The Vast Potential of the Vagus Nerve | Remote Counseling in Paterson

Some say a cure for ailments like anxiety is flowing from the brain. But much is unknown.

By Christina Caron

In recent years, the vagus nerve has become an object of fascination, especially on social media. The vagal nerve fibers, which run from the brain to the abdomen, have been anointed by some influencers as the key to reducing anxiety, regulating the nervous system, and helping the body to relax.

TikTok videos with the hashtag “#vagusnerve” have been viewed more than 64 million times, and there are nearly 70,000 posts with the hashtag on Instagram. Some of the most popular ones feature simple hacks to “tone” or “reset” the vagus nerve, in which people plunge their faces into ice water or lie on their backs with ice packs on their chests.

Now, wellness companies have capitalized on the trend, offering products like vagus massage oil, pillow mists, and vibrating bracelets. These products claim to stimulate the nerve, but they have not been endorsed by the scientific community.

Researchers who study the vagus nerve say that stimulating it with electrodes can potentially help improve mood and alleviate symptoms in those who suffer from treatment-resistant depression, among other ailments. But are there other ways to activate the vagus nerve? Who would benefit most from doing so? And what exactly is the vagus nerve, anyway? Here’s a look at what we know so far.

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Protein linked to brain rejuvenation | Biofeedback Treatments Engelwood

 Mouse studies hint at a way to treat age-related decline

A single molecule may play a central role in rejuvenating 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.

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Scientists make waves in awake brains | Biofeedback Ridgewood

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.

As brain activity during sleep causes blood to flow through the brain, spinal fluid flows in behind the blood. Such fluid infusions clear out toxic proteins and maintain constant pressure in the skull, experiments in mice have shown.

In the new study, “the first question we wanted to answer is, can you manipulate [blood flow] enough to also drive [fluid] flow when someone’s awake?” says Stephanie Williams, a neuroscientist also at Boston University.

To stimulate blood flow in the brain, Williams, Lewis, and colleagues showed six healthy adults a flickering checkerboard pattern. A mix of techniques, including functional MRI and electrodes, confirmed that the intense stimulation affected blood flow in the brain and allowed the team to see the order of events.Neural activity increased when the flashing pattern was turned on, followed by increased blood flow. Cerebrospinal fluid flow was suppressed while blood flow increased, and then surged into the brain as blood flow ebbed when the stimulation stopped, the team reports March 30 in NOS Biology. Longer stimulation produced larger spinal fluid flows, suggesting it was possible to maximize the response.

The effect of brain activity on spinal fluid flow is separate from the influences of heartbeat and breathing, the team found. The brain has a way to control its own fluid flow; Lewis says.The team did not measure whether the waking flows cleared waste from the brain. However, previous studies in mice have found that certain audiovisual stimuli reduce levels of toxic proteins linked to Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Testing of the technique in humans is underway.

“It’s a beautiful study, but wouldn’t draw therapeutic conclusions from this; says neurologist Steven Goldman of the University of Rochester Medical Center in New York. The brain’s fluid flow system is optimally set up for cleaning during sleep. “It would be more effective to just ensure a good night’s sleep; Goldman says. “Any manipulations over and above that would be best employed during sleep; Lewis’ team acknowledges that the induced flows were smaller than those seen during sleep. But the change in flow was still ‘pretty substantial; Lewis says. The technique could help scientists figure out how the process might be disrupted in diseases like Alzheimer’s, she says.

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Mental Illness and Dementia | Energy Healing Therapies in Rye

Why do psychiatric conditions multiply the risk of cognitive decline?

Age is the single biggest risk factor for dementia, with the odds doubling about every five years after age 65. But many things influence those odds for a given individual. Genetic vulnerability is a contributor, as are so-called modifiable risk factors such as smoking, cardiovascular disease, social isolation, and impaired hearing and vision. Certain mental conditions, particularly depression and schizophrenia, have also been linked to dementia. But because depression can itself be a sign of cognitive decline, the causality has been a bit muddy. Earlier this year an analysis of data from New Zealand provided the most convincing evidence to date linking many kinds of mental illness with dementia. That study raises important questions about the reasons for this increased risk and what could be done to reduce it.

The study looks at the health records of 1.7 million New Zealanders born between 1928 and 1967 covering a 30-year period ending in mid-2018. It found that those with a diagnosed mental disorder—such as anxiety disorders, depression or bipolar disorder—had four times the rate of ultimately developing dementia compared with people without such a diagnosis. For those with psychosis such as schizophrenia, it was six times the rate.

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Brain Parasites Can Stealthily Cause Great Damage

 

Brain Parasites Can Stealthily Cause Great Damage Worms

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s disclosure that a doctor apparently found a dead worm in his brain has prompted questions about what brain parasites are, the damage they can cause, and how, exactly, they get there.

Brain parasites encompass far more than worms. There are “legions” of organisms that can affect the brain, said Scott Gardner, a professor of biological sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln who specializes in parasites, including single-celled organisms such as Toxoplasma gondii and some amoebas.

