Message: Meditation can prevent brain cortex loss
Magnetic resonance imaging to assess cortical thickness revealed that brain areas—such as the prefrontal cortex involved with memory, attention, and sensory processing—were approximately 5 percent thicker in the subjects who meditated compared with those who did not. This difference was most pronounced in older participants, suggesting that meditation might offset agerelated cortical thinning.
Source: Neuroreport 2005;16:1893–1897
Out of all nutrients known for their effects on brain functions, two groups are assumed being of particular importance for the process of learning therefore being of even more importance for children with learning disabilities. Here is what they are and why.
The process of learning is believed to rely on mechanisms providing contacts between brain cells called, as you know, neurons. These contacts take place in highly specialised tiny places where two neurons physically contact each other called synapses. One of the neurons initiates the contact by releasing a chemical substance, called neurotransmitter, into the narrow cleft separating pre-synapse from post-synapse.
As soon as the neuron-recipient feels this substance, it gets all excited and became electrically active. The more often the contact the easier the recipient gets excited. Under one important condition: if there’s enough of the substance-neurotransmitter. More synapses involved mean a higher probability of newly formed communication pathways – “learned” ones. There are enzymes and their helpers co-enzymes that work facilitating the production of neurotransmitters. Many vitamins are involved in enzymes’ work. The good example of co-enzymes is the well-known supplement co-enzyme Q10.
Another way to help the process of learning is to supply the brain with neuronal metabolites that promote neuronal growth and activity and enrich the brain architecture.
This is the list of nutrients, which were under investigation whether they work for children with learning disabilities (Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, 2000, 6(3): 85-91):
1. Magnesium Chelate 100 mg (at bedtime since it causes drowsiness)
2. Pure Vitamin C 100 mg (bioflavanoids were excluded due to their adverse effects on learning disabilities)
3. Vitamin B1 Thiamine 50 mg
4. Vitamin B3 Niacinamide 50 mg
5. Vitamin B6 Pyridoxine 100 mg
6. Vitamin B12 500 mcg
7. Folic Acid 400 mcg
8. Manganese Chelate 20 mg
9. Zinc Chelate22.5 mg
10. L-tyrosine 500 mg
11. L-glutamine 500 mg
12. Linoleic Acid as evening primrose oil 500 mg
13. Co-enzyme Q10 10 mg
These nutrients were tested on a group of 19 children with learning disabilities for 4 years resulting in dramatic improvement in behavior and academic grades. All the participating children were able to join the mainstream school classes. Those who discontinued the program remained in normal range of school performance for almost one year, however their grades were gradually decreasing. Those who stayed on the program, continued improving their grades during this year so that in the end of the year 4, the difference in overage grades became very significant: 94.6 in those remaining versus 79 in those who discontinued.
Out of the nutrients on the list, the most prominent effect had magesium, vitamins B1 and B6, Zn, and folic acid, followed by vitamin C, L-glutamine, and primrose oil. Manganese was found to have mild adverse effects.
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Historically, the teachers, researchers and caregivers of mentally retarded children and adults paid their attention to intellectual development, while the role of physical fitness stayed uncertain. The interest in recreation activity has been increased in 1990s however, the practitioners are still reluctant to use fitness programs in their students’ curricula, although motor skills development had been emphasized.
Researchers Drs Cabler-Halle, James W. Halle, and Barry Chung at the University of Illinois in their review tried to find causal relationships between aerobic fitness and improvements in mental, emotional, ans social scores of retarded children and adults.
They examines (1) the effects of aerobic exercise on intellectual, behavioral, and self-conceptual changes in persons with mental retardation and comcludes that in spite of many methodical flaus and insufficiant statistical data, a clear effect of improvement was observed — often immediately — after aerovic exercising for as little as 10 minutes or as long as 2 hours. Few data have been reported positive effects of aerobic exercise on IQ scores. It’s been suggested (2) that children with developmental delays are more sensitive to the effects of interventions designed to affect mental function than individuals who are not developmentally delayed
The authors concluded “Perhaps physical fitness programming for those with developmenral disabilities would have wider appeal and application if it were embedded in the bTOadeT contexl of psychological and behavioral change (i.e., engagement in exercise produces generalized changes beyond direct improvement in physical well-being).”
Sources:
1. Res Devel Disabil Vol. 14, pp. 359-386, 1993
2. Educ Psychol Rev (2008) 20:111–131
