Study: Forget a Word? Make a Fist
June 06, 2013
Story at-a-glance
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According to new research, clenching your fist may temporarily
change the way your brain functions in a way that boosts your
memory
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Remarkably, those who clenched a ball in their right hand before
memorization and in their left hand before recall boosted their
memory scores by 15 percent compared to a control group
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This memory trick works because making a fist can increase
activity in your brain on the opposite side (so if you clench
your right fist, activity in the left brain hemisphere
increases)
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Simple lifestyle strategies, including exercise, proper sleep
and eating right, also work to boost and protect your memory and
overall brain health
By Dr. Mercola
The simple body movement of clenching your fist may temporarily
change the way your brain functions by boosting your memory,
according to new research.
This trick works because making a fist can increase activity in
your brain on the opposite side (so if you clench your right fist,
activity in the left brain hemisphere increases).
If you’re right-handed, the left side of your brain encodes
information while the right side helps you retrieve memories, while
the opposite is true for left-handed people. Interestingly,
researchers were able to show that by strategically clenching their
fists, people were able to improve their memories significantly.
Fist-Clenching for Memory Improvement
In the study, 50 right-handed students were asked to remember a
list of words. Those who clenched a ball in their right hand before
memorization and in their left hand before recall boosted their
memory scores by 15 percent compared to a control group.1
If you’re right-handed and you wanted to try this, you would make
a fist with your right hand when you need to remember something,
like a name or phone number. Then when you need to recall it, clench
your left fist.
This trick has also been found to trigger emotions, with
right-hand clenching leading to “approach” emotions controlled by
the left brain, such as happiness and anger, and left-hand clenching
leading to “withdrawal” emotions like sadness and anxiety.2
‘Brain Farts’ Versus True Memory Loss: What’s the Difference?
If you’ve reached middle age or beyond, you may have noticed that
your memory is not as quick as it used to be. So-called "senior
moments" happen to all of us… even those who are far from reaching
their golden years. You forget where you parked your car, misplace
your keys, forget the name of someone you met last week -- all of
these scenarios are part of life, and they're completely normal.
Meanwhile,
brain farts, or as neuroscientists call them "maladaptive brain
activity changes," are those "oops" moments when you make a really
obvious mistake. These occur because your brain perceives many of
your daily tasks as patterns, and may revert to its default mode
network (DMN), the part of your brain responsible for your
inward-focused thinking, such as daydreaming, during this time.
This can be a problem as the DMN competes, in a sense, with other
areas of your brain for resources, and in order for you to carry out
a task that requires focused attention, your brain must inhibit the
DMN.
So if your brain takes a "time out" during a task that requires
your full attention, a brain fart, such as sending an important
email to the wrong person, is likely to occur. Fortunately, DMN
blips are typically short-lived, and once you realize you've made an
error your brain will likely kick into overdrive to try and correct
the mistake.
On the other hand, changes in your memory function could be a sign
that your brain is on a gradual decline -- and it's time for you to
take action to protect and restore your cognitive function. How can
you tell the difference?
Even Mild Memory Loss Is a Sign to Take Control of Your Health
Your brain should not feel foggy all the time, nor should you be
experiencing episodes of forgetfulness that are so severe they
interfere with your ability to function normally. Even very mild
memory loss appears to be linked to the presence of the
same type of damage seen in more serious cases of cognitive decline.
These mild changes in your cognitive function -- once thought to be
a "normal" sign of aging -- is actually one of the first signs of
dementia, including Alzheimer's disease.3
So if you notice that your mind is not as sharp as it used to be,
don't ignore it -- take action to help reverse, or at least
minimize, further damage.
Do You Want to Give Your Memory a Boost? 5 Important Tips
Clenching your fists may work temporarily to give your memory a
quick boost, but what about longer-term strategies to boost your
memory and brain health? Embracing the strategies that follow may
give a hearty boost to your brainpower, help keep you mentally
healthy and ultimately even make you smarter.
