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Coping mechanisms vary from person to person. Panic attacks are intense manifestations of anxiety, striking unexpectedly and leaving individuals feeling utterly helpless. In most circumstances, panic attacks are petrifying, making you feel as though you're having a heart attack and, even more so, like you're dying. Despite the terror associated with these episodes, it is crucial to remain calm, assess your situation, identify triggers, and distance yourself from stressors. It's important to recognize that managing panic attacks is indeed possible, even if you feel like it’s the end of the world. In this blog post, we will delve into the nature of panic attacks, explore common triggers, and discuss practical strategies for coping and overcoming these intense anxiety episodes.

What Is a Panic Attack and What Are Its Symptoms?

According to the Mayo Clinic, a panic attack is a sudden onset of intense fear or discomfort that peaks within minutes and triggers severe physical reactions when there is no real danger or apparent cause. While the actual attack may last only a few minutes to half an hour, the lingering physical and emotional effects may persist for several hours. Although panic attacks do not pose a direct threat to life, the subjective experience during an episode can be overwhelming, creating an intense perception of a life-altering crisis. The emotional intensity during a panic attack can lead individuals to feel as though they are facing an imminent catastrophe. Despite not being inherently life-threatening, these episodes can significantly impact one's overall well-being and disrupt the quality of life.

Panic attacks are characterized by a combination of physical and psychological symptoms, including but not limited to:

1. Rapid heart rate

2. Shortness of breath

3. Sweating

4. Chills

5. Hot flushes

6. Trembling or shaking

7. Chest pain or discomfort

8. Nausea or abdominal distress

9. Feeling lightheaded or dizzy

10. Feeling of collapsing

11. Fear of losing control or going crazy

12. Fear of dying

13. Numbness or tingling sensations

The challenge with panic attacks is the fear of experiencing another one. Once you overcome one episode, the next concern in your mind is when the next panic attack will occur. This cycle of fear can significantly impact your daily life, limiting your activities and choices to avoid potential triggers. Your anxiety may become so pronounced that it leads to avoidance behaviors, where you intentionally steer clear of specific situations or environments where you believe a panic attack might occur. This avoidance behavior is a common coping mechanism, driven by the desire to prevent the distressing and incapacitating effects of panic attacks. However, it's essential to recognize that avoidance can perpetuate a series of anxieties and hinder long-term recovery.

Seeking treatment for panic attacks is highly beneficial. Various therapeutic approaches, such as counseling, cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), or medication, can prove effective in managing and mitigating the impact of panic attacks. Through proper treatment, you can gain valuable tools and coping strategies to alleviate the fear and enhance your overall mental health, fostering a more balanced and fulfilling life, and gradually reclaiming control over your life.

5 Ways to Overcome Panic Attacks

Some individuals find relief from panic attacks through the use of prescribed medications. However, if you find yourself without immediate access to psychological assistance and need to navigate through panic attacks on your own, consider following the steps outlined below to overcome these episodes.

1. Divert your mind: As easy as it sounds, it’s difficult when you are in the middle of a panic attack. The key challenge lies in the fact that, with panic attacks, any physical sensation can swiftly capture your attention, causing your mind to intensify the experience and triggering additional physiological reactions. When you sense the onset of a panic attack, the initial step is to redirect your focus as quickly as possible. Engage your mind with positive and calming thoughts to help alleviate the intensity of the situation.

2. Remove yourself from the environment: Panic attacks can occur unexpectedly in various places. If you find yourself in a specific situation where panic sets in, it's crucial to swiftly distance yourself. For instance, imagine you're at the grocery store, and suddenly you start feeling lightheaded with a rush of heat. In such a scenario, leave your shopping cart behind, find a quiet place to sit, and regain your composure. If possible, consider heading home. Taking these steps is essential to manage the immediate effects of a panic attack and ensure your well-being.

3. Smell essential oils. Many individuals link the scent of essential oils to a state of relaxation. Smell an essential oil that personally brings you a sense of calm during panic attacks. Engage in aromatherapy by using essential oils to harness their potential calming effects. Many people find certain scents, such as lavender or chamomile, to be associated with relaxation and stress relief.

4. Engage in deep breathing. In circumstances where escape is not possible, consider practicing deep breathing. Practice slow, deep breathing to help regulate and calm your nervous system. Inhale deeply through your nose, pause for a few seconds, and then exhale slowly through your mouth. This intentional breathing pattern helps regulate the respiratory system, promotes relaxation, and can be an effective tool for calming the body's response to stress and anxiety during a panic attack.

