Healthy Kids Are Smart Kids

American kids are under tremendous pressure to perform well in school. Every year they're required to take more and more standardized tests, and every year they fall further behind children around the world, particularly in science and mathematics. More is required to do well in school beyond sitting in the classroom and managing to stay awake throughout the day.

Kids by nature want to learn, but somehow this love of new knowledge and new experiences is sucked out of them early on. Many teachers no longer teach to broaden the skills and abilities of their students. Instead they teach to the standardized tests. There's no longer much room for exploring new territory, and kids get bored easily and stay bored if they're not challenged.

How can we help our children when the educational system does not provide the formula to engage many kids? Making sure our kids are healthy and well is a very good start. One of the most interesting developments in cognitive science (how people learn) in the last ten years is the importance of physical activity in relation to human performance. The results are in - research proves that physical activity is highly correlated to learning and academic achievement. Active kids are explorers. Active kids are alert and interested in what's going on around them. Active kids have an instinctive desire to grow and develop.

What kinds of exercise should our kids be doing? The great news is that the specific type of exercise doesn't matter. It's all good, whether a kid is playing soccer, running track, or riding around the neighborhood on her bike. It's the amount of exercise that counts, not the format of the exercise. Federal agencies recommend that every child get an hour of physical activity each day. This hour can be broken up into small segments or done all at once. What matters is the amount and consistency of the exercise.

To raise Healthy and Smart kids it is critical to use better brain strategies for the entire family .A great start is to join in rather than just be a spectator and just watch the kids .It is also very important to continue to make activities fun, enjoyable, and rewarding. Regular physical movements have consistently been proven to improve academic performance. The result is a much more well-rounded young person, one whose interests may extend from the ball field to the science lab to the music room.

Resources:

Hillman CH, et al: The effect of acute treadmill walking on cognitive control and academic achievement in preadolescent children. Neuroscience 159(3):1044-1054, 2009

Ploughman M: Exercise is brain food. The effects of physical activity on cognitive function. Dev Neurorehabil 11(3):236-240, 2008

Davis CL, et al: Effects of aerobic exercise on overweight children's cognitive functioning. Res Q Exerc Sport 78(5):510-519, 2007

Can Squeezing Your Right Hand Lead to Increased Memory?

Back in the 1960s there was a tremendous amount of enthusiasm in research to discover the difference between functions of the left and right brain. A plethora of new research is bringing the “Left Brain vs. Right Brain” debate back to life. The left part of the brain (cerebral hemisphere) controls logic, word formation, academic, and analytical processes; the right part of the brain (cerebral hemisphere) deals more with emotions, and the artistic or imaginative activities. However the hemispheres are always working together!

After becoming a regular debate in popular psychology and self-help books, the oversimplified split-brain model that put creativity only in the right brain and logic only in the left brain was challenged by many neuroscientists and fell out of favor in research.

With the use of functional MRIs this trend seems to be shifting back to the popular side again. A study released on April 24, 2013 by Ruth Propper and colleagues from Montclair State University found that hand clenching increases neuronal activity in the frontal lobe of the opposite hemisphere.

Creativity requires divergent thinking to connect seemingly unrelated memories and ideas in new and useful ways. It is fascinating to think that the simple act of squeezing a ball with your right hand while learning could improve long tern memory and intelligence in the left hemisphere; and later you could stimulate creativity by squeezing the ball with your left hand to engage the right hemisphere. 

The right hemisphere controls and receives sensory information from the left side of the body and the left hemisphere controls and receives sensory input from the right side. The researchers found that clenching your right hand may help form a stronger memory of an experience or action by activating the left hemisphere, and that clenching your left hand may help you recollect the memory later by activating your right hemisphere.

According to Ruth Propper, "The findings suggest that specific simple one sided muscular movements (by temporarily changing the way the brain fires) can improve forming or accessing a memory.

Future research will examine whether hand clenching can also improve other forms of cognition, for example verbal or muscular coordination." The authors clarify that further work is needed to test whether their results with word lists also extend to memories of visual stimuli like remembering a face, or spatial tasks, such as remembering where keys were placed.

Better Brain Tip of the Week

Use your opposite hand for 7 days straight to perform daily functions

(for example: brushing teeth, combing hair, buttoning shirts ,opening doors, eating, etc)

References:

Ruth Propper and colleagues from Montclair State University

Clenching your right or left hand activates different brain hemispheres.

Published on April 26, 2013 by Christopher Bergland in The Athlete's Way

Can Sleep Studies Give Clues for Alzheimer's Research?

One of the most important ways to create a better memory is to get the proper amount and type of sleep. Many lifestyle choices have the potential to affect your health and cognitive abilities. The rhythms of the day and sleep cycles have a tremendous value in creating a better memory and overall wellness.

In recent years, various researchers have found that a habit that most of us take for granted… sleep may affect our memory in noticeable ways! There is a part of the brain that is important in creating long term memory called the entorhinal cortex

In a recent study from the journal Nature Neuroscience, UCLA neurophysics professor Mayank R. Mehta found that a brain area called the entorhinal cortex plays a key role in memory consolidation during sleep. Memory consolidation is the process that stores and reinforces long-term memories so you can draw on them later.

Sleep studies may also provide direction for Alzheimer’s research. Not only can Mehta’s research help us understand how we strengthen memories during sleep, but it may also provide clues for investigating Alzheimer's disease, which begins in the entorhinal cortex and often involves impaired sleep.

Of course, the habit patterns of humans differ greatly and further research will be needed to truly understand the entorhinal cortex's role in memory consolidation. Functional MRIs are now providing information as to how the brain fires when asked memory questions.

This study reminds us of the complex ties between lifestyle habits and cognition, it also reaffirms the importance of getting enough sleep each night. With many new studies continuing to find evidence that our brains are hard at work during the night, most scientists agree that getting a decent night’s rest is a good idea.

Better Brain Tip of the Week:

Go to bed at the same time and rise at the same time for 7 days straight to create a healthy habit pattern. Lights out and in a state of relaxation at or before 10 o’clock p.m. is ideal for the process of syncing your sleep with the rhythms of the day.