Can Obesity Lead to Brain Changes?

A new study on rats has discovered that obesity may do more than just add fat to your midsection and other body organs.

Terry Davidson, director of American University’s Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, discovered that high saturated fat and refined sugar diets changed the brains of rats, making the rats desire more of the unhealthy products.

“It is a vicious cycle that may explain why obesity is so difficult to overcome,” said Davidson. The research is published in the journal Physiology & Behavior.

Davidson’s research focuses on the hippocampus—the part of the brain responsible for memory and learning.

For the current study, Davidson and his team trained rats given restricted access to low-fat “lab chow” on two problems — one that tested the rats’ hippocampal-dependent learning and memory abilities and one that did not.

Once the training phase completed, the rats were split into two groups: one group had unlimited access to the low-fat lab chow, while the other had unlimited access to high-energy (high-fat/calorie) food.

The high-energy food was high in saturated fat (animal fats, such as those found in cheese or meat or certain plant-based fats, such as cottonseed oil and coconut oil)—considered to be the most unhealthful dietary fat as research has linked it to cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer.

When both groups of rats were presented the problems again, the rats that became obese from the high-energy diet performed much more poorly than the non-obese rats did on the problem designed to test hippocampal-dependent learning and memory.

Researchers also discovered that the obese rats’ blood-brain barriers allowed a much larger amount of a dye that does not freely cross the blood-brain barrier into the hippocampus than did blood-brain barriers of the non-obese rats (the dye was administered to all of the rats).

Interestingly, the non-obese rats group included rats from both the low-fat lab chow group and the high-energy diet group.

However, researchers determined this was not a matter of some rats having a super-high metabolism that allowed them eat to large amounts of the high-energy food and remain a reasonable weight.

“The rats without blood-brain barrier and memory impairment also ate less of the high-energy diet than did our impaired rats,” Davidson said.

“Some rats and some people have a lower preference for high-energy diets. Our results suggest that whatever allows them to eat less and keep the pounds off also helps to keep their brains cognitively healthy.”
The hippocampus is also responsible for suppressing memories.

If Davidson’s findings apply to people, it could be that a diet high in saturated fat and refined sugar impacts the hippocampus’s ability to suppress unwanted thoughts—such as those about high-calorie foods, making it more likely that an obese person will consume those foods and not be able to stop at what would be considered a reasonable serving.

“What I think is happening is a vicious cycle of obesity and cognitive decline,” Davidson said.

“The idea is, you eat the high fat/high calorie diet and it causes you to overeat because this inhibitory system is progressively getting fouled up. And unfortunately, this inhibitory system is also for remembering things and suppressing other kinds of thought interference.”

Davidson’s findings are compatible with other studies finding a link between human obesity in middle age and an increased likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s disease and other cognitive dementias later in life.

“We are trying to figure out that link,” Davidson said.

“We have compelling evidence that overconsumption of a high fat diet damages or alters the blood-brain barrier. Now we are interested in the fact that substances that are not supposed to get to the brain are getting to it because of this breakdown. You start throwing things into the brain that don’t belong there, and it makes sense that brain function would be affected.”

As evidenced by contestants of NBC’s reality show “The Biggest Loser,” formerly obese celebrities who undergo gastric by-pass surgery, and other numerous examples of extreme weight loss, it is possible for obese people to win the battle of the bulge.

Unfortunately, the attempt to keep it off is, more often than not, a lifelong battle that requires permanent lifestyle changes. Davidson says this could be due in part to permanent changes in the brain.

“I do think it [the damage] becomes permanent, but I don’t know at what point it becomes permanent,” Davidson said.

“Other research has found that obese people and formerly obese people have weaker hippocampal activity when consuming food than do people who have never been obese. Just because you lose the weight doesn’t mean you regain the brain function. This could help explain why it is so difficult for formerly obese people to keep the weight off.”

Brain doctor unfairly sacked stages hunger strike in protest at treatment of whistleblowers in the NHS

Dr Narinder Kapur says NHS whistleblowers are treated unfairly

The eminent brain doctor claims the NHS is riddled with 'failures' that endanger patients

He is undertaking a 5-day hunger strike outside Department of Health HQ

A pioneering brain doctor who was unfairly sacked for following his conscience is staging a hunger strike in protest at the 'unfair' treatment of whistleblowers by the NHS.

Dr Narinder Kapur, 62, a world authority on brain behaviour, lost his job at Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge, in 2010.

The former president of the British Neuropsychological Society claimed he was kicked out for blowing the whistle over underqualified and unsupervised staff treating patients at the hospital - a practice he claimed was endangering patients.

