Dispelling Stereotypes Of Memory & Aging

"President Biden's self-assured delivery of the State of the Union address challenged doubts about his age. Since the start of his presidential campaign, Biden’s every slip-up has been under the microscope, from momentary forgetfulness to misspoken words. Neuroscientist Charan Ranganath believes that we have been oversimplifying the way we think about age and memory. In his new book "Why We Remember,” the author shares years of his research. He discusses with Hari Sreenivasan."

Click on the link below for some science on memory and aging:

Memory Expert on Biden, Trump, and the Stereotypes of Aging

Medicine For The Brain

If you are exposed to any media, you are deluged with alternatives to medicine pseudoscience, including brain health supplements such as Prevagen. Regarding the brain, the best things you can do for its health are simple and inexpensive. Neurosurgeon Sanjay Gupta, MD, has some advice in a new book, "Keep Sharp." The book is supported by the fact that we now know that the brain is able to grow new cells throughout life. The big revelation to me was the following:

• "I think that crossword puzzles and brain training exercises can be quite helpful at making the roads in your brain that you use a lot already, keeping them strong. ... It's kind of the "practice makes perfect" part of your brain. And some of the brain games can actually increase your processing speed, the speed at which you process new content and new information. But I really do draw a line between that and keeping a brain sharper and building cognitive reserve throughout your life. That's different. You want to be doing different things in order to build that reserve, as opposed to doing the same thing better and better. There's a role for both, but if it's cognitive reserve you're looking for, doing different things — things that *get you outside your comfort zone* — it's probably going to have a much bigger payoff."

Click here for an NPR interview with Dr. Gupta.

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*to include learning why others have different opinions than you?*

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UPDATE: 2/24/2021

Below are more links on this topic:

Brain Boosting Supplements May Contain Unapproved Drugs

Focus Factor Fiction?

FDA curbs unfounded memory supplement claims

Sleep 101

"Russell Foster is a circadian neuroscientist: He studies the sleep cycles of the brain. And he asks: What do we know about sleep? Not a lot, it turns out, for something we do with one-third of our lives. In this talk, Foster shares three popular theories about why we sleep, busts some myths about how much sleep we need at different ages -- and hints at some bold new uses of sleep as a predictor of mental health."

Sleep is more important than you probably realize.

Why do we sleep?

Brain Health And Exercise

"What's the most transformative thing that you can do for your brain today? Exercise! says neuroscientist Wendy Suzuki. Get inspired to go to the gym as Suzuki discusses the science of how working out boosts your mood and memory -- and protects your brain against neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's."

Sometimes it is the simpler things one can do that help the most regarding health.

Click on link below:

The Brain-changing benefits of exercise