The damage varies depending on the type of parasite and where it ends up in the brain. “Some of them actively invade the tissues and destroy tissues,” said Dr. Daniel Pastula, chief of neuro-infectious diseases and global neurology at University of Colorado Medicine. Others cause an inflammatory reaction.

TAPEWORMS Humans are typically exposed to tapeworms through raw or undercooked food or through food contaminated with feces.

Doctors consulted by The New York Times speculated that Mr. Kennedy described symptoms of an infection with larvae from the pork tapeworm, Taenia solium, one of multiple types of tapeworm that can infect the brain. When a person accidentally swallows pork tapeworm eggs, the eggs hatch in the intestines, and the larvae can travel to other organs, including the brain. There, they form cysts, causing a condition known as neurocysticercosis.

It can take months, or years, for people to show signs of infection. Symptoms vary based on how many cysts develop and where they are (in the eyes, muscles, and spinal cord). Generally, people with neurocysticercosis experience headaches and seizures, and they sometimes feel confused, struggle to pay attention, and have issues with balance. The condition can be fatal.

AMOEBAS Another type of parasite that can affect the brain is a brain-eating amoeba. Infections of this kind are extremely rare but can lead to a potentially fatal swelling of the brain or spinal cord, said Tajie H. Harris, an associate professor of neuroscience at the University of Virginia. The organisms enter through the nose when people swim in lakes and rivers, and then travel to the brain. People have also been infected when using neti pots or other sinus rinses with untreated or non-sterile water.

TOXOPLASMA GONDII One of the most common parasitic brain infections is toxoplasmosis. Over 40 million people in the United States may be infected with the parasite that causes that infection, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. People can be infected by eating undercooked meat or contaminated shellfish, by drinking contaminated water, or by accidentally swallowing the parasite when they encounter it in cat feces in litter boxes.

The parasite that causes toxoplasmosis can linger in humans for years potentially, for one’s entire life – but most people will not develop symptoms. “For the most part, our immune system does an amazing job at just handling and dealing with this parasite, allowing us to live our lives without ever knowing,” Dr. Harris said.

But it can make some people feel as if they have the flu. People with compromised immune systems are at risk of serious illness and brain damage if infected, and developing fetuses can be severely affected if pregnant women are exposed. (That’s why doctors sometimes advise pregnant women to avoid coming into contact with cat litter.)

How would people determine if they had a parasite?

“You wouldn’t know yourself, unless someone is looking,” Dr. Gardner said. Sometimes a patient’s blood can be tested for antibodies that are produced in response to a parasite. In other cases, doctors call for an M.R.I. or a C.T. scan.

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Risking: Good Idea, Bad Idea | Mindcare Center Spring Valley

Certain actions or activities carry risks, whether you are engaged in combat for your country, sky diving, investing in high-risk stocks, as a pioneer exploring unknown territory, or simply going beyond your established comfort zone.

Clearly, there is a distinction between necessary, or calculated risk, versus unnecessary or random risk-taking. By consensus, some risks are considered a healthy aspect of personal development, whereas others have negative consequences.

It would seem not a coincidence that there is, reportedly, a high proportion of prison inmates in the US, exhibiting or diagnosed with ADHD, with symptoms that include: impulsivity, poor judgment, risk-taking, or reckless behavior, with disregard for one’s safety and safety of others, not learning from previous experience and higher recidivism.

Neurofeedback, or EEG biofeedback, notably LENS neurofeedback, is an established alternative treatment approach for executive dysfunction, addressing decision-making, and impulse control. Risk-taking issues, for this and for the general population.

Some sports, such as car racing, football (with a high rate of reported concussion), or occupations, such as pilots, those in combat, and frontline medics, carry inherent risks, though less so with training, and competence.

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8 Simple Ways to Relieve Stress and Anxiety | Biofeedback Ossining

It might be very surprising to know that stress is a recent discovery, it wasn’t found till the late 1950s. It is a psychologically uncomfortable truth. But, nowadays more than 70% of the population suffers from stress or anxiety daily. However, taking care of your mental as well as physical health is an important aspect of stress management.

Feeling stressed? Let’s take a few minutes to review 8 ways to relieve your stress and anxiety:

Meditation – Meditation can bring short-term stress relief. There are various amazing forms of meditation you can try – each one can bring its own appeal. You can follow the breath while doing housework and other activities. Try to simply pay attention to what you see, hear, taste and smell.

Be active – Only exercise or any other practice cannot make your stress disappear. Being involved in your day-to-day activities and absorbing positive vibes can help you deal with your stress.

Avoid unhealthy habits – Never rely on smoking or alcohol as your way of coping. It might provide temporary relief to your body but it won’t make your stress disappear. Try having healthy foods.

Talk yourself through it – Take some “ME” time, if calling a friend is not an option. Talking calmly to yourself alone can be the next best thing. Don’t worry about feeling passive or lazy; just tell yourself and others that you are stressed out.

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