#BrainCare - #Plasticity For Healthy Life-long Brains

"Your brain has the ability to grow and change throughout your life. Read about real-life examples of brain plasticity and learn how to make it work for you."

Brain Plasticity: The New Key to a Better Brain at Any Age

Until recently, it was believed you were born with a set number of brain cells that could never be replaced.

And that you came into this world with a set level of intelligence that never changed. (1)

But it’s now known that your brain is a continual work in progress.

Due to a property known as brain plasticity (or neuroplasticity), your brain is constantly changing.

The discovery of this capacity of the brain to change has been heralded as the most important neuroscience breakthrough in 400 years. (2)

Let’s look at why brain plasticity is so important and what you can do to enhance it.

What Is Brain Plasticity?

Neuroplasticity is derived from two words: neuron (a nerve cell) and plastic (moldable). (3)

Dr. Michael Merzenich, a leading pioneer in the science of neuroplasticity, defines brain plasticity as “the brain’s ability to change its anatomical, neurochemical, and functional performance status across the lifespan.” (4)

READ MORE

LEARN MORE

FROM CRADLE TO GRAVE

#KLSF: Achieve Your Greatest Creative #Success By #Juxtaposing #Absurdities

"Absurdity is related to extremes in bad reasoning or pointlessness in reasoning; ridiculousness, extremes of incongruous juxtaposition: resulting in laughter, ridicule; and nonsense due to a lack of meaningfulness. Juxtaposing is the process of placing (somewhat sinilar, different things) side by side (as to compare them or contrast them or to create an interesting or unique effect)  

Whereas, Juxtaposed Absurdism is a concept in philosophy related to the notion of a rational absurdity existing amoung or between objects, systems and relationships, plus conbinations thereof, providing for the co-existence of contradictory realities, or uniquely discovered complimentary realities, or various infinite permutations of both, in either form or substance" - II Nuovo Picasso, 2019 

" Think business is all about rational thought and logic? Think again -- and to find the biggest, best ideas, start thinking way outside the box."

The Best Ideas Are the Ones That Make the Least Sense

Imagine that you are sitting in the boardroom of a major global drinks company, charged with producing a new product that will rival the position of Coca-Cola as the world’s second-most-popular cold nonalcoholic drink.

How would you respond? The first thing I would say, unless I were in a particularly mischievous mood, is something like this: “We need to produce a drink that tastes nicer than Coke, that costs less than Coke, and comes in a really big bottle so people get great value for money.” What I’m fairly sure nobody would say is this: “Hey, let’s try marketing a really expensive drink that comes in a tiny can…and tastes kind of disgusting.” Yet that is exactly what one company did. And by doing so, they launched a soft-drink brand that would indeed go on to be a worthy rival to Coca-Cola. That drink was Red Bull.

When I say that Red Bull “tastes kind of disgusting,” this is not a subjective opinion. No, that was the opinion of a wide cross-section of the public. According to marketing lore, before Red Bull launched outside Thailand, where it had originated, the licensee approached a research agency to see what the international consumer reaction would be to the drink’s taste; the agency, a specialist in researching the flavoring of carbonated drinks, had never seen a worse reaction to any proposed new product.

READ MORE

LEARN MORE

#KLSF - BUILD YOUR CREATIVE CAPACITY

#KLSF: The 13 Habits of Highly #Succesful Human #Longevity

"Taken together, these habits can boost your health and put you on the path to a long life."

13 Habits Linked to a Long Life (Backed by Science)

Many people think that life expectancy is largely determined by genetics.

However, genes play a much smaller role than originally believed. It turns out that environmental factors like diet and lifestyle are key.

Here are 13 habits linked to a long life.(starting at, #1 Avoid Overeating, below this chart)

 ADDITIONAL SUPPORTING SCIENTIFIC ARTICLE

LINK TO CHART'S SITE

1. Avoid overeating
The link between calorie intake and longevity currently generates a lot of interest.

Animal studies suggest that a 10–50% reduction in normal calorie intake may increase maximum lifespan (1Trusted Source).

Studies of human populations renowned for longevity also observe links between low calorie intake, an extended lifespan, and a lower likelihood of disease (2Trusted Source, 3Trusted Source, 4Trusted Source).

What's more, calorie restriction may help reduce excess body weight and belly fat, both of which are associated with shorter lifespans (5Trusted Source, 6Trusted Source, 7Trusted Source).

That said, long-term calorie restriction is often unsustainable and can include negative side effects, such as increased hunger, low body temperature, and a diminished sex drive (3Trusted Source).

Whether calorie restriction slows aging or extends your lifespan is not yet fully understood.

SUMMARY

Limiting your calories may help you live longer and protect against disease. However, more human research is needed.

READ 12 HABITS MORE 

LEARN MORE

DR. JOHN DAY - MORE LONGEVITY SECRETS

#AI - Understanding #Neural Networks Key To #Cognitive #Emulation?

" I would like to state that even though neural networks have a huge potential we will only get the best of them when they are intergrated with computing, AI, fuzzy logic and related subjects."

By Ilija Mihajlovic

Inspired by the structure of the brain, artificial neural networks (ANN) are the answer to making computers more human like and help machines reason more like humans.

They are based on the neural structure of the brain. The brain basically learns from experience. It is natural proof that some problems that are beyond the scope of current computers are indeed solvable by small energy efficient packages.

