Nature Knows - Natural Nootropics

(MENAFN – The Conversation) Confinement — which has been frequent during the pandemic — has undeniable effects on the brain. There’s the inability to concentrate enough to read or write, the lack of perseverance in tasks, agitation. All this is normal! The brain is not working the way it usually does and it’s being used differently.

An electric current enables the brain to co-ordinate our movements, control our breathing, feel hunger, pain and emotions. This current must circulate properly. The more intense the electrical activity of the brain, the more we will need sleep or feel the effects of lack of sleep. This can affect physical health in many ways, such as weight gain and developing conditions like diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Mental health effects can include behavioural changes, difficulties in concentration and mood swings.

Electrical activity in the brain has long been thought to be related to serious psychological problems . Each brain rhythm has a particular frequency and the brain communicates in five frequency bands (delta, theta, alpha, beta and gamma). Each corresponds to different levels of wakefulness and sleep located in different areas of the brain.

As associate professor at the École nationale d’administration publique since 2009, I recently obtained certificates in neuroscience as well as a graduate diploma in specialized studies in mental health. I study the different variables that influence the competence and expertise of individuals and organizations, as well as mental health issues.

The brain, your powerhouse

The electrical activity of the brain can be measured by placing electrodes on the scalp in different areas. The unit of measurement obtained is a rhythm potential expressed in hertz indicating, by its frequency, the nature of the activity in the measured area. This makes it possible to evaluate the electrical voltage, the speed of propagation, the rhythm and the synchronization of an activity in the brain. Electrical activities in the brain. (Shutterstock)

By combining these measures with heart rate and respiration, we can estimate heart rate variability , a non-invasive measure that explores the influence of the autonomic nervous system on the cardiovascular system. Heart rate variability provides an indicator to assess an individual’s ability to cope with stress or to manage stressful situations. This helps explain why two individuals, faced with the same situation, react differently.

When dealing with a difficult event, such as a pandemic, people don’t sleep as well. They become overwhelmed with information by listening to the news more and by constantly talking about the same event and its consequences. They activate more of the neurons responsible for the emotions that are at the heart of the brain. More stress is placed on the frontal and temporal lobes and electrical activity increases in these areas.

The observed effects of this include trouble concentrating or persevering in tasks that require reflection, and problems mustering the motivation to undertake demanding actions

In addition, the hormones responsible for mood and joy are likely less stressed in times of crisis. The things that give us pleasure and generate, among other things, serotonin and dopamine are also less frequent. For some, situations that decrease or disorder these hormones or neurotransmitters may be multiplied or intensified, altering the transmission of information between neurons.

Neurotransmission

Serotonin is involved in several behaviours and abilities, including body heat control, eating and sexual behaviours, sleep management and anxiety. Dopamine is especially linked to cognition, motor functions, motivation, sleep and memory.

When these neurotransmitters are ‘disturbed’ by increased electrical activity in the brain, these behaviours and abilities are altered as well. Neuroactivity of human neuronal cells: brain binding nodes, neurotransmitters, axons, active nerve synapses with chemical electrical signals. (Shutterstock)

It is normal to feel more agitated during this disruption, or to not act as effectively as usual. Consequently, compensation or defence mechanisms may develop. Some will make lists or take on tasks that require less thought or concentration (cleaning, cooking). Others will consume more substances that promote the production of dopamine or serotonin (tobacco, alcohol, coffee, sugar). They will seek comfort (baking bread) and pleasure (running) to feel better or less restless.

This management of emotions also has an impact on the functioning of the immune system, which is responsible for the body’s defence against external aggressions. Some studies show that when an individual experiences negative emotions, their immune system weakens, diminishing its ability to protect the body against these attacks. Therefore, the more positively we manage our emotions, the more our immune system is favoured, which is very useful in times of pandemic.

The question is whether we can improve this variability and influence the efficiency of the brain’s electrical activity. There is a way to recover your faculties and capacities.

Self-regulation or ‘big belly, little belly, 5-5’

What does ‘big belly, little belly, 5-5’ mean? It is a playful version of the practice of cardio-respiratory coherence (CRC), often wrongly called cardiac coherence.

CRC is a research-backed technique to help people control emotions or manage mental health problems such as anxiety and depression, or to quit smoking, lose weight or just relax .

CRC is performed by taking a deep breath for five seconds, until the belly swells (hence the expression ‘big belly, little belly, 5-5’). This activates the sympathetic branch of the nervous system, the one that provides energy to flee from a threat.

Exhale after five seconds to stimulate the parasympathetic branch, which takes care of rest and the restoration of our system.