1. Exercise
Exercise encourages
your brain to work at optimum capacity by stimulating nerve
cells to multiply, strengthening their interconnections and
protecting them from damage. During exercise nerve cells release
proteins known as neurotrophic factors. One in particular,
called brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), triggers
numerous other chemicals that promote neural health, and
directly benefits cognitive functions, including learning.
A 2010 study on primates published in Neuroscience4
also revealed that regular exercise not only improved blood flow
to the brain, but also helped the monkeys learn new tasks twice
as quickly as non-exercising monkeys, a benefit the researchers
believe would hold true for people as well. To get the most out
of your workouts, I recommend a comprehensive program that
includes
Peak Fitness high-intensity exercise, strength training,
stretching and core work.
2. Vitamin B12
Mental fogginess and problems with memory are two of the top
warning signs that you have vitamin B12 deficiency. Vitamin B12,
or rather a lack thereof, has been called the "canary in the
cobalamine" for your future brain health, and recent research
has bolstered the importance of this vitamin in keeping your
mind sharp as you age.
According to the latest research, people with high levels of
markers for vitamin
B12 deficiency were more likely to score lower on cognitive
tests, as well as have a smaller total brain volume,5
which suggests a lack of the vitamin may contribute to brain
shrinkage.
Vitamin B12 is available in its natural form only in animal
food sources. These include seafood, beef, chicken, pork, milk,
and eggs. If you don't consume enough of these animal products
(and I don't recommend consuming seafood unless you know it is
from a pure water source) to get an adequate supply of B12, or
if your body's ability to absorb the vitamin from food is
compromised, vitamin B12 supplementation is completely non-toxic
and inexpensive, especially when compared to the cost of
laboratory testing. I recommend an under-the-tongue fine mist
spray, as this technology helps you absorb the vitamin into the
fine capillaries under your tongue.
3. Animal-Based Omega-3 Fats
Docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, an omega-3 fat, is an
essential structural component of both your brain and retina.
Minus the water content, approximately 60 percent of your brain
is composed of fats—25 percent of which is DHA. DHA is found in
high levels in your neurons -- the cells of your central nervous
system, where it provides structural support. When your omega-3
intake is inadequate, your nerve cells become stiff and more
prone to inflammation as the missing omega-3 fats are
substituted with cholesterol and omega-6 instead. Once your
nerve cells become rigid and inflamed, proper neurotransmission
from cell to cell and within cells become compromised.
Exciting research is showing that degenerative conditions can
not only be prevented but also potentially reversed
with omega-3 fats. For example, in one study, 485 elderly
volunteers suffering from memory deficits saw significant
improvement after taking 900 mg of DHA per day for 24 weeks,
compared with controls.6
Omega-3 fats such as DHA are considered essential because
your body cannot produce it, and therefore must get it from your
diet. DHA-rich foods include fish, liver, and brain—all of which
are no longer consumed in great amounts by most Americans. To
compensate for our inherently low omega-3 diet, a high quality
animal-based omega-3 supplement is something that I recommend
for virtually everyone, especially if you're pregnant. I prefer
krill oil compared to all other animal-based omega-3s because
krill oil is absorbed up to 10-15 times as well as fish oil, due
to its molecular composition, and is less prone to oxidation
(rancidity) because it is naturally complexed with the potent
fat-soluble antioxidant astaxanthin.
4. Proper Sleep
The process of growth, known as plasticity, is believed to
underlie the brain's capacity to control behavior, including
learning and memory. Plasticity occurs when neurons are
stimulated by events, or information, from the environment.
However, sleep and sleep loss modify the expression of several
genes and gene products that may be important for synaptic
plasticity. Furthermore, certain forms of long-term
potentiation, a neural process associated with the laying down
of learning and memory, can be elicited in sleep, suggesting
synaptic connections are strengthened while you slumber.