Protest: Dr Narinder Kapur is confronted by security staff outside the Department of Health in London.

An employment tribunal went on to rule he had been unfairly dismissed, but he was not reinstated.

The doctor today staged the second day of a five day hunger strike outside the Department of Health head office, to protest his and other colleague's treatment for raising concerns about the health service.

Dr Kapur believes the NHS is rife with 'failures' and feels staff are not treated or managed correctly, which has lead to the mistreatment of patients.

He is calling on the government to impose a complete change to the health service and get rid of a 'dictatorial and secretive' management structure.

Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, where Dr Kapur was dismissed in 2010.

Dr Kapur will camp outside the building in Westminster, London, for the whole week and if he gets moved on he will decamp to the statue of Gandhi, who has inspired him, in Tavistock square.

Dr Kapur said: 'I undertake this five-day hunger-strike with reluctance but with resolve.

'It pains my heart to see how failures in the NHS have contributed directly or indirectly to harming patient care, to a waste of public funds and to distress for NHS staff and their families.

'Over the past two years, I have repeatedly raised my concerns in a wide range of settings - NHS, legal and political - but with no tangible outcome to fix these failures in the NHS.

'I am fortunate that God has given me the strength, knowledge, experience, determination, resources and good health to be able to make a protest in this way.

'I regard it as a moral and ethical responsibility to do what I can to bring about changes in the NHS that will benefit a large number of people.

'I take my inspiration from the actions and words of Mahatma Gandhi, whose birthday is this week on October 2, and who also engaged in peaceful protests that included fasting.'

During Dr Kapur’s tribunal in July the panel ruled the hospital attempted to fast-track his dismissal by rehearsing witnesses after an investigation was launched into his conduct.

Vocal: The doctor next to the sign outlining his grievances with the NHS

The judgement read: 'The principal reason for Dr Kapur’s dismissal was the fact there had been an irredeemable breakdown in trust, confidence and communication between himself on the one hand and a variety of management individuals within the trust organisation.'

However, the tribunal found Dr Kapur, who had clashed with staff over how neuropsychology clinics should be run, was 75 per cent responsible for his own downfall.

As a result, the panel said he would only receive 25 per cent of any compensation and would not return to work at the hospital.

A Department of Health spokesperson said: 'We have taken action to support NHS whistleblowers, including strengthening the NHS constitution and setting up a new helpline to advise staff and help them understand their rights.

'Staff on the frontline know when patient care needs to improve - better support for whistleblowers will help create a culture where staff will be able to raise genuine concerns in good faith, without fear of reprisal.'

Published Study Indicates Effectiveness of Brain Training for Chemobrain

A new clinical study, published in Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, shows that breast cancer survivors who experience "chemobrain"—cognitive problems that arise during and after cancer treatment—may finally have a valid treatment option: computerized brain training. In the study, breast cancer survivors who used a specific set of Posit Science's brain training exercises showed significant improvements in memory, brain speed, anxiety, depression, and health-related quality of life.

"Cancer-related cognitive impairment can inhibit full recovery from cancer," said Diane Von Ah, PhD, RN the study's lead author and assistant professor at the Indiana University School of Nursing and a researcher at the Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center in Indianapolis. "Many breast cancer survivors report difficulty with basic cognitive abilities, like word-finding, memory, and multi-tasking. These problems in turn affect self-confidence, mood, and more. As a result, some cancer survivors have a long road ahead of them even after their cancer is gone. Their cognitive problems make it difficult for them to meet family and work responsibilities and life goals."

Recent research has confirmed that chemobrain, which scientists refer to as "cancer-related cognitive impairment," affects anywhere from 20% to 75% of breast cancer survivors who undergo chemotherapy. Symptoms can last up to ten years after drug or radiation therapies have ceased. Until now, there have been no evidence-based treatment options for this problem.

The results of this study offer hope that this may become the first evidence-based treatment option for breast cancer survivors who report cognitive concerns. "It is exciting that the computerized brain training program improved both memory and information processing speed," Dr. Von Ah said. "Our next step is to conduct a larger study to duplicate our results, especially to see if our results hold in subgroups of breast cancer survivors."

In the study, eighty-two breast cancer survivors took part in a randomized, blinded, controlled trial comparing two types of cognitive training—computerized brain speed training from Posit Science and a classroom memory training course—to a control group that did no cognitive training. Researchers measured cognitive function before, immediately after and two months after completing training. The Posit Science training group showed significant improvements in memory, speed, depression, fatigue, and health-related quality of life, all of which were maintained at the two-month follow-up visit, with anxiety symptoms improving specifically at the follow-up visit. The classroom memory training group showed improvements in self-rated cognitive function, with additional benefits in memory and anxiety documented at the follow-up visit.
"One surprise was how much people liked the brain training exercises," noted Dr. Von Ah. "Often getting patients to use rehab programs that will help them can be difficult due to their busy lifestyles, but people enjoyed the challenge and the interactivity of the exercises."

