First off, sorry again for the delay in getting back to this. I have been busy with work, being gone, being sick, and trying to find an apartment these past couple of weeks. So hopefully I will back on track and ready to bring it. SO here goes.
ANATOMY
So the first step is understanding how the brain works, its' main properties, and what it regulates.
The brain is made up of around 100 billion neurons and over 10 trillion neuoglia. Neurons are the nerve cells and the neuroglia are cells that support the activities of neurons. Neurons are the most basic building blocks for the brain and you can think of them as electric cables to transmit signals from one site to another. One basic example of how neurons work is say you put your hand on a hot stove. Your nerve endings in fingers will recognize that the stove is hot and you send a signal to the brain to inform it of the hot stove. The brain then sends signals through the neuron from the dendrites, through the axon, and to the axon endings that then submit the signal to the next neuron and then to the next neuron and so on. Once the signal to remove the hand gets through the neurons to the muscles, the hand will move. This whole process is called an action-potential.
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| The grey line is the signal going to the brain from the skin while the red is the signal coming from the brain to the muscle which causes a movement. |
All of these nerves are bundled together to form four principal parts of the brain which are the brain stem, the cerebellum, diencephalon, and cerbrum. The brain stem has three different parts which are the medulla oblongata, pons, and midbrain. These three parts regulate heartbeat, blood vessel diameter, normal breathing rate, voluntary movements of the limbs and trunks, controls reflexes for vomiting, swallowing, sneezing, coughing, and hiccups, plays a key role in coordinating and maximizing the efficiency of voluntary motor output in the body, and the midbrain especially control the reflexes of the eye, eye muscles, head and trunk muscles in response to a startle response such as a loud noise. This is a very brief breakdown of what the brain does and I could go into an entire post about just one of these areas.
The cerebellum's primary function is to evaluate how well movements initiated by motor areas in the cerebrum are actually being carried out. This means that the cerebellum is essentially an error corrector that checks whether the motor movements are being performed correctly. If not, the cerebellum will correct the mistakes, smooth the movements, and coordinate the correct complex sequences of muscular contractions. The cerebellum also controls posture and balance. Essentially, this area of the brain makes things such as catching a baseball, dancing, and picking your nose possible.
The diencephalon is broken down into two parts; the thalamus and the hypothalamus. The thalamus is the major relay station for most sensory impulses that reach the primary sensory areas of the cerebral cortex from the spinal cord and brain stem. The thalamus also plays a role in the maintenance of consciousness. The hypothalamus is one of the most important areas for maintaining homeostasis (the body is constant, normal, and even). The hypothalmus controls the ANS (autonomic nervous system) which regulates contraction of smooth muscle (what organs are made of), controls the production of hormones, regulates emotional and behavioral patterns, regulates the desire to eat and drink, controls body temperature, and finally, regulates circadian rhythms and states of consciousness.
The cerebrum, the largest area of the brain, has four lobes: the frontal, parietal, occipital, and temporal lobes. These lobes are also broken into right and left hemispheres by the longitudinal fissure which is the crease in the middle of the brain that breaks it into left and right halves. The main function of the cerebrum is described by it's nickname; "the seat of intelligence". The cerebrum provides us with the ability to read, write, speak, make calculations, compose music, remember the past, plan for the future, and imagine new things.
Within these four lobes there are sensory, motor, and association areas. The sensory areas receive sensory information from the body and other parts of the brain, the motor area control the execution of movements, and the association areas deal more with complex integrative functions such as memory, emotions, will, reasoning, judgement, personality, and intelligence. All three of these areas work together to process information and react to it. Damage to each area can effect the brain in different ways. Damage to the primary visual area would cause the person to have blindness while damage to a visual association area might mean that the person could see the object but not tell you what it was.
All of these areas in brain from the brainstem, diencephalon, cerebellum, and cerebrum all work together to process and interpret stimuli from around the body, provide the body with necessary homeostatic control, and allow us to be respond with emotion and personal thought. The brain is truly an amazing organ! (Tortora, G. J., & Derrickson, B. (2009). Principles of anatomy and physiology (12th ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: John Wiley.)
So now that we understand or at least can see how important our brain is, the question now is how do we keep it in tip-top shape.
FITNESS
This whole process may sound like it takes a good amount of time but the whole process of an action potential can travel at over 100 meters/second (david myers, psych)! This speed can speed up or slow down depending on the myelination of the neuron. The electrical signal is typically transmitted through a constant wave down the neuron through the axon and into the next neuron. When there is myelination on the axon, however, the process speeds up because the electrical signal can jump over each myelin sheath. So basically, instead of having to pass through the entire axon, it can jump quickly down the axon. This speed is extremely important to making quick decisions and being able to react to the stimuli around us.