Research from Harvard indicates that people are
33 percent more likely to infer connections among distantly
related ideas after sleeping, but few realize that their
performance has actually improved. Sleep is also known to
enhance your memories and help you "practice" and improve your
performance of challenging skills. In fact, a single night of
sleeping only four to six hours can impact your ability to think
clearly the next day. If you want a quick brain boost, a mid-day
nap has been found to dramatically boost and restore brainpower
among adults.7
You can also find
33 tips to help you get the shut-eye you need here.
5. Optimize Your Vitamin D Levels
Activated
vitamin D receptors increase nerve growth in your brain, and
researchers have also located metabolic pathways for vitamin D
in the hippocampus and cerebellum of the brain, areas that are
involved in planning, processing of information, and the
formation of new memories. In older adults, research has shown
that low vitamin D levels are associated with poorer brain
function, and increasing levels may help keep older adults
mentally fit.8
Appropriate sun exposure is all it takes to keep your levels
where they need to be for healthy brain function. If this is not
an option, a safe tanning bed is the next best alternative,
followed by a vitamin D3 supplement. It now appears as though
most adults need about 8,000 IU's of vitamin D a day in order to
get their serum levels above 40 ng/ml, which is the lowest they
should be. Ideally, your serum levels should be between 50-70
ng/ml, and up to 100 ng/ml to treat cancer
and heart disease. However, it's important to realize that
there's no magic dosage when it comes to vitamin D. What's
important is your serum level, so you need to get your
vitamin D levels tested to make sure you're staying within
the optimal and therapeutic ranges as indicated below.
Too Much Sugar Is Also Detrimental to Your Brain Health…
No discussion of brain health would be complete without
discussing the importance of a proper, healthful diet, and with that
comes careful attention to limiting your intake of fructose and
other sugars.
A UCLA study published last year was the first to show how a
steady diet high in fructose
can damage your memory and learning.9
Rats fed fructose syrup showed significant impairment in their
cognitive abilities—they struggled to remember their way out of a
maze. They were slower, and their brains showed a decline in
synaptic activity. Their brain cells had trouble signaling each
other, disrupting the rats' ability to think clearly and recall the
route they'd learned six weeks earlier.
Researchers concluded that a high-fructose diet harms your
brain, as well as the rest of your body. So if you want to
ensure your memory stays sharp as you age, learning the
fist-clenching trick is a novel option. But in the long run, making
sure you’re
eating a healthful diet is the key to stellar brain health. In
terms of fructose, you’ll want to limit your intake to 25 grams per
day (or less), and 15 grams or less if you are overweight or have
diabetes, pre-diabetes, high cholesterol or high blood pressure.
How Vitamin D Performance Testing Can Help Optimize Your Health
Additionally, a robust and growing body of research clearly shows
that vitamin D is absolutely critical for good health and disease
prevention. Vitamin D affects your DNA through vitamin D receptors
(VDRs), which bind to specific locations of the human genome.
Scientists have identified nearly 3,000 genes that are
influenced by vitamin D levels, and vitamin D receptors have been
found throughout the human body.
Is it any wonder then that no matter what disease or condition is
investigated, vitamin D appears to play a crucial role? This is why
I am so excited about the D*Action
Project by GrassrootsHealth. It is showing how you can take
action today on known science with a consensus of experts without
waiting for institutional lethargy. It has shown how by combining
the science of measurement (of vitamin D levels) with the personal
choice of taking action and, the value of education about individual
measures that one can truly be in charge of their own health.
In order to spread this health movement to more communities, the
project needs your involvement. This is an ongoing campaign during
the month of February, and will become an annual event.
To participate, simply purchase the D*Action
Measurement Kit and follow the registration instructions
included. (Please note that 100 percent of the proceeds from the
kits go to fund the research project. I do not charge a single dime
as a distributor of the test kits.)
As a participant, you agree to test your vitamin D levels twice a
year during a five year program, and share your health status to
demonstrate the public health impact of this nutrient. There is a
$65 fee every 6 months for your sponsorship of the project, which
includes a test kit to be used at home, and
electronic reports on your ongoing progress. You will get a follow
up email every six months reminding you "it's time for your next
test and health survey."
© Copyright 1997-2013 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.
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