The Posit Science brain training exercises used in the study focused on processing speed, divided attention, attentional speed, sustained attention, and rapid visual search and memory tasks. They are available online at www.BrainHQ.com. Each exercise uses an intelligent algorithm to constantly adjust, so that each user has a unique journey through the program and experiences maximum benefit. "We're excited that our brain training exercises have been shown to improve cognitive function for people with chemobrain," said renowned neuroscientist, Michael Merzenich, PhD, Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Posit Science and professor emeritus of the University of California San Francisco. "We  believe our cognitive training has the potential to help millions of people think faster, focus better, and remember more, for a better life. This study adds to the scientific and clinical research indicating the effectiveness of our programs for a broad spectrum of the population."

About Posit Science Posit Science is the leading provider of clinically proven brain fitness training. Its exercises, available online at www.BrainHQ.com, have been shown to significantly improve brain speed, attention, memory and numerous standard measures of quality of life in multiple studies published in more than 60 peer-reviewed articles in leading science and medical journals. Three public television documentaries as well as numerous stories on news programs, in national magazines, and in major newspapers have featured Posit Science's work. The company's science team is led by renowned neuroscientist Michael Merzenich, PhD.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/01/4870089/published-study-indicates-effectiveness.html#storylink=cpy

'Green Brain' project to create an autonomous flying robot with a honey bee brain

Scientists at the Universities of Sheffield and Sussex are embarking on an ambitious project to produce the first accurate computer models of a honey bee brain in a bid to advance our understanding of Artificial Intelligence (AI), and how animals think. The team will build models of the systems in the brain that govern a honey bee's vision and sense of smell. Using this information, the researchers aim to create the first flying robot able to sense and act as autonomously as a bee, rather than just carry out a pre-programmed set of instructions.

If successful, this project will meet one of the major challenges of modern science: building a robot brain that can perform complex tasks as well as the brain of an animal. Tasks the robot will be expected to perform, for example, will include finding the source of particular odours or gases in the same way that a bee can identify particular flowers.

It is anticipated that the artificial brain could eventually be used in applications such as search and rescue missions, or even mechanical pollination of crops.

Dr James Marshall, leading the £1 million EPSRC1 funded project in Sheffield, said: "The development of an artificial brain is one of the greatest challenges in Artificial Intelligence. So far, researchers have typically studied brains such as those of rats, monkeys, and humans, but actually 'simpler' organisms such as social insects have surprisingly advanced cognitive abilities."

Called "Green Brain," and partially supported with hardware donated by NVIDIA Corporation, the project invites comparison with the IBM-sponsored Blue Brain initiative, which is developing brain modeling technologies using supercomputers with the ultimate goal of producing an accurate model of a human brain.

The hardware provided by NVIDIA is based on high-performance processors called "GPU accelerators" that generate the 3D graphics on home PCs and games consoles and power some of the world's highest-performance supercomputers. These accelerators provide a very efficient way of performing the massive calculations needed to simulate a brain using a standard desktop PC -- rather than on a large, expensive supercomputing cluster.

"Using NVIDIA's massively parallel GPU accelerators for brain models is an important goal of the project as they allow us to build faster models than ever before," explained Dr Thomas Nowotny, the leader of the Sussex team. "We expect that in many areas of science this technology will eventually replace the classic supercomputers we use today."

Green Brain's researchers anticipate that developing a model of a honey bee brain will offer a more accessible method of driving forward our knowledge of how a brain's cognitive systems work, leading to advances in understanding animal and human cognition. "Because the honey bee brain is smaller and more accessible than any vertebrate brain, we hope to eventually be able to produce an accurate and complete model that we can test within a flying robot," said Dr Marshall.

"Not only will this pave the way for many future advances in autonomous flying robots, but we also believe the computer modelling techniques we will be using will be widely useful to other brain modelling and computational neuroscience projects," added Dr Nowotny.

Alongside this, the research is expected to provide a greater understanding of the honey bee itself. Because of their role as pollinators, honey bees are vital to many ecosystems, yet their declining population in recent years has given scientists cause for concern. Green Brain's modelling could help scientists to understand why honey bee numbers are dwindling and also contribute to the development of artificial pollinators, such as those being researched by the National Science Foundation-funded Robobees project, led by Harvard University.