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| The very basic diagram of the nerve impulse (or stimuli) jumping over each myelin sheath which speeds up the signal. |
So one way to keep our brain quick and thinking fast is make sure our neurons are myelinated. As we grow and mature from an embryo to adulthood our neurons are growing myelin and will continue to myelinate as we grow. So once we reach adulthood, we can't add anymore myelin to our neurons to speed up the nerve signal process. So it is important to keep the myelin healthy and damage free so that our brain can send processes extremely quick. There are some diseases that can cause demyelination such as multiple sclerosis also just known as MS. When there is damage to the myelin our nerve processes are slowed and there can be slurred speech, double vision, coordination issues, weakness in limbs, and fatigue. So we want to keep the myelin as healthy as we can.
To do this naturally you should focus on a few different things such as eating all of your vitamins and minerals while specifically focusing on D3 and B12. This can be done by eating a healthy diet full of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins. Another step to protect your myelin is to stay away from heavy metals and chemicals in food. So keeping away from extremely processed foods, foods high in chemicals and potential toxins such as food coloring, additives, MSG, and even artificial sweeteners. Eat essential fatty acids such as Omega 3 because the myelin sheath is made up of fatty tissue. So by eating healthy fats found in avocados, almonds and nuts, fish/fish oil, and olive oil you can get the healthy fats to protect the myelin sheath. Lastly, toxins and chemicals (like above) can also damage the myelin sheath, so smoking or ingesting too many toxins from alcohol can also damage the myelin sheath. So it appears there are a few pretty basic ways to keep the myelin sheath healthy: eat natural foods, get all of your vitamins and minerals from whole foods ideally, get plenty of exercise, and stay away from toxins such as those found in cigarettes. (http://www.nationalmssociety.org/)
Another way to keep the brain healthy is to test it. According to the Alzheimer association (www.alz.org) there are some simple tips to keep your brain healthy. The first is to stay physically active because this helps circulate blood flow to the brain and also helps stimulate new brain cell growth. The exercise does not even have to be strenuous or difficult but by being active at least 30 minutes each day you encourage oxygen and blood flow to the brain. The next step was one thing I listed above, which was to eat a brain healthy diet full of fruits, vegetables (especially dark leafy vegetables), healthy fats, and lean protein. Next, maintain social activities such as being apart of a work team, volunteering, or having a small group of friends.
One last way to keep the brain healthy is by mental activities. Mental decline is usually caused by a reduction of the brain connections and decline in brain cell usage. By constantly testing your brain and participating in brain "exercise" you can help maintain those brain connections and even regenerate new brain cells. Such "exercise" can be taking classes, working on a crossword puzzle, reading and writing, and playing games that require strategy and planning. These things can help you use each aspect of your intelligence and keeps the whole brain active and constantly growing. A study of 147 twins discordant for dementia (one twin had it, one twin didn't) found that those that combined physical activity, mental activity, and social activities during their midlife were less likely to develop dementia later in life. These are very simple ways to keep the brain sharp and prevent dementia, Alzheimers, and mental sluggishness. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3673771/).
SUMMARY
Our brain is the most important organ in the body and we need to keep it healthy with diet and exercise just like the rest of our body. We train our muscles to being able to work hard and grow but sometimes we forget about the brain. Our brain is in charge of every intelligent thought, physical movement, thought-out plan, and sensory impulse we have. We need to keep our brain healthy by eating well, exercising, enjoying social activities, and testing our brain with mental activities. Each area of the brain is made up of neurons and neuroglia that transmit signals to and from other parts of the brain and body. The myelination of the neurons can help speed up these processes to allow for quicker reactions and faster thoughts. By losing that myelin sheath, we slow down the action-potentials that are responsible for movement and thoughts. As well as the myelin sheath on the neurons, the connections between neurons provide the speed for each electrical stimuli. By eating healthily, exercising, and focusing on mental activities we can encourage the building and strengthening the nerve connections in the brain.
WORKOUT:
So finally the weather has gotten pretty outside, at least in Ohio. So in order to take advantage of the weather, while still getting in a workout, here is one you can try that is very easy to do in a park, your backyard, or the beach.
Do 1-3 times through!
50 Jumping Jacks
25 Lunge Steps
25 High Knees
25 Mountain Climbers
15 Pushups
20 Squats
20 Box Jumps (use a curb, a bench, a porch step, a fallen log, or anything you can jump onto)
100 yard sprint
Do this at the park, in between tanning sessions, after playing in the ocean. Enjoy the outdoors and get some Vitamin D!
I hope you guys all remember this theme song... If you don't then I am sorry and you must not have learned how to read. Such a pity.
NEXT WEEK: THE IMPORTANCE OF BREAKFAST
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