5. Grounding techniques. Engage all your senses—observe your surroundings, listen to the sounds, feel the textures, notice any scents, and even taste something if possible. List three things you can see, three things you can hear, three things you can smell, three things you can touch, and three things you can taste. This method serves as a grounding technique, connecting you to the present reality.

What are the common triggers that cause panic attacks?

Recognizing the triggers behind your panic attacks is vital for creating effective coping strategies. Explore the environments, thoughts, or experiences preceding these episodes to gain valuable insights into the root causes of your anxiety, which can range from work pressure and relationship challenges to traumatic memories or specific phobias. Once you identify these triggers, you can develop personalized strategies to address the specific sources of your anxiety. Understanding your triggers is a key step in breaking the cycle of panic attacks, enabling you to anticipate and prepare for potential stressors. This proactive approach shifts your focus from mere reaction to thoughtful prevention and control. While triggers can vary from person to person, some common factors include:

1. Overthinking: Excessive thinking often leads to heightened anxiety. Sometimes, there may not be a clear reason or external event causing this, but your mind becomes engrossed in extensive overthinking. In such instances, your thoughts can dominate, causing various worries even in peaceful situations. Overthinking, when your mind races without a clear cause, can intensify feelings of anxiety. It's crucial to manage and alter your thoughts to promote a calmer and more relaxed state of mind.

2. Stress: High levels of stress, whether from work, relationships, or challenging life circumstances, can increase the likelihood of experiencing panic attacks. When you're dealing with significant stress, both your body and mind may react in a manner that triggers intense episodes of anxiety. It's crucial to discover effective ways to handle and diminish stress to reduce the risk of panic attacks. Prioritizing your well-being and adopting healthy coping mechanisms for stress can significantly impact your overall emotional state and improve how you feel.

3. Phobias: Individuals with specific phobias may experience panic attacks when exposed to their feared object or situation. If you're really scared of something specific, you might have panic attacks when you encounter that thing or situation that scares you a lot. For instance, if you're terrified of heights, you might experience a panic attack when you have to be up high or even think about it. Facing what scares you can bring about a sudden and intense bout of anxiety.

4. Trauma: Experiencing distressing events in the past can increase the likelihood of you having panic attacks. This is particularly evident when dealing with a condition known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), where past events can cause significant anxiety and contribute to the occurrence of panic attacks.

5. Medical Conditions: Certain physical issues, such as problems with your thyroid or heart, can increase the likelihood of experiencing panic attacks. It's not solely a mental matter – specific medical conditions can contribute to heightened feelings of anxiety.

In essence, the process of understanding triggers is not only about recognizing external factors but also involves self-examination to identify internal thoughts and patterns that contribute to heightened anxiety. Armed with this knowledge, you can tailor your coping mechanisms to address both the external and internal aspects of their triggers, nurturing a more effective approach to managing your panic attacks.

Few people had probably heard of frontotemporal dementia until earlier this year, when the family of actor Bruce Willis announced the 68-year-old had been diagnosed with the condition.

Frontotemporal dementia is a rare disease – thought to account for only one in every 20 cases of dementia. Symptoms usually develop in a person’s late 50s, first affecting their behaviour, personality and language ability. Unlike other forms of dementia, memory only becomes impaired in the late stages of the disease.

People diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia usually die within eight years of their diagnosis. While around 30% of cases are inherited, the cause of frontotemporal dementia is largely unknown. This also means there are no cures available or treatments to slow its progression.

But recent research I have published with colleagues at Lund University may have brought us one step closer in our understanding of how frontotemporal dementia develops and progresses. We discovered that the way your brain looks may determine your resilience to the condition.

Brain folds

During pregnancy, as a foetus’s brain grows within the womb, it develops its distinctive folds while expanding within the skull. These brain folds play an important role in our later cognitive function.

The folds that form early in foetal development are found in both sides of the brain in every person. But there’s one fold that sometimes develops later on in the process. It’s called the paracingulate sulcus – and not everyone has it. In those that do have it, it can either be present on just one side of the brain or both sides.

The paracingulate sulcus is interesting, as its presence can make a significant difference to cognitive ability. For example, research has shown that people with a left but not a right paracingulate sulcus have a cognitive advantage – performing better on tasks involving control and even memory.

Given the link between the paracingulate sulcus and cognitive function, our research team at Lund University – alongside colleagues in the US and Amsterdam – began studying this brain fold’s role in dementia.