For relaxation, perform the same action but breathe in deeply for four seconds and breathe out for six seconds, which will further promote rest and restoration.

CRC can help us better manage our emotions. It allows the heart and lungs to generate a frequency of electrical activity corresponding to relaxation (10-12 hertz), and to initiate the rest and restoration process necessary to restore balance to the autonomic nervous system and, ultimately, to send a message to the brain that ‘everything is fine!’

Some studies show that after applying this technique for three to five minutes, the level of https://www.hormone.org/your-health-and-hormones/glands-and-hormones to-z/hormones/dehydroepiandrosterone-dhea,dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA, a natural hormone produced from cholesterol by the adrenal glands) increases, and is a precursor to […]

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ProMind Complex Supplement Review s – Is this formula safe & natural? What are the benefits of ProMind Complex ingredients? Read more about supplement, ProMind Complex ingredients, capsule, tablets, ProMind Complex pills, side effects, benefits and ProMind Complex customer reviews. ProMind Complex

One scientific fact is that memory loss is not affected by genetics, bad lifestyle or even age. Prestigious universities like Harvard Medical School have actually proven that memory loss is caused by another factor inside our body and that’s one common bacteria that we thought is harmless.

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Symptoms of memory loss slowly show and sometimes, you barely notice the problem until it becomes worse. ProMind Complex may start with a little headache or a drain in energy but it all leads to memory loss.

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What is ProMind Complex?

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Phase 1 Step 1 – Getting rid of the bacteria. ProMind Complex starts to combatting all harmful microbes and bacteria inside your body. It’s one of the main ingredients that specifically targets and gets rid of dental nerve bacteria.

Step 2 – Reconstructing damaged brain cells. ProMind Complex step triggers your body to start healing the damaged brain cells that the dental nerve bacteria may have destroyed. It also starts to open the brain’s blood vessels allowing the circulation of blood and oxygen in the brain to improve.

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Phase 2 Step 1 – Increases the communication of the brain to the body. ProMind Complex step means that the brain signaling function is improved and fast. You now have faster thinking, concentration and even reflexes. You won’t have to pause to think before answering a simple question!

Step 2 – Removing blocks and plaques. In this step, it carefully doubles checks and removes any bacteria build ups or blockages that has been overlooked during Phase 1. In this step, your body basically has a general cleaning that removes all unwanted bacteria.

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Ingredients used in ProMind Complex Huperzine – an antibacterial ingredient that combats the dental nerve bacteria from manifesting inside the body.

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St. John’s Wort – removes all the plaques and blockages in your blood vessels and it’s a very effective ingredient. Bacopa Monnieri – triggers the body to lower stress and can be a mood booster that can make you feel happier and stress-free. N-Acetyl-L-Carnitine – is a famous ingredient known for its ability to decrease mental fatigue in the body and gives a boost of energy. These are the main ingredients added in the ProMind Complex formula that can help you reach your mind’s full potential. It’s also gluten-free, non-GMO and there are no chemicals added in the formula that can strike risk to your body.Giving you peace of mind without finding yourself worrying if you misplaced any object you were using or remember what you need to buy when you’re at the grocery store. Advantages of ProMind Complex Around 2.5 million Americans have been suffering from memory loss. Fortunately, ProMind Complex can solve this problem and offers a lot of benefits to the body. In a matter of 3 weeks, your body and brain can now experience and enjoy these advantages. Focuses on destroying the main problem of memory loss, getting rid of the dental nerve bacteria. Sharpness of memory Opens up the blood vessels for a better circulation of oxygen and blood in the body and brain. Prevents depression and anxiety. Mood enhancer Energy booster Gets rid of brain fog Prevents insomnia and allowing you to get a […]

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A study in rodents has uncovered a direct link between low oxygen in the uterus during pregnancy—causing fetal hypoxia—and impaired memory function in adult offspring. The research, carried out by a team at the University of Cambridge, found that chronic fetal hypoxia led to a reduced density of blood vessels, and a reduced number of nerve cells and their connections, in the hippocampus. Giving the mother antioxidant supplements—in this study high levels of vitamin C—during pregnancy protected the growing fetus from the harmful effects of low oxygen, and from hypoxia-related memory problems later in life.

