Brain Fitness:
Critical to Stroke Recovery Plans
By Kathryn Arbour

The word is definitely out about plasticity of the human brain. While neuroscientists long suspected the brain’s ability to change throughout life and in response to trauma, proving it took some time.

In the past two decades, especially with the use of brain scanning technology, scientists have demonstrated how the human brain can reorganize itself by forming new connections between neurons, or brain cells.

The number and quality of these connections or synapses tells a lot about the health of the brain. A focus on brain fitness has steadily grown along side this research. Just as incorporating physical fitness into a daily routine can ward off the natural effects of aging and promote healing when something goes awry in the human body, so, too, does a regime of brain fitness play a role in fending off some of what happens naturally as we grow older. More and more studies show, too, that adopting a brain fitness regimen will enhance recovery for many stroke survivors. http://stroke.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/31/1/223

In order to strengthen or recreate the brain’s pathways, or connections, the brain must produce certain natural chemicals. The production of these neurotransmitters happens through a nearly infinite number of ways. Here are a few to incorporate into daily life:

• Learning new things. The subject is not as important as is the fact that the learning is in areas previously unknown or in which the person is not already an expert. Learning a new language; playing chess or bridge, which involve responses to unique moves; taking up an instrument, or a new one if music is already part of a daily practice offer ways to expand the brain’s plasticity.
• Changing routine. Damage from stroke can often affect mobility on one side of the body. The challenge to learn how to do day-to-day activities again using the other hand, for example, stimulates production of new neural connections. Walking or driving to work a different way; experimenting with new foods, clothing, hobbies; choosing new topics to discuss, new books to read, new people to meet, all of these simple shifts of routine cause the brain to change and grow.
• Paying attention to the details. It is easy with busy lives to lose focus. Recovering from a stroke requires attention, will, determination. This very act of paying attention stimulates production of brain chemicals essential to creating and recreating synapses. Cooking provides opportunities for brain fitness, too. Finding tools to help if the person has use only of one hand, or if memory is affected by the stroke. Paying attention to the texture, scent and taste of individual spices and herbs is an exercise anyone can do easily at home. Eating more slowly and letting food linger in the mouth a bit to savor the flavors and textures also enhances the brain’s growth. This exercise is especially fun to do tasting a piece of dark chocolate. Lowering the volume on the TV can also be a stimulating exercise for the brain as it forces more attentive listening and focusing.

Wild Salmon
Chocolate
Green Tea
Acai & Blueberries
Coffee

Source: BrainReady.com

Berries
Cherries
Apples
Curry
Eggs
Sardines
Oysters
Cocoa (chocolate)

Source: by Pamela Harding;
beliefnet.com

• Testing the memory. Humans develop bad habits that sometimes lead to “negative” plasticity in the brain, jeopardizing the development of new neural connections. Rather than trying to remember the grocery list, for example, many write it down and carry with them to the store. There are dozens of free exercises both online and in print that teach tips for memorization. After a day at a museum or shopping, for instance, write down everything remembered once home again. The action of writing (or telling someone) in detail reinforces the action and pushes the brain to remember even the smallest of details. Doing this type of exercise repeatedly will create a bigger attention span and with that comes those much needed brain chemicals.
• Choosing foods wisely. Dark chocolate, mentioned above, is considered a health food when taken in moderation. As an anti-oxidant, dark chocolate, along with dozens of other foods, such as berries, dark, leafy vegetables, certain fish, and nuts, help clear the body of “free radicals” which damage cell structure. These foods also help lower blood pressure and cholesterol, indicators that people recovering from stroke especially need to pay attention to.
• Exercising regularly. More and more studies show the impact of getting physical fit on the brain is nearly as powerful as it is on the body. A number of studies specifically with stroke survivors show that when the level of exercise intensifies, such as on a treadmill, the overall effects are greater than with slower types of movement. It may take time to build up to that capacity, but using a steady and deliberate approach to increasing levels of exercise has a positive effect on the brain’s plasticity.
• Staying alert to new products and ideas for developing plasticity. With the increase of computer-based brain fitness programs, research shows that stroke survivors respond well to this type of brain training. Certain software programs respond to the individual’s level of learning and adjust the “threshold” of learning, continually challenging the person with new and more difficult exercises that cause the brain to develop new connections. Researching or asking a trusted friend or family member to help find these tools represents yet another activity to enhance brain fitness.

Possibilities abound in our everyday life, regardless of the challenges that may also exist in great number. While advances continue in brain research, the evidence is already overwhelmingly on the side of the importance of brain fitness. For stroke survivors the dividends of combining physical training with a brain fitness regimen can pay off by advancing progress on the road to recovery.

Read more at www.positscience.com and www.sharpbrains.com.

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Kathryn Arbour, Ph.D., writes on topics of wellness, mobility, independence and aging at Examiner.com and in several other syndicated online venues. Kathryn previously owned and operated Capabilities, a retail store with products for mobility, comfort and caregiving.