Giraffe Brain

I love how you answer questions in your blogs! Here’s what my three-year-old niece wants to know, “How does blood get to a giraffe’s brain?”

According to the Smithsonian National Zoological Park, giraffes are the tallest living animals in the world. The giraffe's heart must have special mechanisms to enable it to pump blood up the animal's neck, 6 feet (2 meters) long neck to its brain. It’s a formidable task to pump blood at a pressure high enough to accomplish this. A giraffe's heart can weigh over 10 kg (22-24 pounds) and generate twice the blood pressure of other large mammals. (A human heart is about the size of its owner’s fist.) Having enough blood pressure to pump blood to the brain when the giraffe's neck is extended upward is one challenge. Another challenge occurs when a giraffe lowers its head, which could create grave risks due to excessive blood pressure. To counter this, according to the National Geographic, giraffes possess a rete mirabile, so called. It is a pressure-regulating system that restricts the amount of blood that rushes towards the brain when the giraffe lowers its head. More tomorrow.

Brain Knowledge

I’ve heard you speak and have read some of your materials—they’re great. However, I’ve been studying the brain for years, myself, and am quite knowledgeable about the brain and its parts. You need to convince me that living a Longevity Lifestyle would make any positive difference to my life.

First, I never try to convince anyone about anything. A brain convinced against its will is of the same opinion still. I have no idea what you know about the science of brain function and it is a science--knowing about the brain and its parts is different from understanding how the brain functions best. There is  brain-based science to staying younger and healthier for longer—that is what the Longevity Lifestyle Program is all about. And it does make a difference to people who get on board with a lifestyle change for the rest of their life. For most people, it’s never too late to begin. As Gary Small, MD, author of The Memory Bible put it: “As soon as you start to change your lifestyle for the better, you’ll begin to repair yesterday’s damage.” If you’re already doing this, Bravo. Keep on keeping on . . .

Brain Friends

I’m confused about friendships. I’ve known some people for decades and yet when we get together it seems there’s little if any real connection. Maybe there is no such thing as true friendship.

Oh, I think there is, but it is more about a brain connection than anything else. I’ve learned that true friendship is not necessarily about the people whom you’ve known the longest. People change. They are on differing growth and developmental paths. What keeps people together and in touch is more about how your brains connect than how long you have known them. It’s about the ones who hung in there with you through thick and thin, who never left your side emotionally, who accepted you just as you are, who have your back, and were willing to grow along with you. There is a richness that can occur with that type of friendship that is like no other. When you connect with someone like that, all things being equal, I want to hang in there with them and I want them to hang in there with me.

Brain Forgetfulness

I am quite sure I’ve heard you talk about brain forgetfulness in one of your presentations but I have “forgotten” what you said. Please remind me—it’s about going into the next room and don’t remember why you went there! I fear I getting Alzheimer’s!

You remembered to write and ask the question! Forgetting what you went into the next room or upstairs or in the garage to get can happen at any age. For years this puzzled researchers. Recently, studies at the University of Notre Dame have shed some light on this common complaint. Turns out the brain has an “event boundary,” meaning that when something changes (e.g., walking through a doorway into another room), the brain erases the last event and gets ready to experience something new. So what do you do? Write a sticky note and carry it with you or “speak a note” into your phone – especially if it is something you need to do but not immediately. When you get where you are going, this can refresh your mind. If I am just going into the next room for something, I  find that simply talking aloud to myself as I pass through the doorway(s), works quite well. I’ll say, “Arlene, you are getting your suitcase from the garage.” This keeps what you want to do in the forefront of working memory—as long as you keep from getting sidetracked along the way and putting something new and different into your working memory—you’ve got a good chance of staying focused on what you are looking for. Try it. It’s actually rather fun!

Accelerating Brain Aging

I read a recent Gallup poll indicating that the majority of Americans favor legalizing marijuana for recreational use. So how come you don’t promote this?

I try never to promote anything that has been shown to be potentially harmful to brain function. You might find it interesting to know that Dr. Daniel Amen recently reported on results from a new study. His research may represent the largest brain imaging study ever reported, involving involved SPECT brain imaging studies of more than 30,000 people. The study found that marijuana use accelerates aging of the brain by 0.6 years and alcohol consumption by 2.8 years. I am not the least bit interested in accelerating the aging of my brain. Therefore, I would consider it completely irresponsible on my part to recommend using marijuana for recreational use or alcohol for that matter.

What, How, and When

I know what you eat and how you eat is important. But “when” you eat? What difference does that make?

The report of a pilot study led by Dr. Nour Makarem was published in the Journal of Nutritional Science. In a study of 112 woman (average age of 33), the researchers found that eating dinner before six pm could improve heart health, lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and reduce the chance of gaining weight. Participants who ate a large portion of their daily calories after six pm had higher blood pressure, higher BMI, and poorer blood sugar control. The risk of heart disease increases for every one percent increase in calories consumed in the evening after six pm. Dr. Makarem pointed out that lifestyle approaches to the prevention of heart disease have focused on what a person eats and how much. Based on this preliminary study, when you eat may be a simple, modifiable behavior that can help lower heart disease risk.

Brain and Humor

I've heard you talk about humor. It's January 21st and nothing humorous has happened to me so far this year. How about you?

That's most unfortunately because humor and laughter are very good for the brain. If you can laugh at yourself, you carry an unending supply of humor with you every day⸺as I do. For example, today at noon I was in an organization that had a noon lunch for one of the executives. During lunch, one of the senior executives, referred to as "the birthday boy," was asked, "What is your earliest memory of a joke?" Interesting question. The "birthday boy" said that when he was 10 years old he heard a man say something that was clever and funny—and although he only heard it once, the birthday boy still remembers is. It went like this

“Ladies and gentlemen, hobos and tramps, cross-eyed mosquitoes, and bowlegged ants. Early one morning, in the middle of the night, two dead boys got up to fight. Back to back they faced each other, drew a sword and shot each other An old deaf policeman heard the noise and came over and killed the two dead boys. Now, if you don't believe my story is true, just ask the blind man, because he saw it, too . . ." 

I am still laughing! Stay alert, and choose to laugh. It pays huge dividends!