To really understand what role the paracingulate sulcus plays, the team decided to focus on a type of dementia where brain damage occurs in the same region as this brain fold. The obvious choice for this research was frontotemporal dementia. This aggressive form of early-onset dementia primarily attacks the frontal lobes of the brain – particularly the central portions surrounding the paracingulate sulcus.

Our team studied MRI brain images of 186 people who had been diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia. We excluded participants who had frontotemporal dementia with a genetic cause. Around 57% of participants had a paracingulate sulcus on the right side of their brain.

We discovered that in participants who had this extra fold on the right side of their brain, their dementia symptoms began on average two and a half years later. This might mean that the paracingulate sulcus may delay the onset of symptoms. These findings were statistically significant – showing they weren’t due to chance or other factors.

This two-and-a-half-year delay in symptoms may not sound like much, but considering the poor prognosis of the condition and the burden of symptoms, this is an extremely meaningful amount of time for patients and their relatives.

Cognitive reserve

That said, after the symptoms do begin, patients with this extra brain fold became sicker at a faster rate and survived for a shorter length of time than patients who do not have the fold. So despite the delay in symptoms, patients with and without this extra brain fold still died at a similar age.

Although it may sound strange that a factor can both delay symptoms and later speed them up, this paradox is a key feature of a principle referred to in neuroscience as “brain reserve”. Brain reserve describes a structure in the brain which provides resilience to a disease before symptoms develop.

Critically, there becomes a point at which the disease overcomes these protective mechanisms, and the patient develops symptoms. After this critical point, people with high brain reserve decline rapidly – faster than people with low brain reserve.

For example, high brain reserve explains why Alzheimer’s disease starts later in highly educated people – though the disease progresses faster for them when symptoms start. According to our research, the paracingulate sulcus operates by a similar principle – first protecting people from symptoms, then progressing rapidly when symptoms do start.

Our research is the first to identify a protective structure in the brain which delays the onset of symptoms in people with frontotemporal dementia. If we can now uncover a way of preserving this protective quality, it could lead to the development of treatments which can help keep symptoms – and the disease – at bay.

– Luke Harper is a Neuroscience PhD student at Lund University, Sweden. His research focus is on the identification of brain reserve factors in frontotemporal dementia. He also works as a Consultant Neurologist at Malmö University Hospital, Sweden with a interest in Multiple sclerosis and associated diseases. This article was originally published on The Conversation.

To Learn More:

• Deep learning model built on neuroimaging data identifies “Brain Age Gaps” as markers of Alzheimer’s disease (AD)
• Study: Building cognitive reserve helps delay memory and thinking decline regardless of genetic or childhood markers

The post Study identifies protective brain structure that delays the onset of frontotemporal dementia symptoms over 2 years appeared first on SharpBrains.

Q: What is a sure way of sustaining a friendly and sociable feeling towards the whole world?
A: Consort only with strangers.

Q: What beats regretting what you DID say?
A: Treasuring what you DIDN’T say.

Q: What’s far more harmful to your health than NOT keeping up with the news?
A: Keeping up with the news and discussing the latest over Thanksgiving dinner.

Q: What is the most impenetrably foolproof camouflage of all on this planet?
A: The human smile.

Q: What does “you must come and visit us sometime” actually mean?
A: Nothing at all. However, if you take it seriously, be ready for the “what are YOU doing here?” welcome!

Enjoy Thanksgiving and all Holidays!

– Keith Perreur-Lloyd is an Anglo-French composer and musician currently living in Spain. You can learn more about his classical compositions here.

More fun ways to challenge your brain and mind:

• Nine great riddles about Life and Death
• 25 fun Brain Teasers and Illusions for  adults of any age
• What are cognitive abilities and how to boost them?

The post Five sharp riddles to celebrate the Holidays in perfect harmony appeared first on SharpBrains.

As is true for children and adolescents, many adults experience substantial challenges related to having ADHD. These challenges often include relationship problems, educational and work challenges, difficulty adhering to long-term plans and goals, and time and money management difficulties.

Given these well-documented difficulties, it is not surprising that ADHD treatment with adults has largely adopted a deficit model that emphasizes reducing the symptoms and impairments associated with the condition.

While these are important treatment goals, and the focus of much treatment research, little attention has been given to positive aspects of ADHD that some may experience. Attending to this is important, as it could reduce stigma, provide ideas about a strength-based approached to treatment, and perhaps contribute to reducing the demoralization that some adults with ADHD experience.

A study published recently in BMJ Open, titled Silver linings of ADHD: a thematic analysis of adults’ positive experiences with living with ADHD, provides interesting new information on the positive features of ADHD that some adults report.