Could hypnosis help you? Yes, if you have the brain for it

Hypnosis can ease intractable pain, help a patient recast the experience of trauma and rethink phobias and anxieties. But can it work for you?

Hypnosis has come a long way since the swinging pocket watch -- proving useful for pain control, management of phobia and anxiety, in the treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, and as a supplement to analgesia during medical procedures.

But hypnosis is not for everybody. Or, more to the point, everybody is not equally amenable to the the technique's mental magic, which can help a person experience imagined sensations or movements or not feel sensations -- such as intractable pain -- that are all too real. A new study uses brain scanners to distinguish between people who've got a knack for the technique and those whose grip on reality is just too tight for them to benefit much from hypnosis.

The research, published Monday in the Archives of General Psychiatry, proceeds from a widely observed phenomenon: that some people are readily and fully hypnotizable while others are not. Researchers from Stanford University put 12 subjects already identified as highly hynotizable into brain scanners that measured the structure of their brains and watched them at rest and at work. Twelve other subjects who were not readily hypnotized were put through the same battery of scans for comparison.

The researchers found no differences between the typical structures of the two groups' brains: They were similarly sized, had about the same ratio of gray matter to white matter, their component parts looked pretty much the same. But when the researchers looked at the subjects' brains at rest, they noticed that the brains of the "high-hypnotizeable" group behaved a bit differently than those of the "low-hypnotizeable" group.

Specifically, the researchers found differences in the two groups' "Default Mode Network," the complex of brain regions that hums along when a person is not engaged in a specific cognitive task such as reading or navigating an unfamiliar road.
When the Default Mode Network is engaged, a person's mind is wandering, although for most, it seldom wanders far from oneself. Autobiographical memories, feelings, one's relationships with others, how others behave toward or perceive oneself: These are largely the grist for the Default Mode Network's mill, and the brain regions that come to life in these moments are largely associated with these functions.

For that reason, the Default Mode Network is widely thought of as the seat of "the self" in the human brain.

But for the highly hypnotizable, a brain structure associated with purposeful attentional control -- the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex -- is activated alongside the Default Mode Network when the mind is at rest. This would suggest that the highly hynotizable have a tighter coordination between brain areas where attention, emotion, action and intention are processed, wrote the authors of the study. And it means that for the highly hynotizable, there's something about the self -- or the self's sensations -- that can be modified by purposeful attention.

To Stanford University psychiatrist David Spiegel, one of the study's co-authors, the differences seen between the two groups on brain scan appear to confirm the impressions of practitioners like him: The highly hynotizable are people who can readily immerse themselves in thinking about things without having their attention interrupted by pesky reminders of reality or of competing cognitive demands. They can harness their minds to imagine something about themselves -- and make it so.

In everyday life, says Dr. Spiegel, these high-hypnotizable people are notably different than their less hynotizable peers: "They get sidetracked by sunsets and lost in movies; they tend to show up three hours late for things because they lost track of time," Spiegel says. By contrast, he adds, those who are resistant to hypnosis don't suspend judgment easily, tend to be more fastidious in their habits and less trusting of people.

Will physicians and mental health professionals who use hypnosis to help their patients start giving them brain scans to see if it'll work? No, says Spiegel. But they'll probably trust their instincts in assessing patients who could benefit from hypnosis, he said. And they'll understand just a little bit better why it works -- for some -- as well as it does.

An app lets users study Einstein’s brain; magazine explores longevity research

Associated Press/Associated Press - A new iPad app allows users to see Albert Einstein's brain as if they were looking at slides of it through a microscope.

In 1955, just after Albert Einstein died, Princeton Hospital pathologist Thomas Harvey removed the famous physicist’s brain during an autopsy, sliced it up into roughly 170 parts, plunked them in formaldehyde and mounted them on slides, thus preserving the organ for posterity. Since then, some of those slices have been scanned and digitized to allow for easier access by researchers. Now everyone with an iPad can draw their own conclusions. Last week, Apple released an app, NMHMC Harvey, that allows users to check out all of the slides that have been digitized so far; more are on the way. (Profits from the sale of the app, which costs $9.99, will go to the National Museum of Health and Medicine in Silver Spring and its satellite in Chicago.)

The app allows users to select slides from different sections of Einstein’s brain and zoom in to examine them at a microscopic level. What’s there to see? To a layperson’s eye, it may just look like a whole bunch of gray matter, but it is a chance to get an up-close look at an important if slightly gross piece of history.

