Protein linked to brain rejuvenation- Mind Care Center

 A single molecule may play a central role in ruvenating aging brains, albeit in multiple ways, new research suggests.

Studies in mice of three different techniques for combating the cognitive decline that accompanies aging found that they all increase levels of a protein called platelet factor four, or PF4. This in turn improved cognitive performance and biological signs of brain health, three research groups report August 16 in Nature Aging, Nature and Nature Communications.

“PF4 may be an effective factor, and this kind of work will help bring it toward a therapeutic agent” for age-related cognitive decline, says bioengineer Michael Conboy of the University of California, Berkeley, who wasn’t involved in the work.

One of the research groups, led by neuroscientist Dena Dubal of the University of California, San Francisco, was studying klotho, a hormone linked to longevity. Injecting the hormone into mice boosts cognition, but since klotho is too large to cross the blood-brain barrier, it must act on the brain indirectly via a messenger.

To search for this intermediary, Dubal’s team injected mice with klotho and measured changes in the levels of six proteins in the blood. PF4 increased the most, the team reports in Nature Aging.

Platelets are known for their role in wound healing and clotting, and they release proteins — including PF4-called platelet factors into the blood. “My first reaction was, what do platelets have to do with cognitive enhancement? This is crazy,” Dubal says. Follow-up work in mice found that PF4 enhanced neural connections in the hippocampus, a region crucial for memory.

Another UC San Francisco team, led by neuroscientist Saul Villeda, had previously shown that blood plasma from young mice rejuvenates the brains of elderly mice. A look at how young plasma differs from old revealed that young plasma contains much more PF4, the team reports in Nature. Injecting PF4 into old mice returned the immune system to a more youthful state, lowering levels of inflammatory proteins and reducing inflammation in the brain.

Separately, neuroscientist Tara Walker, of the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia, and colleagues found that exercise boosts PF4 in mice. Delivering PF4 directly to mice’s brains spurs new nerve cell growth in the hippocampus, the team reports in Nature Communications.

The new studies all show that PF4, on its own, improves cognition. More and more research is pointing toward a link between the immune system, cognitive decline and diseases like Alzheimer’s,” Villeda says.

The main limitation of these studies is that few findings in mice translate into safe and effective therapies in people. But in humans, as in mice, PF4 declines with age.

In July, Dubal and colleagues reported that klotho improves cognition in aging monkeys, whose brains are much more similar to ours. But whether that improvement involves PF4 is not known.

Researchers plan to start testing treatments based on PF4 in humans within the next few years, Villeda says.

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Medications Aren’t The Only Option | Biofeedback Ridgewood

As the Opioid Crisis shook the public’s view of painkillers and pharmaceutical companies came under fire for their marketing practices, many patients looked for alternatives. One of the leading contenders; talk therapy.

Psychologists, therapists, and social workers have become a crucial part of pain treatment programs, proving to be as effective or more so than medication. Still, finding the right pain counseling can take effort.

Many pain psychologists treat chronic pain with cognitive behavior therapy (which focuses on reframing thoughts to positively affect behavior and emotions) or mindfulness (which involves learning to become conscious of feelings without reacting to them). Acceptance and commitment therapy combines C.B.T. and mindfulness to help patients accept their emotions and respond to them. Another method is biofeedback, which monitors patients’ muscle tension, heart rate, brain activity, or other functions to make them aware of their stress and help them learn to control it. And some clinicians use hypnosis, which can be effective at managing pain for some people. What unifies all these treatments is a focus on teaching patients how they can use their minds to manage their pain.

Large medical centers and boutique practices are more likely to have comprehensive pain treatment but tend to be in urban areas. People in rural areas or those who can’t afford the services get left out, said Rachel Aaron, an assistant professor of physical medicine and rehabilitation at Johns Hopkins Medicine. But even in cities, not all large medical networks have pain services.

If you are interested in trying a pain therapist, Dr. Aaron said, the first stop should be your primary care doctor. Some insurance plans cover pain psychology, but others do not. It’s important to talk to a mental health provider first about how to get treatment covered.

After that, look for specialized pain clinics by calling hospitals in your area or use the Find a Therapist function on the Psychology Today website.

