We’ve all heard about the chicken or egg dilemma, but let me ask you this – when talking about depression and stroke together … what comes first? Depression or stroke? In a study published in the October 2011 volume of Stroke, depression is correlated with increased risk of stroke in females. Researchers led by Kathryn Rexrode, MD followed 80,574 women who were part of the Nurses’ Health Study. These women were 54 to 79 years old and without a prior history of stroke. They assessed depressive symptoms multiple times with a Mental Health Index. Anti-depressant use was reported every two…

What activates the pleasure and reward centers of the brain, calms parts of the brain associated with fear and anxiety, and is available to anyone without a prescription? Long-term relationships. Researchers Bianca Acevedo, PhD and Arthur Aron, PhD took ten women and seven men who had been married an average of 21.4 years and did fMRIs to look at their brains. They wanted to see what was happening in their brains while participants looked at photos of their partners. For a comparison, they also saw photos of a highly familiar acquaintance, a very close, long-time friend, and a less familiar…

Just for a minute, imagine your brain as two characters from Star Trek. There’s Captain Kirk who is very emotional, the other is Spock who is very analytical. Now combine them (for you Star Trek fans, this may be difficult, but try). Marsha Lucas, PhD, author of Rewire Your Brain for Love, and a neuropsychologist with a special interest in interpersonal neurobiology, uses this Star Trek example to talk about the importance of brain integration for improving relationships. Click here to sign up. Brain integration is important for relationships but it can be tricky, especially because our society has a…

Neural integration – it means developing a strong connection between the two sides of the brain. Why does this matter? When we have neural integration, we’re more likely to easily develop positive, healthy relationships throughout life. And I’m sure you know what a difference that can make over the course of a lifetime. Especially for kids . . . According to Dan Siegel, there are 9 ways to promote neural integration (some of which are even fun to try). We wanted to give you a look at one of them, so we pulled together this quick video. It’s very short…

What foods could strengthen your memory, improve your problem-solving ability, and make you an even better multi-tasker? In short, can any foods help to improve your brain power? Are there foods that would increase the size of your brain? Studies suggest that omega-3s help brain function, specifically visual memory and executive function, including problem-solving, multi-tasking and abstract thinking. In a new study published in the February 28th volume of the journal Neurology, researchers from the UCLA-based lab of Zaldy S. Tan, MD looked at the role of Omega-3 fatty acids in influencing brain power and overall brain health. They took…

Which room would you prefer… I imagine that many of you have children or grandchildren. Perhaps nieces or nephews? If you had to picture the nursery that you would want for them, would it look more like this: Or this: Did you cringe at the thought of putting a child in the sterile room at the top? There’s nothing to interest or excite them in such a sterile environment. Every child rearing book will tell you that babies need increasing levels of visual and mental stimulation so that they can grow and develop. Why then do we not expect that…