Participants were 50 adults in Norway–nearly 90% were women; media age = 34 years–with self-reported ADHD who were participating in a study of a new online, self-directed treatment for ADHD in adults (study summary here).

During the study, participants were asked to describe what they experienced as “positive aspects of having ADHD” and four thematic categories emerged from their responses.

1) Recognizing the dual impact of some ADHD characteristics:

Many participants stated that core ADHD characteristics like hyperactivity and impulsivity could be experienced as positive features. Below are some relevant quotes:

“I am active. I am often able to do a lot in a short period of time and then I get to expedience more.”

“If it is something I really like, I have better endurance than others. I can work on something I enjoy forever without stopping.”

“I am spontaneous/impulsive. I can easily just ‘jump into it’ and that has given me a lot of great experiences.”

Hyperfocusing was also commonly mentioned as an ADHD advantage, albeit with some important caveats.

“I think my ADHD has helped me throughout the exam period. If it had not been for a kind of hyperfocus, it would not have worked. But then again, I might not have postponed the reading for as long as I did if I didn’t have ADHD.”

“The only positive is hyperfocus on tasks that are really exciting, but for ADHD to be considered positive in this setting, the task has to be something useful, such as school or work.”

It is noteworthy that only a single participant noted any positive aspect of their inattentive symptoms.

2) Unconventional thinking:

Unconventional thinking and behavior were also commonly noted as positive aspects of ADHD. These included being creative, having novel ideas, seeing things from a different perspective than others, and being good at finding solutions. Participants also emphasized, however, that the social context and expectations of others could be an obstacle for utilizing these strengths. Quotes related to this theme are shown below.

“I am creative and solution-oriented and very passionate about the things that I am interested in.”

“I enjoy trying new things, and if I do not get it right the first time, I will examine the possibility of trying a simpler method.”

“I am pretty forward, and I am not afraid to take up space when I need a bit of attention. I know a lot of people and that is probably because I am not scared to say hi to new people.”

3) ADHD & the pursuit of new experiences:

Participants felt that having ADHD contributed to their being adventurous and seeking out novel experiences; this contributed to feelings of being courageous. Here are some relevant quotes:

“I seek new environments where I can learn new things”

“I enjoy trying new things, and if I do not get it right the first time, I will examine the possibility of trying a simpler method.”

“I have experienced things that only would have happened by taking a risk ”

4) Building resilience and personal growth:

Especially powerful was the sense that although having ADHD was challenging, efforts to cope with these challenges also contributed to their resilience and personal growth. This theme is clearly expressed in the quotes below.

“Being diagnosed with ADHD made me learn a lot about myself. Things I perhaps have been annoyed about, I can now accept and think that it is not ‘my fault’ in a way.”

“I am better at handling resistance or challenges now, because I have learned to handle such challenges, it is part of life to have ups and downs.”

“I discovered that I have ADHD in adulthood, so I lived most of my life in the belief that I am like everyone else. I have had high expectations to myself, compared myself to others, and achieved a lot (…) So when I found out about my challenges, it all became like a piece of cake. I could with good reasons lower the expectations to myself and finally rest with a clear conscience.”

One participant who worked as a teacher felt that “I notice that I can meet children with ADHD with more understanding, so they feel safe with me quickly, and I know I can help them in challenging situations, or prepare them a bit extra, so that they are able to get through their school day.”

Summary and implications:

This interesting qualitative study exploring adults’ experience of the positive aspects of having ADHD offers an important perspective on the disorder. While clearly acknowledging that ADHD created challenges for them, their perception that ADHD also made positive contributions to their lives is an important counterweight to focusing solely on deficits.

One implication of these findings is that the assessment and treatment of ADHD in adults should include an exploration of any strengths and resources that individuals feel ADHD has contributed to. This is consistent with the view that the most effective psychotherapy will include a focus on clients’ strengths and resilience in addition to ameliorating symptoms and deficits.

As the authors note, “by putting an emphasis on the full range of experiences related to ADHD, both good and bad, one might be able to offer treatment interventions more in line with the needs of adults with ADHD, which may be favorable for treatment engagement and clinical outcomes. For instance, therapist could help adults with ADHD to identify strengths, which may be beneficial for self-esteem and self-efficacy.”

Within cognitive-behavioral therapy, one could also use positive experiences with ADHD to reframe negative automatic thoughts or maladaptive cognitions. These speculations should indeed provide interesting topics for further studies. A focus on positive sides to ADHD within research may also have societal implications by changing social perception around ADHD and by this reducing stigma related to the diagnosis.

