As if you needed yet another reason to fear high cholesterol and high blood pressure: a new study has shown that people with elevated cholesterol and blood pressure in middle age exhibit more problems with their memories as they age, as compared to people with good cardiovascular health. The study was conducted in nearly 5,000 people. The researchers looked at several factors to determine cardiovascular risk and found that people with just a 10% higher risk were prone to a quicker rate of cognitive decline. The only areas of cognition that seemed unaffected by cardiovascular risk were reasoning in men, and fluency (usually assessed by a word-finding or word-generating task) in women.

So how can you improve cardiovascular health and lower your risk for heart disease and increased cognitive decline? According to Mayo Clinic, you should try the following:

Continue reading "Less Meat in Middle Age, Better Memory When You’re Older? " »

As we learn more about both the physical components of our brains and our psychological make-up, some core questions are being raised about what we believe and why. Jesse Bering just published The Belief Instinct: The Psychology of Souls, Destiny, and the Meaning of Life, a well-reviewed and provocative book about implications that stem from our deepening understanding of the brain.

In particular, he sees our theory of mind–mankind’s ability to understand that one’s own beliefs, assumptions, and knowledge may be different from others’ even though their mind can’t be directly observed–as incorrectly attributing purpose to actions.  Writing in Slate, Bering does a very nice job showing the false attribution of purpose to inanimate objects by retelling the storyline of the movie many of us saw as children, The Red Balloon, and the feelings we attributed to the balloon/boy “friendship”.

Continue reading "Reading “The Belief Instinct” – with Theory of Mind in Mind" »

Ed. note: This week, in the run-up to Valentine’s Day, we’re featuring a 5-part series about the neuroscience of love and romance. At the end, we’ll put the full series on our website. Enjoy!

Does all this romantic mumbo-jumbo make you feel a little queasy? I have good news: a recent study showed that listening to your favorite music has a similar effect on your brain as other pleasure-inducing activities like having sex. Whether you prefer Tchaikovsky or tango, Mozart or Michael Jackson, MRI and PET scans reveal that when you listen to music that excites you, your brain releases dopamine during the most exciting moments of the song and even in anticipation of those moments.

Continue reading "Your Brain in Love: Part 5 – No Room for Romance? Try Music Instead… but not Junk Food" »

Ed. note: This week, in the run-up to Valentine’s Day, we’re featuring a 5-part series about the neuroscience of love and romance. At the end, we’ll put the full series on our website. Enjoy!

You may have heard of oxytocin, sometimes called the “love hormone.” Human and animal studies have shown that oxytocin plays a role in bonding; when released in your brain during certain types of human contact, it has the effect of bonding you to the other person involved. This makes a lot of sense, because oxytocin is known to be released when a woman is nursing her infant, when two people are hugging, and during sexual activity. It’s also thought to be involved in other corollary emotional responses of bonding, like trust-building and empathy. Some early research has suggested that oxytocin could be used therapeutically in people who suffer from disorders like autism or schizophrenia, which hinder bonding and positive relationship development. In studies, applying a dose of oxytocin via nasal spray showed promise in such patients.

Continue reading "Your Brain in Love: Part 4 – Oxytocin, the Love/Hate Hormone" »

Ed. note: This week, in the run-up to Valentine’s Day, we’re featuring a 5-part series about the neuroscience of love and romance. At the end, we’ll put the full series on our website. Enjoy!

Lots of relationship experts suggest that couples who have been together through the ages can keep the romance alive with regular date nights. A smashing idea! Neuroscience research shows us that date night can, in fact, help keep a relationship fresh and rewarding, but if and only if you go about it in the right way. The key here is novelty; you and your betrothed must engage in fun, exciting, and new experiences so you can get the dopamine and norepinephrine flowing and reward your brain. Remember, back when you first fell in love, dopamine and norepinephrine were a big factor as well. If you’ve been following the research of Dr. Michael Merzenich, you know that novelty is one of the key factors in driving brain plasticity. Can you change your brain by hitting the indoor rock climbing wall next date night?

Continue reading "Your Brain in Love: Part 3 – The Neuroscience of Date Night" »

Ed. note: This week, in the run-up to Valentine’s Day, we’re featuring a 5-part series about the neuroscience of love and romance. At the end, we’ll put the full series on our website. Enjoy!

