Neuroscientist recommends the morning routine which promotes optimal brain function after studying link between lack of exercise and dementia

A neuroscientist has revealed the best morning routine for optimal brain function and explained the shocking link between lack of exercise and dementia.

Dr. Wendy Suzuki, professor of neuroscience and psychology at New York University, appeared on Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett’s The Diary of a CEO podcast to discuss brain health.

The bestselling author of books such as Good Anxiety and Healthy Brain, Happy Life revealed that studies have shown that exercise can ‘protect your brain from aging’.

She explained: ‘Exercise can improve your mood, it improves your memory and it improves the function of your prefrontal cortex and I thought ‘wow, that’s amazing’.

The professor went on to explain how her own family situation increased her interest in the impact of exercise on the brain after her father’s cognition began to decline.

She recalled, “I got a call from my mother to say that my father was not feeling well, that he had gotten lost driving home from the coffee shop he had driven to every day for the past twenty years, and that the hippocampus is particularly important for spatial organization. memory.’

Hippocampus is a complex brain structure embedded deep within the temporal lobe. It plays an important role in learning and memory.

The doctor added: ‘As an expert on the hippocampus, I knew this was a telltale sign of dementia and perhaps Alzheimer’s.’

‘While I was talking to my father, and of course we went for a neurological appointment with him, I saw that everything that seemed to be improving in me, i.e. memory and focus, very suddenly declined in him.

‘The loss of his cognitive functions, which turned out to be Alzheimer’s disease, made me think that the power of physical activity needed to be explored more deeply.

‘That actually made me shift my research focus from memory function to understanding the effects of physical activity on the brain.’

Dr. Wendy went on to explain that brains can change shape and the frontal cortex can become stronger with mental stimulation and exercise.

She revealed that Professor Marian Diamond discovered brain plasticity in the late 1960s by experimenting with rats, placing some rodents in a box without stimulation and others in a box with toys and a running wheel.

Dr. Wendy explained, “She discovered that in the brains of those rats raised in the rat cages at Disney World, the outer layer of the brain was actually thicker.”

Dr. Wendy appeared on Dragons’ Den star Steven Bartlett’s (pictured) The Diary of a CEO podcast, to discuss brain health

‘Later studies have shown that you get almost identical effects just by giving rats a running wheel. The physical activity does everything that has the potential to change the rodent brain, and now the human brain.”

The professor added that while they don’t know the cause of Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, there are ways people can “protect their brains from aging.”

She said: ‘My most important tool you can use to protect your brain from aging and neurodegenerative diseases is to walk. Why do I start with that? Because everyone can walk, you don’t have to buy new fitness outfits. Just walk more.

‘The study I mentioned shows that in 65-year-olds the risk of developing Alzheimer’s decreases by 30 percent if they only walk.’

Elsewhere, the neuroscientist recommended her own morning routine for optimal brain function…

1. 45 minute meditation

She said: ‘Every morning I like to wake up and start with a tea meditation for about 45 minutes, what one is meditation on making and drinking tea and this is after many years of yo-yo meditation.

‘I knew meditation was good, but I just couldn’t really get into it and I was introduced to this form of meditation by a monk who invited me for tea, and we just did this silent meditation outside in a beautiful location.

‘The ritual of brewing, drinking, pulling, starting over, kind of kept me in the flow.”

2. 30 minute workout

She said, “I try to do cardio strength, sometimes I do yoga, sometimes I just do mobility.”

3. Hot and cold contrast shower

She said: ‘A hot and cold contrast shower is also really helpful for my brain health as it really gives that adrenaline rush that gives me energy, and I love that feeling at the start of the day.’

After her morning routine, she has breakfast and goes to work with a clearer head.

WHAT IS DEMENTIA?

Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe a range of neurological conditions

A GLOBAL CARE

Dementia is an umbrella term used to describe a range of progressive neurological conditions (affecting the brain) that affect memory, thinking and behavior.

There are many forms of dementia, of which Alzheimer’s disease is the most common.

Some people may have a combination of different forms of dementia.

Regardless of which type is diagnosed, each person will experience dementia in their own unique way.

Dementia is a global problem, but it is most common in wealthier countries, where people are likely to live to a very old age.

HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE AFFECTED?

The Alzheimer’s Society reports that there are currently more than 900,000 people living with dementia in the UK. This number is expected to rise to 1.6 million by 2040.

Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, affecting between 50 and 75 percent of those diagnosed.

There are an estimated 5.5 million people in the US with Alzheimer’s disease. A similar percentage increase is expected in the coming years.

As a person’s age increases, so does the risk that he or she will develop dementia.

The number of diagnoses is increasing, but it is believed that many people with dementia are still undiagnosed.

IS THERE A TREATMENT?

There is currently no medicine against dementia.

But new medications can slow its progression and the sooner it is caught, the more effective treatments can be.

Source: Alzheimer’s Association