There are several issues with this study to recognize. First, the sample is relatively small, predominantly female, and Norwegian. Thus, the extent to which these findings would generalize to men with ADHD and adults from the US and other countries is not certain.

In addition, by framing the prompt to have participants to describe what they experienced as “positive aspects of having ADHD’, some participants may have generated positive features to comply with the question, and not necessarily because they actually experienced positive aspects of ADHD. Asking “Are there any aspects of having ADHD that you have experienced as positive” could have reduced the demand characteristic of the question.

Finally, it should be noted that participants perceptions are not necessarily objectively true and positive consequences they described from having ADHD conceivably could have little directly connection to the disorder. Even so, however, one could argue that what people perceive to be the case about their lives is what matters most.

While these are all important issues to consider in subsequent research. attending to what some adults experience as positive aspects of ADHD is an important issue to pursue. As the authors note, exploring the full range of experiences associated with ADHD in adults may more fully capture what their life is like and may enhance adults’ engagement in treatment.

This perspective may also contribute to incorporating the recognition of strengths and resilience into treatment, rather than a more exclusive focus on symptoms, impairments, and deficits.

– Dr. David Rabiner is a child clinical psychologist and Director of Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Duke University. He publishes the Attention Research Update, an online newsletter that helps parents, professionals, and educators keep up with the latest research on ADHD.

The Study in Context:

• Survey of 2500 families finds what ADHD treatments seem to work/ not work as applied in the real world
• What are cognitive abilities and how to boost them?

The post Study finds positive self-reported aspects of the ADHD experience among young women, especially related to hyperactivity and hyperfocus appeared first on SharpBrains.

… Enter a study published Tuesday by researchers in the journal Clinical Psychological Science, which tried but did not succeed in finding a compelling link between internet access and poor mental health and well-being.

Business Insider, for example, declared that the study found no link between social media use and “mental health harm.” Except that’s not what the researchers evaluated.

Instead, they contrasted internet access in the form of yearly per capita internet and mobile-broadband subscriptions and various measures of well-being and mental health.

They did not, however, distinguish internet access from certain types of platforms, like social media and gaming … In general, the researchers didn’t find a convincing link between internet access and poorer well-being and mental health. Among young individuals there were some minuscule positive and negative correlations between some of the variables, but co-author Dr. Andrew K. Przybylski told Mashable in an email that those findings were hard to interpret … “Thought leaders and some policy folks claim there is a global mental health epidemic caused by the internet, but they do not bother to collect [and] wrangle data to support this extraordinary claim,” he wrote … “I am sure that technology use has its ups and downs, but we’ll never be able to map this out, and intervene if necessary, if we don’t have objective data on how, why, and when people engage with online worlds,” Przybylski said.

The Study:

Global Well-Being and Mental Health in the Internet Age (Clinical Psychological Science).

Abstract: In the last 2 decades, the widespread adoption of Internet technologies has inspired concern that they have negatively affected mental health and psychological well-being. However, research on the topic is contested and hampered by methodological shortcomings, leaving the broader consequences of Internet adoption unknown. We show that the past 2 decades have seen only small and inconsistent changes in global well-being and mental health that are not suggestive of the idea that the adoption of Internet and mobile broadband is consistently linked to negative psychological outcomes. Further investigation of this topic requires transparent study of online behaviors where they occur (i.e., on online platforms). We call for increased collaborative efforts between independent scientists and the Internet-technology sector.

The Study in Context:

• Is the Internet Good or Bad for Your Brain?
• Welcome to the Ultimate Neuroscience Lab: Your Smartphone

The post Study doesn’t find evidence to link internet access with poorer psychological well-being and mental health appeared first on SharpBrains.

Given that dementia is still one of the most feared diseases, why aren’t we pushing our doctors and governments to support these lifestyle changes through new programs and policy initiatives?

The truth, however, is more complex. We know that making lifestyle changes is hard. Ask anyone who has tried to keep their New Year’s resolution to visit the gym three times a week. It can be doubly difficult when the changes we need to make now won’t show results for years, or even decades, and we don’t really understand why they work.

Taking control of your health:

Anyone who has watched a loved one living with dementia, facing the small and large indignities and declines that leave them eventually unable to eat, communicate or remember, knows it is a devastating disease.

There are several new drugs making their way to the market for Alzheimer’s disease (one of the most common forms of dementia). However, they are still far from a cure and are currently only effective for early-stage Alzheimer’s patients.