Unlike Helen Fisher, Ted Huston is more interested in studying what happens throughout long-term relationships. One interesting finding over a lifetime of research is that couples who idealize one another can lead to a happier marriage. According to Huston, “Usually, this is a matter of one person putting good spin on the partner, seeing the partner as more responsive than he or she really is.” Score another point for positive thinking.

Huston has also found gender differences in what makes for a happy marriage. For example, some of his studies have shown that women are happier in their marriage if they get to spend ample time with their husband and with friends and family, while men who are happy with their finances tend to be happier in the marriage. Both genders are happier when they feel they have “influence” over their spouse and when they are satisfied with their sex lives, but you probably could have guessed that without Huston’s years of research.

Continue reading "Your Brain in Love: Part 2 – Love and Marriage" »

Ed. note: This week, in the run-up to Valentine’s Day, we’re featuring a 5-part series about the neuroscience of love and romance. At the end, we’ll put the full series on our website. Enjoy!

Ever fallen madly in love? Researcher Helen Fisher has spent her academic life trying to figure out what’s going on in the brains of those who are in the heady, butterflies-in-the-stomach throes of passionate romantic love. Fisher has scanned the brains of young paramours and found that when they’re focusing on the object of their affection, a whole host of brain parts start lighting up. One of the two most important regions was initially a little surprising to Dr. Fisher. First, she found that the caudate nucleus—part of the primitive reptilian brain—is highly active in these amorous individuals. As expected, she also saw the brain areas associated with dopamine and norepinephrine production light up. Both are brain chemicals associated with pleasurable activities and excitement.

Continue reading "Your Brain in Love: Part 1 – When Love is a Many-Splendored Thing" »

Posit Science is a sponsor of, and a participant in, the second annual SharpBrains Summit. The online conference, Retooling Brain Health for the 21^st Century, will be held from March 30^th to April 1^st, 2011.

The global nature of the event makes it a virtual conference so you can participate from any location.  The topics range across business models, innovation, research and best practices for lifelong brain health.  If you’re interested in this growing field you can hear from:

• over 10 world-class scientists at UCSF, Harvard, UCLA, University of British Columbia, and more
• over 10 organizations applying new tools to help large groups of people, such as Allstate, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, SCAN Health Plan
• multiple innovators exploring new ways to meet growing demands, such as AARP, Baycrest, and more.

You can learn more and register at early-bird rates before February 18, 2011, and you’ll receive a 15% discount on registration by using the code sbsposit at checkout.

The question on most people’s minds this Sunday will be “Packers or Steelers?” not “What does the Super Bowl have to do with your brain?” For those of us who are interested in neuroscience, though, it turns out that there is a whole body of fascinating research and writings on a variety of topics that involve both football and the brain.

Brain Damage & Football

Of course, the issue of concussions and brain damage suffered by football players through regular play is one of the most widely discussed topics of this nature. Some people suggest that the many concussions suffered this year by Green Bay Packers’ star quarterback Aaron Rodgers might throw him off his game this Sunday. There are also a lot of concerns about kids and concussions–so much so that the Cleveland Clinic just got a large grant to research the relationship between helmets, football, and brain damage in kids.

Continue reading "Gray Matter on the Gridiron – What Does Neuroscience Have to Do with Football?" »

I couldn’t resist sharing with you a piece from NPR’s health blog called “Why Bacon Is a Gateway Meat for Vegetarians.” And it involves the brain… so read on!

According to Johan Lundstrom from the Monell Chemical Senses Center, bacon has a very fundamental appeal for humans. First, Lundstrom explains that the high fat and protein content of bacon bacon meets an evolutionary need for calories. He goes on to explain that 90% of what we taste is odor, and bacon’s “aggressive smell” suggests just how good it will be. Smell, emotion and memory are inextricably linked. Add hunger and the familiar setting of weekend breakfasts to the scent of sizzling bacon in the skillet, and you have a set of powerful stimuli that urges the brain to act.

And indeed, people do act!  The piece recounts anecdotes of a few vegetarians who have been seduced by bacon–but that’s neither here nor there for me personally*. I was simply struck by how smell, emotion and memory can conspire in our brains to dramatically shift behavior. Even with something as simple as bacon.

*Full disclosure—I love bacon. I love it so much I even make my own. If this sounds like you and you’d like to give it a go, the recipe I use is demonstrated here by Karen Solomon. Her book (complete with bacon recipe) is Jam It, Pickle It, Cure It.