Juneteenth

I was born in the second-largest country on Planet Earth after Russia. Canada sprawls over 3.8 million sq mi (9.9 million sq km). About 40 United Kingdoms could fit into Canada. Surrounded by the Pacific Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, and the Atlantic ocean, it boasts coastlines totaling 151,473 mi (243,772 km.) One little girl in a population of about 10 million (nearly four times that now). There was somewhat limited access to the world in some ways—no television or internet, radios and party-line telephones where they existed. Slavery in Canada predated the arrival of Europeans, as some indigenous peoples enslaved prisoners taken in war. History taught that Upper Canada passed the Act Against Slavery in 1793, one of the earliest anti-slavery acts in the world. Lower Canada soon followed suite. History also taught that the Slave Trade Act of 1807 abolished the slave trade in the British Empire. The Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 abolished the institution of slavery itself in Canada in 1833, and by decree through the British Empire in 1834. I never recall any annual celebration, however. More tomorrow.

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Brain Housekeeping Chores, 3

   

Opens up spaces between neurons so glial cells can  help flush

       out toxic molecules including beta-amyloid proteins (plaques of

       Alzheimer’s Disease)

    Collects (reuptake) norepinephrine and serotonin from the

       synapse (synaptic gap) so they can be reused

    Prepares food for the neurons (neurotrophins)

    Increases production of oligodendrocyte glial cells that form the myelin

       sheath to wrap neuronal axons

A new AUDIO podcast is posted every Saturday morning

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 A new VIDEO podcast is posted every Saturday morning

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Brain Housekeeping Chores, 2

Housekeeping Chores, 2

    Increases the blood supply to muscle cells

    Releases hormones for growth and development

    Reduces brain-body temperature and level of metabolic energy to

       save energy to use in growing and repairing cells

    Synthesizes new chemicals for the brain and immune system

    Generates and repairs immune system cells

    Repairs brain cells

    Removes waste products from the brain

More tomorrow 

Brain Housekeeping Chores

Housekeeping chores in the brain? Makes no sense to me. What are they?

 Here is a list of some of those housekeeping chores.

   Helps maintain homeostasis including energy balance

    Processes the previous 24 hours through dreaming during REM

    Creates electrical stimulation to help with learning, memory, decision-

       making, and cognitive performance when awake

    Consolidates information processed during the day and moves

       it from short-term into long-term memory

    Repairs cells in the hippocampus, your brain’s search engine

       so it can locate stored information and help you recall it

    Helps regulate appetite, mood, and libido

More tomorrow

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Sleep-time Chores

Perhaps one of the reasons for going to sleep a couple of hours before midnight relates to the circadian rhythm clock located deep in the brain. It’s natural timing rhythm is reset every morning when the sun comes up over the horizon. When you go to bed late at night—or early in the morning hours—the circadian rhythm clock still want to reset itself when the sun comes up and wake you up. If you have to be to work or school early in the morning, you will likely set an alarm clock to make sure you get where you are going on time. You get up and get going on the day’s activities, and all the housekeeping chores the brain must do every night while you sleep could not be finished. Keep up the same schedule and the brain never catches up with its housekeeping chores. Estimates are that losing just one hour of sleep per night and it will shorten your life. This is one reason that sleep is said to be independently linked with longevity.

Sleep Before Midnight

What is the big deal about sleep before midnight being better for you? I say sleep is sleep. I’m correct, right?

You are definitely not the only person who thinks that ‘sleep is sleep.’ According to recent studies, the sleep you get before midnight is better for your brain and for restoring your body. Estimates are that it is so much better for restoring cells in your brain and body that each hour of sleep you get before midnight is worth three times as much as the hours you get after midnight. Insufficient sleep causes the level of ghrelin, the hunger hormone, to increase. Lack of sleep also causes the level of leptin, the stop eating hormone, to decrease. These two changes alone can lead to unwanted weight gain. 

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Impress Your Brain

Studies have shown that one’s thinking becomes more abstract when they use formal, polite language. A similar thing happens when one wears formal clothing. Findings from a study led by Michael L. Slepian of Columbia University reported that the type of clothing worn influences the brain’s cognitive (thinking) processing style, which can alter how objects, people, and events are perceived. Abstract thinking tends to facilitate the pursuit of long-term over short-term gains (e.g., saving versus spending). Study participants wearing formal attire scored 5.04 on a 1-to-10 scale of a type of thought process that measures abstract thinking, versus 3.99 for those wearing casual clothing. My brain’s opinion is that this is just another example of the way in which ‘everything starts in the brain.’ It’s not only the brains of others that are impacted by your appearance, so is your own brain. Thinking about how you are impressing your own brain may be a new concept. It may be one you want to consider carefully—seeing as it can impact even the way your brain thinks.

A new AUDIO podcast is posted every Saturday morning

https://anchor.fm/arlene-r-taylor

 A new VIDEO podcast is posted every Saturday morning

https://open.spotify.com/show/3uYHO9ryZiBXDNMnUFgu3e