Check this new one out

I'm putting this blog on a break so I can focus on my DrLukePresents blog, about "Dr Luke", the 1st Century Physician and writer of the Gospel and his experiences in the 21st Century. It will include: some humor as he encounters 21st Century life; observations on health and wellness; observations on culture; and news about the great resources and grants from Wheat Ridge Ministries. And Dr Luke has a great interest in the brain so you'll find some interesting stuff there too.

I'll be using the Dr Luke character, live and online, as part of my new position as Church Relations Representative for Wheat Ridge Ministries.

All's well that ends well...

Memory is a very interesting thing. Check out my recent blog: Memory is Fiction by Jonah Lehrer.

Add that to a recent TED video I watched on the Experiencing self and the Remembering self and there is lots to think about.

The experiencing self may have had a horrible experience (say, a long painful operation) but if the operation ended with little pain, the remembering self will give the operation much better marks than someone who had a shorter, much less painful operation but one that ended on high pain.
How does that affect the classroom, or the sermon/worship experience or the regular meeting you have to attend? Seems that it is very important to pay attention to how things end.

Brain friendly tips...

Check out my other blog for some short, brain friendly tips...

The eyes have it...

TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) has some interesting posts.

This one by tom Wujec is how our eyes help our brain make meaning. 6 minutes short. Current.

What is it about illustrations and graphics that helps creates meaning? Check out what Tom says about that, and how it informs working as a team.

More on Creature, Creator

Recently posted on Creature/Creator - a post from Jonah Lehrer's blog. Posting once again from his blog, this time on "clocks and clouds" - about our ability to really understand the world around us. There are pieces of our world that we are getting to understand fairly well (understandable as clocks - ordered and understandable) but so much more that is beyond our abilities, perception, understanding (things as unordered and unpredictable as clouds). Helpful to keep a good perspective on the two: Here's what we know - for now.

I enjoyed his description of how, in the mid-90's, Marcus Raichle discovered the default network in the brain by following what everybody else thought was a dead end.

Memory is Fiction

So much is happening in brain research these days... some very interesting parts of that are around memory.
Charlie Rose has a fascinating series on the brain. One recently dealt with The Aging Brain. They talked about two memory systems: Declarative memory (memory for people, places and objects) and Non-Declarative memory (memory for things we do automatically like driving a car, brushing our teeth, etc). Turns out the non-declarative memory system ages quite well. But the Declarative system is prone to gradual, age related loss and the more rapid loss of Alzheimer's Disease.

Jonah Lehrer recently posted a blog (if you are interested in the brain, I'd encourage you to follow this young man's blog) on Memory as Fiction. Very interesting. I had seen in other places as well this thinking that memory is not what we thought it was - data stored away in a safe vault for later retrieval - but rather it is restored each time as if it was new, and therefore prone to damage and/or reduction over time. Jonah says it much better than I can. Check it out.

I'd love to hear more about how/if memories like scripture and hymns stick long term. I've heard great first-hand stories about how, in times of crisis, people have been blessed by the scripture and hymns they learned (memorized) early on. It had stayed with them to be a comfort and help. First, you can't recall something that doesn't get in to the memory system. And are there things we can do in the memorizing that help it stick? I think likely music (hymn words) is one key.

Creature, Creator

Some fascinating info from one of Jonah Lehrer's recent blogs. The Allen Institute is mapping the brain. Interesting that they feel 'disheartened' at the complexity they are finding. I'm excited: shows an amazing creator. As they say in the quote: "we don't even know what we don't know". We are fearfully and wonderfully made. (be prepared for some blunt pics of the brain and the work they are doing)

Follow Some Blogs and web pages

A person can't possibly follow all there is out there to keep 'current' on brain research. Things are happening too fast. My approach is to find a few places that I 'trust' (not necessarily that I believe everything they post but I know they are a fairly unbiased source of new info) and they have some creds in the field.

Here are two:
Jonah Lehrer has a blog. He posts quite regularly (an important factor for me) and his posts are long enough to give an in-depth look at something. He is a young buck (27 I think) who looks even younger (17) but he has a good depth and maturity to his posts. He is currently on vacation but re-posting things from the past. I'd encourage you to follow along with his posts.