Human Neurons

To understand how artificial neural networks work let’s first briefly look at the human ones. The exact workings of the human brain are still a mystery. Yet, some aspects of this amazing processor are known. In particular, the most basic element of the human brain is a specific type of cell which, unlike the rest of the body, doesn’t appear to regenerate. Because this type of cell is the only part of the body that isn’t slowly replaced, it is assumed that these cells are what provides us with our abilities to remember, think, and apply previous experiences to our every action. These cells, all 100 billion of them, are known as neurons. Each of these neurons can connect with up to 200,000 other neurons, although 1,000 to 10,000 is typical.

READ MORE

LEARN MORE

WHAT IS A NEURAL NETWORK

#BrainCare: Stay #Active As You Age

"Whatever you like and whatever your body can tolerate: That's what makes it sustainable."

By Matt McMillen

Sports Are Important to Keep You Fit, Active as You Age

A study, British researchers showed that men who play sports and exercise in midlife continue to be more active as they get older, compared with middle-aged men who prefer less strenuous pastimes. The benefits of sports may also surpass a run on the treadmill or another gym-based exercise.

Gym workouts boost cardiovascular health. Sports do that and more, says Michael Jonesco, DO, a sports medicine specialist at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. Because they require you to act and react at a moment's notice, sports like tennis, basketball, and soccer can help you improve your hand/eye coordination, fine motor movements, adapting and changing direction, and balance.

And, says Jonesco, you can't slack: "At the gym, you may be less likely to push yourself than when you're up against your peers."

What sports should you play? Ones you enjoy. You won't stick with sports you don't like, says Jonesco. "Whatever you like and whatever your body can tolerate: That's what makes it sustainable."

READ MORE 

LEARN MORE

STAYING ACTIVE KEY TO SUSTAINABLE HEALTH

#Learn To Create Like Salvador #Dali

"the owner of a fourth-generation funeral home tried Dali’s technique and he conjured up images of coffee, people gathering over coffee and general stores"

How to conjure up dreamlike imagery from your subconscious.

By Michael Michalko

In the history of art, most people could easily argue that Salvador Dalí is the father of surrealistic art. Surrealism is the art of writing or painting unreal or unpredictable works of art using the images or words from an imaginary world. Dali's art is the definition of surrealism. Throughout his art he clearly elaborates on juxtaposition (putting similar images near each other), the disposition (changing the shape of an object), and morphing of objects, ranging from melted objects dripping, to crutches holding distorted figures, to women with heads of bouquets of flowers.

Surrealism is the stressing of subconscious or irrational significance of imagery, or in more simplistic terms, the use of dreamlike imagery. Dalí's absurd imagination has him painting pictures of figures no person would even dream of creating. How was Salvador Dali able to conjure up these extraordinary images from his subconscious that he used in his surrealistic paintings?

Dali was intrigued with the images which occur at the boundary between sleeping and waking. They can occur when people are falling asleep, or when they are starting to wake up, and they tend to be extremely vivid, colorful and bizarre. He experimented with various ways of generating and capturing these fantastical images.

 READ MORE

LEARN MORE

AN APPROACH TO PROBLEM-SOLVING

A Full Throttle #Approach: Can We Find Work-Life #Balance?

"The challenges that you face integrating family and work are unique to you, and no Google search is going bring up the Holy Grail."

Work-Life Balance Is Impossible - Here's What To Strive For Instead

By Meeta Vengapally

As a businesswoman, entrepreneur, and mom, I’m here to tell you something that may come as a shock: I can’t find a work-life balance—because it doesn’t exist.

If you’re like other busy moms, in moments of desperation you may have googled “work-family balance,” “how to prioritize,” or “advice for working women wanting it all.” There are certainly a lot of articles out there giving advice on these topics, but the problem is, it’s all “click bait.” With my hectic schedule, I know for a fact that balance is a myth that is fed to women, leading them to believe that constantly being in over their heads should be rewarding, pleasurable, and even fun.

Well, it isn’t.

Read More

LEARN MORE

FALLACY OF WORK-LIFE BALANCE

#BrainCare: #LIVE LARGE - Go Offline, And Get Out Doors

"If you are constantly on a device or in front of a screen, you’re missing out on something that’s pretty spectacular: the real world.”

BY JILL SUTTIE |

How Nature Can Make You Kinder, Happier, and More Creative

We are spending more time indoors and online. But recent studies suggest that nature can help our brains and bodies to stay healthy.

I’ve been an avid hiker my whole life. From the time I first strapped on a backpack and headed into the Sierra Nevada Mountains, I was hooked on the experience, loving the way being in nature cleared my mind and helped me to feel more grounded and peaceful.

But, even though I’ve always believed that hiking in nature had many psychological benefits, I’ve never had much science to back me up…until now, that is. Scientists are beginning to find evidence that being in nature has a profound impact on our brains and our behavior, helping us to reduce anxiety, brooding, and stress, and increase our attention capacity, creativity, and our ability to connect with other people.

“People have been discussing their profound experiences in nature for the last several 100 years—from Thoreau to John Muir to many other writers,” says researcher David Strayer, of the University of Utah. “Now we are seeing changes in the brain and changes in the body that suggest we are physically and mentally more healthy when we are interacting with nature.”

Read More

LEARN MORE

"THE INDOOR GENERATION"