“It’s hugely exciting to think we might be able to protect the brain health of an unborn child by a simple treatment that can be given to the mother during pregnancy,” said research lead Dino Giussani, PhD, from the University of Cambridge’s Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, who led the study. “In medicine today there has to be a shift in focus from treatment of the disease, when we can do comparatively little, to prevention, when we can do much more. This study shows that we can use preventative medicine even before birth to protect long term brain health.” The team acknowledged that while vitamin C is a well established antioxidant, the high doses required to be effective in their reported study could cause adverse side effects in humans, so follow-up work will be needed to identify alternative anti-oxidants that might treat chronic fetal hypoxia in humans.

Giussani and colleagues describe their studies in The FASEB Journal , in a paper titled, “ Maternal antioxidant treatment protects adult offspring against memory loss and hippocampal atrophy in a rodent model of developmental hypoxia .”

The interaction between our genes and lifestyle plays a role in determining our risk of disease as adults. There is also increasing evidence that the environment experienced during sensitive periods of fetal development directly influences our long-term health—a process known as ‘developmental programming.’ Brain health problems that may start in the womb due to complicated pregnancy range from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, to brain changes in later life that have been linked with Alzheimer’s disease.

“During the last 40 years, significant evidence derived from human epidemiological studies as well as from preclinical animal models has accumulated to show that suboptimal intrauterine conditions can increase the risk of adverse health outcomes in the offspring; a process known as developmental programming,” the authors wrote.

Chronic fetal hypoxia—low oxygen in the uterus—is one of the most common complications in human pregnancy. It can be diagnosed when a routine ultrasound scan shows that the baby is not growing properly and is caused by a number of conditions including pre-eclampsia, infection of the placenta, gestational diabetes or maternal obesity. However, just how gestational hypoxia might affect the long-term health of the brain in offspring isn’t well understood, the team continued.

For their newly reported studies, the researchers used a rat model to investigate more closely how chronic fetal hypoxia might affect brain development. “We investigated in rats whether hypoxic pregnancy affects brain structure and function in the adult offspring and explored underlying mechanisms with maternal antioxidant intervention,” they wrote.

To conduct the research, the researchers housed different groups of pregnant rats under conditions in which the ambient air contained either a normal level of oxygen (21%), or a low, 13% oxygen level, which caused hypoxic pregnancies. Half of the rats in each group were given the antioxidant vitamin C in their drinking water throughout the pregnancy. Following birth, the baby rats were raised to four months old, equivalent to early adulthood in humans, and were then assessed using various tests to assess locomotion, anxiety, spatial learning and memory.

The results showed that rats born from hypoxic pregnancies took longer to perform the memory task, and didn’t remember things as well. However, rats born from hypoxic pregnancies in which mothers had been given Vitamin C throughout their pregnancy performed the memory task just as well as offspring from normal pregnancies.

Analyzing the brains of the rat offspring, the researchers found that the hippocampus—the area associated with forming memories— was less developed in rats from hypoxic pregnancies. “The data show that prenatal hypoxia reduced neuronal number, vascularity and synaptic density in the hippocampus and impaired memory function in the adult male offspring,” the investigators stated.

Further analyses then showed that hypoxic pregnancy caused excess production of reactive oxygen species, called ‘free radicals’, in the placenta. “Levels of oxidative stress in the placenta, but not in the fetal or adult offspring brain, were increased in hypoxic pregnancy,” they further noted. In healthy pregnancy the body keeps the level of free radicals in check by internal anti-oxidant enzymes, but excess free radicals overwhelm these natural defenses and damage the placenta in a process called ‘oxidative stress’. This reduces blood flow and oxygen delivery to the developing baby.

In the reported study, the researchers found that placentas from the hypoxic pregnancies showed oxidative stress, while those from the hypoxic pregnancies supplemented with Vitamin C looked healthy. The results showed that chronic fetal hypoxia led to a reduced density of blood vessels, and a reduced number of nerve cells and their connections in parts of the offspring’s brain. When the offspring then reached adulthood, its ability to form lasting memories becomes reduced and there is evidence of accelerated brain aging. Antioxidant treatment of the pregnant mothers effectively prevented these effects. “… maternal antioxidant treatment in hypoxic pregnancy restored placental oxidative stress to normal levels and prevented the programmed adverse effects on cerebral structure and function in the adult offspring, implicating placental oxidative stress as a mediating factor,” the team stated. “

Taken together, the study findings indicated that low oxygen in the womb during pregnancy causes oxidative stress in the placenta, affecting the brain development of the offspring and resulting in memory problems in later life. ” Maternal supplementation with vitamin C during hypoxic pregnancy protected against oxidative stress in the placenta and prevented the adverse effects of prenatal hypoxia on hippocampal atrophy and memory loss in the adult offspring,” the authors commented. […]

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