The Dana Foundation's web site. I actually came across these guys from a Twitter post (my next blog). The home page here can take you many directions... and their whole deal is the brain and current research. Check out the headings and go where your interests take you.

Fructose

Do you have time to learn some important information about how fructose (part of natural sugar and also High Fructose Corn Syrup) messes with our bodies and brains?

Sugar: The Bitter Truth by Dr Lustig. Well worth the 90 minutes of time. The movie is a bit technical but very informative. Fructose is handled in our body just like alcohol. Calorie for Calorie. Imagine ingesting as much alcohol as we do fructose. Yikes! (get a pdf of an article by Dr Lustig that helps explain the biochemistry.)

Unlike alcohol, fructose does not give you a "buzz". But everything else is just like alcohol, and just as dangerous to our health, and the health of our kids. In relation to the brain, it blocks the signal that says "I'm full" so you keep eating, in spite of all the evidence (extra weight on our bodies) to the contrary.

Many people in the medical community are calling it an obesity 'epidemic'. That description calls for a change. And it is a matter of stewardship too, caring for the bodies we have so we'll be able to give God our best.

Hope Christian Schools

Check out my other blog for a look at Hope Christian Schools on CBS News.

Happens to reinforce much about exercise/movement and learning (check out the 'multiplication rap') and music and learning as well.

I'd love to know how they involve parents in their success.

Feed the Brain

Here is a helpful post from an Early Childhood Brain Insights blog.

Nourish Your Brain with a Healthy Diet ...

Like any high-performance machine, the brain needs top quality fuel.
A few brain healthy tips shared by the brain team:

1. Your brain needs a well-balanced, low cholesterol, low saturated (animal fat) diet.

2. Timing is significant in nutrition. Research supports the importance of a good breakfast...for everyone, not only children.

3. Protein and unsaturated fat is especially important for developing brains.

4. Fish, a rich source of protein and "healthy" fat is often referred to as the brain vitamin, otherwise known as Essential Fatty Acids (Omega Fatty Acids).

5. Your brain needs vitamins and minerals; they come from your diet.

6. Eating a natural rainbow each day, comprised of fruits and vegetables provides important antioxidants (which will help keep you healthy and help ward off colds and getting sick)

7. Research suggests antioxidant vitamins E and C protect the brain.

8. Avoid excess food. Reducing calories can help slow age-related brain changes.

9. Get out into nature...it does a brain good!

10. Studies suggest that sleep is essential for the maintenance of proper immune function, and it also serves as a mental "down time" during which neurons can repair themselves and memories can be organized into long-term storage.
As a general rule, good nutrition for the body, is good nutrition for the brain.

Food Revolution

ABC is carrying a new show that starts this Friday the 26th, 8/7 Central -

Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. Jamie is a young Chef from England. "One Man. One Mission - Let's Do It For the Kids" He has some creative ways - and sometimes confrontational ways - of getting people to understand what is wrong with the way we now eat and how to eat healthy. He works with schools and communities. Be cautioned that the language on the show is a bit rough but it is well worth watching.

He reminds me of Jo Frost, the Super Nanny - also on ABC - who came from England and helped moms and dads learn how to be a parent.

Eating well is a critical part of performing well... giving God our best.

Brain Awareness Week

Let's see... I am aware that I have one. Done!

Not sure who pitches for all these special weeks. Might as well be one for the brain!

Sure is lots of new stuff out there. For Charlie Rose it is Brain Awareness Year. He has a very interesting series (one show per month for a year) on the brain. He picks a topic and then invites experts in that area to come and talk together. Very interesting.

You can watch them online. So far he as covered:
-the organization of the brain
-seeing
-movement
-the social brain
-the developing brain

He will cover the aging brain, creative brain and lots more. Check it out. Well worth the time. What I've seen so far strongly reinforces the importance of the early years and how critical the parent's influence is.