So lifestyle changes may be our best hope of delaying dementia or not developing dementia at all. Actor Chris Hemsworth knows it. He watched his grandfather live with Alzheimer’s and is making lifestyle changes after learning he has two copies of the APOE4 gene. This gene is a risk factor for Alzheimer’s, and having two copies significantly increases his risk of developing the same condition.

Research has identified modifiable risk factors that contribute to increasing the risk of dementia:

• physical inactivity
• excessive use of alcohol
• less sleep
• social isolation
• hearing loss
• less cognitive engagement
• poor diet
• hypertension
• obesity
• diabetes
• traumatic brain injury
• smoking
• depression
• air pollution

Our understanding of the biological mechanisms for these risk factors is varied, with some more clearly understood than others.

But there is a lot we do know — and here’s what you need to know as well.

Cognitive reserve and neuroplasticity:

Cognitive reserve is the brain’s ability to withstand damage or neurodegenerative disease. If there is tissue or functional loss in one part of the brain, other brain cells (neurons) work harder to compensate. In theory, this means lifelong experiences and activities create a dam against the damages of disease and aging in the brain.

Neuroplasticity is the brain’s amazing ability to adapt, learn and reorganize, create new pathways or rewire existing ones to recover from damage. The key takeaway is that neuroplasticity can happen at any time and any age, which means learning and activities should be lifelong.

Many of the risk factors linked to dementia likely work in combination, which is why an overall lifestyle approach is crucial. For example, studies have shown that exercise, cognitive and social engagement stimulate your brain and maintain its plasticity by growing new neural connections and building cognitive reserve.

The mechanism behind this is a combination of factors: increased oxygen and blood flow to the brain, stimulating growth factors that keep neurons healthy and reduced inflammation.

The opposite is also true. Poor sleep, diet, social isolation and untreated depression are linked to decreased cognitive reserve.

The same rationale applies to hearing loss, a key emerging risk factor for dementia. As a person‘s hearing decreases, it can make it difficult to socially engage with others, resulting in a loss of sensory input. The brain has to work harder to compensate for this, potentially drawing down its cognitive reserve and leaving it less able to withstand dementia.

The role of stress and inflammation:

Stress responses and inflammation are the body’s complex answer to injury. Inflammation is an important component of the body’s immune system, helping defend against threats and repair tissue damage. While short-term inflammation is a natural and good response, chronic or prolonged inflammation disrupts normal function and causes damage to the brain’s cells.

For example, one of the commonalities between dementia and untreated depression is the inflammatory process. Prolonged exposure to stress hormones can lead to chronic inflammation. Hypertension, physical inactivity, smoking and air pollution are also associated with chronic inflammation and stress, which can damage blood vessels and neurons in the brain.

In a newer area of research still being explored, social isolation has also been linked to inflammation. As we learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, the brain is wired to respond to social engagement as a means of bonding and emotional support, especially in times of distress.

With surveys showing more than one in three Canadians feel isolated, the lack of social connection and loneliness can trigger the body’s stress response and neuroendocrine changes, and prolonged exposure to this inflammatory process can damage the brain.

Similar pathways across multiple diseases:

Several of these risk factors, and their biological pathways, cut across multiple chronic diseases. Accumulating evidence of decades of research supports the concept of “what’s good for your heart is good for your head.”

This means that making these lifestyle changes not only reduces your risk of dementia, but also your risk of diabetes, hypertension and heart concerns. This highlights the complex nature of dementia but also offers a united strategy to deal with multiple health concerns that may arise as people age.

It’s never really too late to change. The human brain and body have a remarkable capacity for adaptation and resilience throughout life.

While there are benefits to being physically and socially active at any age, some research shows the payoff from those gains can be higher after age 40 when the body’s metabolism slows, risk factors increase and cognitive reserve becomes even more essential to help protect against cognitive decline.

If making lifestyle changes means you can watch your child navigate adulthood, stroll 20 blocks to your favourite café every day and continue to live in your own home, perhaps walking the daily 10,000 steps, changing diets and keeping your friendship network strong is worthwhile. At worst, you’ll be healthier and more independent with or without dementia. At best, you might completely avoid dementia and other major diseases and keep living your best possible life.

Saskia Sivananthan is an Affiliate Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at McGill University, and former Chief Research & KTE Officer at the Alzheimer Society of Canada. Laura Middleton is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Kinesiology at University of Waterloo, researching ways to optimize cognition across the life course and to prevent dementia in late life. This article was originally published on The Conversation.

