Brain Cells: How to Preserve Them

[Guest guest]

Jane G. Goldberg, Ph.D.

Practicing psychoanalyst for over 35 years and is recognized as one of the

nation’s leading authorities in the fields of psychological oncology and

mind/body health.

Posted: January 15, 2011 08:38 AM

Brain Cells: How to Preserve Them

The brain is not too different from the rest of your body. It needs to be

well-nourished. All animals except humans know this instinctively; because the

head is elevated whenever an animal moves, sleep is the best time to feed an

animal's brain the blood they need for brain nourishment. An animal is always in

a prone position during sleep, and its head falls lower than the rest of its

body.

Unlike animals, we humans sleep with our heads elevated on pillows, making the

workload to feed the brain -- its essential blood -- even harder. (We could say

this is a true uphill struggle, as the blood must go up and against the

ever-present force of gravity to get to the tops of our bodies, the residences

of our brains.) If you hold an animal up by its front feet for long enough, the

animal will die because its heart and arteries cannot pump enough blood into its

brain to keep it alive. Think of what we do to our own brains by insisting that

our blood always travel uphill to our brains. It is an unrecognized disease by

traditional medicine, but perhaps we all suffer from " brain anemia; " perhaps

we're all losing brain cells and brain functioning unnecessarily from having

undernourished brains.

Our brains, like the other parts of our bodies, need to be continuously used --

even challenged. If you were to take your right arm and strap it up to your

shoulder so you could not use it, the circulation would decrease to that arm.

When there is an insufficient blood supply, needed nutrients can't travel to the

area: the oxygen supply to these cells would decrease, and the arm would begin

to atrophy. If you kept your arm up there long enough, eventually it would die

altogether.

The human brain is no different than the animal brain and no different than an

unused arm. If we nourish the brain properly, if we use it consistently and

correctly, then circulation to it is good, nutrition to the cells is good,

oxygenation of those cells is good, and we have a healthy brain. However, an

unused brain is the same as an unused arm; when we stop using it, it will

atrophy and die.

We see the phenomenon of brain-anemia frequently in individuals who take

retirement. You have probably known a person who falls into this category. You

knew him as an active, involved person who then went into a sedentary lifestyle.

In such people, it is not unusual to see rapid physical and mental

deterioration. When the person stopped using their brain, the supply of

nutrients and oxygen to the brain dropped, and the brain began to die at an

accelerated rate. We also have seen this happen with the death of a loved one.

One family I know was a couple well into their late 80s. The wife died suddenly,

and at the time of her death, this stately, elderly man, who had been her

husband for almost 70 years, was the picture of health. He had a mind that was

as sharp as a tack, and a body that could rival much younger men who do frequent

and vigorous workouts. He had been in the habit of walking over three hilly

miles a day, and doing The New York Times crossword puzzle. Yet, within three

months of his wife's death, his mind had deteriorated to the point where he no

longer recognized his children. The deterioration was that rapid. A month later,

he was dead.

Stress kills brain cells. Mental health professionals are now accepting the

strong link between stress and depression: When one is typically present, often

the other isn't too far behind. According to the National Institute of Mental

Health, the actual neurological damage caused by a combination of the two can be

extensive. Developments in brain imaging and neurology have shown how stress

works to " rewire " the brain's emotional circuitry, altering its connections in

such a way that it affects the way the brain functions.

Stress specifically triggers a " fear center " in the amygdala sector of the brain

that takes over emotions and affects thinking. Normally, when a stressful event

occurs, our body's response to it fades away. When stress is combined with

depression, however, the chemical imbalance in the brain holds onto the stress,

keeping the feelings active.

Brain imaging scans have shown, as well, that those who suffer from long-term

stress may fail to feel any positive feelings in the prefrontal cortex, the

region of the brain that maintains and originates emotions. When that depressed

brain is " rewired, " dread and fear can flow unimpeded from the amygdala to the

prefrontal cortex.

When we're under stress, we can see our memory evaporate almost instantly.

Memory and learning are first cousins in the brain. Learning can't happen

without a good, intact memory system.

There are many antidotes to stress, and many ways of exercising the brain to

keep it healthy and young. As a psychoanalyst, I am partial to the " talking

cure " as a method of harmonizing thoughts and feelings, as well as for finding

emotional balance. A sense of stress (manifested through either anxiety or

depression) is, of course, a mere symptom; once the full range of underlying

thoughts and feelings that are creating the symptom are allowed into

consciousness -- experienced, observed and understood -- the symptoms are no

longer necessary.

The new system of brain exercises I have developed, called Brainercize, helps to

both restore and maintain brain vigor. Psychoanalysis and Brainercize, soon to

be offered at my spa, La Casa Day Spa are complimentary systems for full brain

functionality.