Frontline - Digital-Nation

Frontline has another installment of their Digital Nation program. It is about 90 minutes of run time but very interesting stuff on:
-multi-tasking
-gaming
-virtual communities

MIT students were quite strong (perhaps even cocky) in their assessment of their own ability to multitask. Under controlled circumstances they actually do very poorly at it.

And there are some very interesting segments on how closely people can become connected without ever meeting each other in the flesh... virtual communities. They really know a lot about each other and care for each other.

Always a big shake up when you make huge paradigm shifts - pictures to alphabet/words; spoken word/memory to mass printed text; now to the digital world as well. Some things are lost and other things are gained. It will require thoughtful consideration, and some testing, to see which of the new patterns emerging among the digital natives are helpful and which are not... if that is even the best way to phrase it. If your "community" is made up of folks physically very far away from you, what happens when you need local folks to care for you physically in times of crisis? What is lost when we keep making our brain work in shorter and shorter busts as we multi-task. How important is the ability to think/work on one thing for a long time in a focused way? (Digital natives write their research papers - by their own admission - in paragraph bursts... often in unconnected paragraph bursts.) Are there some things that need sustained thought or you just don't 'get' them?

Junk Food and the Brain

Dr William Sears, in his book The Healthiest Kid in the Neighborhood has some very helpful info about how junk food affects the brain.

Healthy carbs (those that come paired with fiber and protein) release slowly into the blood stream and provide energy at a steady rate.

In contrast, junky carbs (no fiber or protein) flood the bloodstream and brain with more sugar than it can handle. Excess sugar stimulates the release of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that sedates the brain (certainly not a good food for breakfast). Next, the brain gets jittery. The excess sugar stimulates the pancreas to release lots of insulin to mop up the glucose (sugar) quickly, so the sugar level plunges. Suddenly the brain does not have enough fuel and it crashes. This triggers some stress hormones such as cortisol which tells the liver to release the sugar stored there, which sends the sugar levels back up again. The combination of stress hormones and excess sugar turns into unsettled and unhappy, jittery kids.

Much more in the book. Simple explanations and, more importantly, simple solutions if you want to change your and your kid's patterns. Check out some comments on health care reform.

More on Alzheimer's

Put your own oxygen mask on first...

Check out my other blog for some more about Dr Fortanasce and Alzheimer's prevention. Check out what he says about willpower.

Alzheimer's

We were recently introduced to a second Medical Dr with a perspective we appreciate. When you hear the word 'prescription' you assume you'll be making a trip to the Pharmacy.

Dr Vincent Fortanasce has a book titled: "The Anti-Alzheimer's Prescription" and it won't take you anywhere near a pharmacy. I appreciate the approach that says our lifestyle has much to do with our health. Self care is the best health care.

Dr Sears on nutrition

Check out my other blog on Dr Sears and Nutrition.

He has much to say about brain health (which ends up being all about general health in the end).

Teeneagers and sleep

It is pretty simple - no, scratch that... it is pretty basic: young people need more sleep than many are getting. There is a recent study that connects lack of sleep to increased depression among teens. Good sleep patterns also help the brain process as sleep is one of the best processing times for the brain (rule #7 of Medina's Brain Rules).

Simple? Not so much. Many distractions from sleep these days: too easy to keep texting, and surfing, and social-networking from a smart phone late at night, etc... But worth the effort for parents to keep the sleep hours of their children high - and their own as well!

Does your house (including you) have a set time for sleep? Enforced?

The basics (exercise, diet and play/rest) make a huge difference in our performance capacity.

The Teenage Brain

So much new information on how we grow and learn and develop - and most of it is centered on new findings about the brain.

Check out the book "Secrets of the Teenage Brain..." by Sheryl Feinstein. Very important stuff for parents and teachers.

"... did you know that:
1. the brain, not hormones, is to blame for the inexplicable behavior of the teenage years;
2. short term memory increases by about 30% during the adolescent years;
3. the activities teens invest their time and energy in influence what activities they'll invest in as adults;
4. teens are ruled far more by their emotions than by logic."

Connect #3 above with the dramatic increase in screen time and the fact that the brain wires based on experience and things get interesting.

Critical for parents to be intentional about their parenting - and in order to be intentional, parents need to be informed.