Your Weight and Your Brain

Your Weight and Your Brain When it comes to brain health, keeping your weight stable may be the most important task of all.

Obesity, particularly when there’s lots of visceral fat present, is a risk factor for faster brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease, says Howard Fillit, M.D., co-founder and chief science officer at the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation. Belly fat has been shown to:

• Reduce blood flow to your brain, according to a 2020 study involving brain scans of more than 17,000 people. Researchers found that as weight went up, blood flow in the brain went down, including to areas vulnerable to developing Alzheimer’s.
• Shrink your brain. Using MR1s, researchers from UCLA and the University of Pittsburgh who were obese had 8 percent less brain volume and brains that appeared 16 years older.
• Reduce your cognitive abilities. An elevated body mass index (BMI) is directly associated with decreased attention, processing speed, and fine motor speed, according to a 2013 study. And in a 2016 study of 171 people with severe obesity, more than half met the criteria for mild cognitive impairment (MCI), even though their median age was only 43. At a follow-up 12 months later, the prevalence of MCI was reduced by nearly 49 percent in those who had undergone weight-loss surgery in the previous year.

Protecting your brain means getting your weight under control. The MIND Diet, a mash-up of the heart-healthy Mediterranean and DASH diets, features lots of fruits and vegetables, plus lean protein and good fats like olive oil.

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Scientists make waves in awake brains

Controlling spinal fluid might help treat neurological diseases.

Waves of cerebrospinal fluid that normally wash over brains during sleep can be made to pulse in the brains of people who are wide awake, a new study finds.

Previous research has suggested that the clear fluid may flush out harmful waste, such as the sticky proteins that accumulate in Alzheimer’s disease (SN: 7/21/18, p. 22). So being able to control the fluid flow in the brain might have implications for treating certain brain disorders. I think this [finding] will help with many neurological disorders,” says Jonathan Kipnis, a neuroscientist at Washington University in St. Louis who was not involved in the work. “Think of Formula One. You can have the best car and driver, but without a great maintenance crew, that driver will not win the race:’ Spinal fluid flow in the brain is a major part of that maintenance crew, Kipnis says. But he and other researchers, including the study’s authors, caution that any potential therapeutic applications are still far off.

I think this [finding] will help with many neurological disorders,” says Jonathan Kipnis, a neuroscientist at Washington University in St. Louis who was not involved in the work. “Think of Formula One. You can have the best car and driver, but without a great maintenance crew, that driver will not win the race:’ Spinal fluid flow in the brain is a major part of that maintenance crew, Kipnis says. But he and other researchers, including the study’s authors, caution that any potential therapeutic applications are still far off.

In 2019, neuroscientist Laura Lewis of Boston University and colleagues reported that strong waves of cerebrospinal fluid wash through our brains while we slumber, suggesting that sleep may give the brain a deep clean (SN: 11/23/19, p.11). The slow neural oscillations that characterize deep, non-REM sleep occur in lockstep with the waves of spinal fluid, the team showed. These flows are far larger than the rhythmic influences that breathing and heartbeat have on spinal fluid.

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Signs of near-death experiences seen in brain activity of dying people

A surge of brainwaves in two people who lay dying after their life support was turned off may help to explain the phenomenon of near-death experiences.

The sensation of moving down a tunnel towards a bright light, reliving memories, and hearing or seeing deceased relatives have all been reported by people from many cultures who have had a brush with death. Some scientists, however, say these experiences could be caused by hallucinations as people recover in the hospital. Now, we have identified brain activity that could be behind these experiences.

Ten years ago, Jimo Borjigin at the University of Michigan Medical School and her colleagues showed that rats have a surge of electrical activity in their brains as they die. To look for the same thing in humans, the team combed through anonymized medical records for people who had an electroencephalogram, or EEG, recorded as their life support was switched off because they had no hope of recovery, finding four such people.

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Cynthia Thurlow likes to remind her patients that digestion begins in the brain, in the way people think about their food before they have even taken a bite. Conversely, 95 percent of the mood-regulating neurotransmitter serotonin, which is targeted by conventional anti-depressant drugs, is produced in the gut.

It is a reversal in the way we have been taught to think about food and mood.

The gut microbiome—the range of microoganisms in the gut, including bacteria, fungi and viruses-play a major role in the bidirectional communication between the gut and the brain.

Researchers in Finland recently found a link between a specific gut microbe, Morgariella, and depression. This is further evidence that people with mental health conditions often have very different microbes in their gut.

Alterations in the composition of gut microbiota are implicated in causing leaky gut(an increased permeability of the gut barrier), activating systemic inflammation, affecting the efficacy of serotonin and changing levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).

However, a Chinese study last year found that intermittent fasting enriched the gut composition of diabetic mice and pointed to several other potential benefits, including increased microbial diversity, reduced inflammation and increased production of short-chain fatty acids, which inhibit the growth of bad bacteria.

When it is time to break the fast, the Mediterranean diet, abundant in plant-based ingredients, fiber and omega-3 fatty acids, has been found to establish a diverse microbiome associated with protection against depression. Aromatic spices and herbs such as oregano, rosemary and thyme common to that diet are also good for gut microbiota.

A Harvard study of over 80,000 nurses found that a diet high in flavonoids is associated with lower risk for depression, especially among older women.

Two clinical trials also found that high-flavonoid fruit and vegetable intake led to significant improvements in cognitive performance and increases in serum BDNF levels.

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