Could empathy have the power to heal? The link between stress and susceptibility to illness is fairly well established but what if you could start healing just by going to see your doctor? No pill. No x-rays. Just the experience of being heard and listened to. Now “power” is a strong word and I don’t […]
Increasing Your Brain Size with . . . Walnuts?
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 […]
Stress, Addiction, and Neuroplasticity –How the Brain Changes
We know that stress can take a toll on our bodies, but it also affects our brain. I’ve written about how it affects memory and the hippocampus. Research is now suggesting that stress also alters how we learn. This has ramifications for addiction and anything involved in the negative aspects of neuroplasticity. A recent review […]
Brain Science: Application is the Key to Changing the Brain
The New Brain Science 2012 series is off to an amazing start. We are humbled and gratified to report that more than 6,000 listeners from 44 countries all around the world have signed up for the series. (I’m sorry, due to a fluke in our system, I don’t have the number of people who actually […]
How to change the brain: There are some things that we know, but… persuading people isn’t so easy
I’ve been talking a lot about exercise recently. We know that it’s good for the brain, and yet the studies showing this can be pretty dry. And when it comes to persuading patients to actually do what’s good for them, lectures aren’t too effective either. With that in mind, we wanted to try something new, […]
Stress, Depression, and Telomeres: A Brain Health Update
One way to measure how much age has fatigued an individual is to measure the length of their telomeres. Since telomeres naturally shorten with time many researchers use telomere length to determine cell age, and give a picture of overall brain health What are telomeres? They act as protective caps on the end of chromosomes […]
How Exercise Can Train the Brain and Even Compensate for Genes
Have you ever had a patient who, when trying to excuse some behavior or condition, blamed it on their genes? We tend to see genes as the determining factor for everything from our weight to our propensity to develop certain neurological diseases and while genes can play an important role in many areas of health, […]
Improve Your Brain Health: Eat Curry
I have to admit, I didn’t grow up eating curry. It just wasn’t a mainstay in the New England diet, and my parents still aren’t much into trying new foods. And while this follows the whole “you can’t teach old dogs new tricks” thinking, anyone who doesn’t at least try curry, or more importantly, turmeric, […]
Saving Lives With Business Savvy
In our last blog post I wrote about the amazing chain of events that occurred when one man, Rick Ruzzamenti, decided to donate one of his kidneys. His selfless donation led to 29 other kidney donations and linked together 60 donors and recipients in a long chain. But there is another hero in that story […]
How Altruism Can Change the World
I recently read a story that amazed me so much I wanted to share it with you. It started when Rick Ruzzamenti, a New Yorker, decided to donate a kidney after hearing a story about organ donation at his local yoga studio. The result? One altruistic act started a chain of events that linked 60 […]