Some experts recommend working with licensed professionals with doctorates or master’s degrees in psychology or clinical social work with additional training in chronic pain, and to interview them about their training and approach before getting started. Most important, you should feel comfortable enough to open up with them.

Most pain therapy programs start with six to eight weekly sessions, said Fadel Zeidan, an associate professor of anesthesiology and executive director at the Center for Mindfulness at the University of California, San Diego. Often the first session is an evaluation to learn about the pain problem and the emotional issues it may be causing. You might then learn mindfulness techniques to separate the physical and emotional aspects of pain, train yourself to reframe negative thought patterns, or practice paying more attention to pleasant sensations.

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Strong bones may be vital for maintaining memory in old age

A hormone released by bones seems to reverse age-related memory loss. The hormone can be boosted by exercise, suggesting that lifting weights might protect the brain from the ravages of old age.

Eric Kandel of Columbia University in New York and colleagues were interested in understanding the mechanisms behind normal age-related memory loss.

To investigate, they measured mRNA levels associated with the expression of 23,000 genes in human brain tissue. Genes use mRNA to tell cells to make products such as proteins – mRNA levels therefore reflect how active a gene was before death.

The team focused their analysis on the dentate gyrus, a brain region particularly affected by memory loss as we grow older.

The brain tissue came from eight healthy people aged between 33 and 88. Across these people, one gene — called RbAp48 — became steadily less active with age. This gene is known to be involved in the process by which we turn short-term memories into long-term memories.

Health bones, healthy brain

Kandel’s team went on to show that a relationship exists between RbAp48 and osteocalcin, a hormone secreted by bone.

Osteocalcin has many functions, one of which seems to be involved in cognition – mice who carry a mutation that makes them deficient in the hormone have memory deficits. Replacing this hormone improves their memory.

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Your Brain and Your Weight

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 Fillet, M.D., cofounder 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 MRIs, researchers from UCLA and the University of Pittsburgh found that people who were overweight had 4 percent less brain volume, and their brains looked eight years older, on average, than those of people who were of normal weight. People 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 mashup of the heart-healthy Mediterranean and DASH diets, features lots of fruits and vegetables, plus lean protein and goed fats like olive oil. You can still eat red meat, fast food and sweets, just limit your intake. People who most closely adhered to this eating pattern had a 53 percent lower rate of Alzheimer’s.

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From Timid to Warrior: Boosting Self-Esteem | Neurofeedback Nanuet

Low self-esteem can be described as lacking self-confidence, and self-worth, in one’s abilities. So, how to transcend it, not let it hold us back?

My definition of a warrior is someone who acts in spite of fear. Fear is normal – even healthy when an action for survival is required. Too often, though, we live our lives in self-limiting ways, our potential undermined by various factors, causing us to see situations through the half-empty, rather than the half-full glass – dwelling on the negative, disregarding our achievements; thinking others are better than us; poor self-image; that we don’t deserve to enjoy; self-criticism; fear of making mistakes, avoid taking risks, fear of failure, or success, feelings of incompetence.

Many factors can cause or lead to low self-esteem: parental abuse, that is emotional, sexual, physical, neglect, parental or authority figure disapproval, (‘you’ll never amount to anything!’); bullying’ academic difficulties; social shaming, poor performance, poor body self-image; perception of not belonging; war; chronic stress.

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Brains may have a playfulness switch | Mindcare center Tarrytown

Blocking the activity of certain cells reduces play behavior in rats.

Rats are extremely playful creatures. They love playing chase and they literally jump for joy when tickled. Central to this playfulness, a new study finds, are nerve cells in a specific region of the brain.

Neurons in the periaqueductal gray, or PAG, are active in rats during different kinds of play, scientists report July 28 in Neuron. Blocking the activity of those neurons makes the rodents much less playful.

The results give insight into a poorly understood behavior, particularly in terms of how play is controlled in the brain.

When scientists tickled lab rats (one shown) and played a game with them, nerve cells in a brain region called the PAG became active. The team suspects that this region controls playfulness. “There are prejudices that it’s childish and not important, but play is an underrated behavior,” says Michael Brecht, a neuroscientist at Humboldt University of Berlin...

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