A study from McGill University in Canada has found that music causes a release of dopamine, a mood enhancing chemical, in the brain. Dopamine release is linked to other pleasurable events like eating chocolate, sex and success, and acts to “reward” us for behaviours that are beneficial to us. The study found that subjects had 9% higher levels of dopamine when listening to music that they enjoyed.
At the Diamond Valley Brain Centre we often have people listen to certain types of music because of the brain benefits that it can produce. This study reinforces this approach. For more information about the study visit the BBC website or Nature Neuroscience where the study was published.
Copper is an essential mineral for our bodies. However high levels of copper have been shown to be dangerous to health and linked to some brain degenerative conditions. In my nutritional treatment of patients using hair analysis to assess mineral levels I often find copper toxicity, usually when the body is unable to produce enough of the right proteins to keep the copper in the blood stream and it gets deposited in the tissues including the brain. Toxic effects ensue.
Water tanks don't have to be old and worn out to be toxic. (Image: Robin Scagell/Science Photo Library)
Copper pipes can be a source of copper in the diet, however this is not usually of great concern. But rainwater is often acidic which increases copper levels in the water and its use for drinking can be detrimental. Testing the pH level of any tankwater used for drinking would be a wise idea. It may need treating to neutralize the pH and avoid the effects of copper toxicity.
There has long been debate about whether food additives can cause health problems, particularly hyperactivity and learning disorders in children. Whilst the scientific studies have often been inconclusive I am very much of the opinion that food additives should be avoided as much as possible. Children with ADHD particularly need to avoid these. The problem can be getting information on which particular ones to avoid.
Enter the Food Additives Network. This organisation has great information about food additives and their effects. Their main website is: http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info
and they have a great list of the main additives to avoid here:
http://www.fedupwithfoodadditives.info/information/additivesall.htm
Here at the Diamond Valley Brain Centre we believe that exercises can be used to treat brain function, not only in a specific sense – like the ones we prescribe in the clinic – but also in a generic sense. It is great to see this being supported in the research. A study at the University of Illinois found that children who exercise regularly have greater brain development.
The way that the nervous system works is that it is stimulated to build health and new connections through regular firing. This process is called neuroplasticity, and it is the basis of what we do in our practice.
Exercise has many ways that it can help neuroplasticity. It stimulates increased blood flow to the brain carrying nutrients and oxygen to the developing tissues. It helps regulate blood sugar levels. And it also has a direct effect of the brain itself through the firing of muscle and joint receptors. These receptors, through their connections, activate areas of the brain called the cerebellum and parietal lobes which in turn have extensive connections throughout the rest of the nervous system. This is one way how we feel exercise can change brain function.
To find out more about the study and the way the brain is affected by exercise, click here download the podcast by the NeuroScene group at Intrepid Insights. It is well worth the listen.
Recently we sent out a newsletter to our patients about the health benefits of high flavinoid chocolate, and I thought I would touch on it here. Flavinoids are naturally occurring chemicals that have anti-oxidant properties.
Anti-oxidants protect the body from oxidantion which is what causes aging. As a result they have many benefits within the body, including protecting the heart and blood vessels. And a good heart and blood vessels is important for supplying blood to the brain.
So having a reasonable amount of dark chocolate every day can be good more you. Like all things, moderation is the key. But nibbling a piece of dark chocolate every day could see you living and staying sharper longer.
For this first post in our Brain Centre blog, I thought I would pass the baton over to Dr Norman Doidge, author of “The Brain that Changes Itself”. Dr Doidge has been a leader in introducing the concept of neuroplasticity – the idea that the brain can heal and change itself – into mainstream culture. It is this mechanism of neuroplasticity that we work with at the Diamond Valley Brain Centre.
In this video we see Dr Doidge when he presented in Melbourne last year. He introduces neuroplasticity (because to explain it in full would take months, even years), and some of the changes he has seen made in people’s brains. Please watch and enjoy…
