!

 


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