News in Context:

• Solving the Brain Fitness Puzzle Is the Key to Self-Empowered Aging
• What are cognitive abilities and how to boost them?

The post Lifestyle matters: What we can do in 2024 to optimize cognition and life, delaying cognitive problems even dementia appeared first on SharpBrains.

Take Survey Here

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#1. Lifestyle matters: What we can do in 2024 to optimize cognition and life, delaying cognitive problems even dementia

#2. Study identifies protective brain structure that delays the onset of frontotemporal dementia symptoms over 2 years

#3. The ADHD experience includes positive self-reported aspects, especially related to hyperfocus

#4. Brain imaging AI start-up Neurophet raises $15M to better direct Alzheimer’s treatments, lower ARIA side-effects

#5. No evidence found to link internet access with poorer psychological well-being and mental health

“Thought leaders and some policy folks claim there is a global mental health epidemic caused by the internet, but they do not bother to collect [and] wrangle data to support this extraordinary claim … I am sure that technology use has its ups and downs, but we’ll never be able to map this out, and intervene if necessary, if we don’t have objective data on how, why, and when people engage with online worlds” — Dr. Andrew Przybylski, Professor of Human Behaviour and Technology at the University of Oxford

#6. Please take this brief Survey to provide your feedback as we’re preparing a substantial update of The SharpBrains Guide and our overall activities. (We’d really appreciate hearing from you, every answer counts)

#7. Five sharp riddles to celebrate the Holidays in perfect harmony

Looking forward to a healthy and wonderful 2024!

– The SharpBrains Team

The post Lifestyle Matters: Let’s optimize cognition, health and life in 2024 appeared first on SharpBrains.

The post Some fun brain teasers to warm up 2024 … Happy New Year, ¡Feliz Año Nuevo! appeared first on SharpBrains.

More workers feeling anxious, stressed or blue have a new place to go for mental-health help: a digital app.

Chatbots that hold therapist-like conversations and wellness apps that deliver depression and other diagnoses or identify people at risk of self-harm are snowballing across employers’ healthcare benefits.

“The demand for counselors is huge, but the supply of mental-health providers is shrinking,” said J. Marshall Dye, chief executive officer of PayrollPlans, a Dallas-based provider of benefits software used by small and medium-size businesses, which began providing access to a chatbot called Woebot in November.

… About a third of U.S. employers offer a “digital therapeutic” for mental-health support, according to a survey of 457 companies this past summer by professional services company WTW. An additional 15% of the companies were considering adding such an offering in 2024 or 2025 … Yet some researchers say there isn’t sufficient evidence the programs work, and the varied security and safety practices create a risk that private information could be leaked or sold.

2023 survey among large US employers:

Survey: Employers support growing demand for mental health services (Mercer):

American employers are taking action to improve the health and wellness of their employees. That is among the findings of a report that explores what employers are doing to address the mental health challenges that confront too many in America. In the survey, 94% of large employers (500 or more employees) reported that they have strengthened their coverage for mental health care, increased support, or put in place new programs or systems to help in the last three years. About two-thirds (68%) have added or enhanced supports like employee assistance programs, classes, or access to apps to help promote mental health, and 28% have expanded mental health coverage within their existing health plans. In addition, employers are also putting in place workforce training to support those with mental health needs and making changes in the office to promote mental wellness at work.

News in Context:

• Virtual cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) accounts for over 30% of NHS mental health treatments — up from 10% in 2017
• AI-powered Woebot raises $90M to scale up digital self-therapy platform
• Digital mental health start-up Koa Health raises €30M to accelerate growth in Europe and the US

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In each of these books, the authors aspire to help us find greater health and happiness as we cope with life in the present, while working toward a healthier, more compassionate world for all.

Tomorrowmind: Thriving at Work—Now and in an Uncertain Future, by Gabriella Rosen Kellerman and Martin Seligman

Now that workplaces are emerging from the intense demands of the pandemic, they are in an unprecedented position to reflect and try to transcend outdated approaches to organizational structure, policy, and culture. In Tomorrowmind, coauthors Gabriella Rosen Kellerman and Martin Seligman offer an abridged history of organizational thinking and design, then draw from scientific research, case studies, and in-depth interviews to share key insights and actionable strategies for real and impactful organizational transformation.

Part of what Tomorrowmind covers is the topic of thriving at work, the science behind it, and why it’s important. To promote thriving at work, the authors recommend several strategies to help organizations enhance resilience, strengthen connection, make sure people know they’re valued, and provide a courageous, aspirational shared vision.