Playing with genes
Forever young
Discover, October edition
In this month’s issue of Discover, Harvard genetics professor George Church and science writer Ed Regis propose methods that scientists might use to increase our life span by tweaking the human genome. Among them: cloning stem cells and using them to regenerate organs as they wear out, and reprogramming viruses so that they smuggle beneficial genetic information into our cells. “Ultimately, synthetic biology could free us from obsolete limits set by evolution,” they write. “We could repair damaged tissue and direct growth of new tissue to create built-in body and brain parts that could interface with electronic devices.” And what to do when the world becomes crowded with an emerging population of semi-immortal beings? Don’t worry about it. “The vision of a nearly immortal populace squelching the job prospects of youth is reminiscent of 19th-century Luddite concerns about machines taking over jobs for humans,” the authors explain in the article, which is adapted from their book “Regenesis,” to be published next month. “The likelier scenario is a population implosion marked by increasing numbers of older, healthier citizens, and more women in positions of power, a situation that could be beneficial for child rearing, philanthropy, diplomacy, and other aspects of our civilized life.”

Your brain on ArtPrize

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WZZM) - Looking at art and appreciating its beauty and creativity is one of the most fundamental functions our brains were designed to do. 

In fact, for nearly 40,000 years humans have had a desire to express themselves through art and it is that same part of the brain that created these cave paintings that we use today to create and appreciate art.

"As art comes up through the brain it comes up as a stimulus through these nerves that we have, it's going to connect to our memory systems which is going to connect to our hippocampus then eventually once we get through all these layers in the brain itself and understood." Dr. Michael Wolff is a neuropsychologist with the Grand Rapids based BRAINS. 

He says he's not surprised by the entries that made it into the ArtPrize Top Ten, "Some of them involved movement like the ones with the butterflies and the hanging and they light up and there is sound and movement to it and it illuminates many of the senses. There's definitely a connection to most of those pieces they either have a direct color, a touch, a sense of light to them." 

The first area of the brain to react is the nucleus accumbens, or the pleasure center, then it moves to the orbital frontal cortex where you decide if you like they art before moving on to the memory area where you try to related to the art based on your life experience. 

"I think that the connection with a lot of these artists from the top 25 and the top 10 were able to bring in both senses with illuminate the brain with a sense of connection to the world." Wolff says that stimulation helps to increase in the production of dopamine, "Dopamine is one of those chemicals that works in the brain to provide a sense of pleasure and that sense of fitting in and that positive mood state." 

Dr. Wolff ads that those who are have a talent for creating art have a more highly developed right side of the brain where creativity thrives. But we all have an ability to appreciate and decide what makes art beautiful to us.

Obese brain may 'thwart weight loss plans'

Obesity resulting from high-fat and high-sugar foods may impair brain and fuel overeating, researchers say.
According to the new research by Terry Davidson, director of American University's Center for Behavioral Neuroscience, diets that lead to obesity may cause changes to the brains of obese people that in turn may fuel overconsumption of those same foods and make weight loss more challenging.

"It is a vicious cycle that may explain why obesity is so difficult to overcome," Davidson said.

Davidson focuses his research on the hippocampus - the part of the brain responsible for memory and learning.

For this study, Davidson and his team trained rats given restricted access to low-fat "lab chow" on two problems - one that tested the rats' hippocampal-dependent learning and memory abilities and one that did not.

Once the training phase completed, the rats were split into two groups - one group had unlimited access to the low-fat lab chow and another had unlimited access to high-energy food.

The high-energy food was high in saturated fat, which is considered to be the unhealthiest dietary fat as research has linked it to cardiovascular disease and certain types of cancer.

When both groups of rats were presented the problems again, the rats that became obese from the high-energy diet performed much more poorly than the non-obese rats did on the problem designed to test hippocampal-dependent learning and memory.

They tested the same as the non-obese rats on the other problem.

When the researchers later examined all of the rats' blood-brain barriers, they found that the obese rats' blood-brain barriers had become impaired as they allowed a much larger amount of a dye that does not freely cross the blood-brain barrier into the hippocampus than did blood-brain barriers of the non-obese rats.

Interestingly, the non-obese rats group included rats from both the low-fat lab chow group and the high-energy diet group. But this isn't a matter of some rats having a super-high metabolism that allowed them eat to large amounts of the high-energy food and remain a reasonable weight.

"The rats without blood-brain barrier and memory impairment also ate less of the high-energy diet than did our impaired rats," Davidson said.

"Some rats and some people have a lower preference for high-energy diets. Our results suggest that whatever allows them to eat less and keep the pounds off also helps to keep their brains cognitively healthy," Davidson added.