To increase workplace resilience, for example, Tomorrowmind recommends slowing down and reinterpreting difficult experiences, doing the “Best Possible Self” practice to increase optimism, learning to put setbacks and failures into perspective, and acting with more self-compassion.

With an eye toward future challenges—like AI and climate change—Tomorrowmind also offers clear strategic guidance to help organizations nurture a culture of thriving and recast traditional structures and policies to maximize creativity, minimize wasted effort and time, and “future-proof” themselves against possible catastrophe in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous landscape.

The Stress Prescription: Seven Days to More Joy and Ease, by Elissa Epel

Though this book came out late in 2022, it was too important not to mention. Elissa Epel, a premier stress researcher, has put together a short primer on how to life a happier, healthier life through effective stress management.

As Epel writes, not all stress is inherently bad; so, we shouldn’t aim for a stress-free life. We need our physiological stress response to survive and to respond to challenging situations. But if we are constantly vigilant—which many of us are these days—it ages us unnecessarily.

How can we use stress to our advantage and soothe it when it’s overwhelming? Epel has several evidence-based tips, including learning how to embrace uncertainty, let go of uncontrollable outcomes, and recognize our stress response’s utility. We can also deliberately seek more joy, time in nature, small stressors (to build resilience), and occasional deep rest (where we are free from responsibility or our ubiquitous cell phones).

As Epel writes, “Anything worth doing will have aspects of stress woven through: challenge, discomfort, risk. We can’t change that. But what we can change is our response.” Changing your relationship to stress by taming it is key.

The Mindful Body: Thinking Our Way to Chronic Health, by Ellen J. Langer

We’ve all heard about “mind/body connection.” But do we fully understand its implications for our health and well-being?

Not according to Ellen Langer’s book, The Mindful Body. Langer reveals a whole world of fascinating research looking at how our beliefs about aging, risk for contracting disease, and the effectiveness of potential treatments affect health, and how changing our mindset can lead to surprisingly better results.

For example, one study found that giving people information about their (fictitious) level of risk for obesity changed their metabolism and how they felt about exercise and hunger (regardless of their actual level of risk). Another found that messing with people’s perception of time affected how much energy they expended doing a task.

In other words, expectations matter; so, we must be careful what we put in our minds lest it become a self-fulfilling prophecy. “Diagnoses, while useful, direct attention to only a fraction of lived experience; context influences our physical responses,” writes Langer.

To that end, she suggests we become more mindful about our inner experience and outer circumstances—and more skeptical of dire predictions. By paying attention to our ever-changing experience, she argues, we might all change the trajectory of our health—and enjoy happier lives.

Your Brain on Art: How Art Transforms Us, by Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross

Even during our earliest history, humans made art. This suggests an evolutionary purpose—that engaging with art somehow helps us survive.

Susan Magsamen and Ivy Ross’s book, Your Brain on Art, shows us why that might be the case. Appreciating or making art—in all its forms, whether viewed in a museum or crafted yourself—involves using many parts of your brain, including those that process our senses and are involved in emotion, memory, and cognition. It also brings us pleasure and insight.

“There is a neurochemical exchange that can lead to what Aristotle called catharsis, or a release of emotion that leaves you feeling more connected to yourself and others,” write the authors.

Studies show that engaging in art can do much for our brains and bodies. It improves our heart health and cognitive fitness, and helps us heal from illness and trauma. Art also nurtures curiosity and emotional intelligence, while making us think differently about life, embrace ambiguity, and feel awe.

This means we should all incorporate art into our daily lives for more well-being, argue the authors.

“The arts can transform you like nothing else. They can help move you from sickness to health, stress to calm, or sadness to joy, and they enable you to flourish and thrive.”

Finally, though we don’t want to blow our own horn, we would be remiss if we didn’t mention two books that came out this year written by Greater Good staff:

Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life, by Dacher Keltner, where Keltner reveals the science of awe and how it can make us happier and more connected to something greater than ourselves (Penguin Press, 2023, 335 pages).

Seek: How Curiosity Can Transform Your Life and Change the World, by Scott Shigeoka, where Shigeoka shows us the importance of being curious for bridging differences and transforming our world (Balance, 2023, 256 pages).

— Adapted from article by Jill Suttie, Psy.D., Jeremy Adam Smith Emiliana R. Simon-Thomas, Ph.D., Maryam Abdullah,Ph.D., at Greater Good. Based at UC-Berkeley, Greater Good highlights ground breaking scientific research into the roots of compassion and altruism. Copyright Greater Good.

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