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We’ve been hearing for many years about the benefits of keeping active on the health of our brain.  If, like me, you are not getting any younger, you are probably trying to do all you can to keep that edge.  Most of the suggestions have focused on maintaining mental activity (sure can’t hurt) or the value of aerobic exercise.  Sometimes, as an avid resistance trainer, I have wondered if I was missing something.  What about lifting weight?

Well, fortunately, although at this point it may only be animal work (and we know that there are shortcomings in applying animal models to humans), research is emerging that suggests that resistance exercise is also good for our brain.  I think most of us suspect this – we know it “works” for us – now we have some evidence for it.  While we don’t tie weights to our tails and climb ladders, I have done a few sets of squats that felt like it.  Rats who do show increases in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) which may generate increases in neurons in the brain.  Behaviorally, they showed enhanced learning and memory.

Nah…we’re not rats….but it seems to me we have a good formula for doing all we can to remain healthy and vigorous Alphas across our lifespan:  Eat healthy (fuel), exercise your mental muscles (attitude) and stay active – both aerobically and anaerobically (architecture).

So…the brains or brawn thing?  Just a myth, a leftover from the old days of body-typing.

By now the Alphas out there know how important resilience is and what it takes to learn it as a skill.  We know that things never go perfectly, that the secret is to try and try again and it is facing the challenge and the resulting perseverance that makes us stronger and more effective.  Well, it is always a good thing when science tells us we are on the right track.

A recent study found that the most resilient and adaptive among us – those with lower levels of distress and higher levels of satisfaction – were also those who had faced some level adversity in life.  They reported the classic U-type function we see in many relationships, such as anxiety and performance;  wellness and resilience are maximized at moderate levels of adversity.  A life that offers little challenge or adversity or one in which the adversity is beyond a certain level that allows for adaptation can both lead to lesser resilience and impaired functioning.

So seek challenge, do not run from it, but also remember that we all need time away from it as well, time to recuperate, regroup and re-commit.

We hear a lot about the “power of positive thinking”; sometimes it sounds a bit magical (“If I think it and believe it I will become it”).  Well, perhaps it is better put that “If I do not think it and believe it I will never even try to become it”.  Thinking positively is a necessary but not sufficient element of success and when a negative mindset creeps into our thoughts and actions we limit our potential for growth and change.  A new research study shows that the way we think and talk about others reflects our own outlook on life and reveals a lot about us.  We choose to be positive or negative and our choice is likely to not only infect those around those around us, but ourselves as well.  Keeping a realistic positive view and being on guard against negativity is a great idea.

It sits there, staring at you, daring you not to eat it.

We have to eat to live, to grow, no two ways about it.  But now there is even more evidence that what we eat not only affects our energy levels and body composition – some nutrients can affect our brain in ways that emulate the changes associated with drugs of abuse.   Read the rest of this entry »

Much of what we do is automatic – it has to be because we can only remain vigilant for so long.

Research at the University of Pennsylvania used Magnetic Resonance Imaging to look at brain activity during sustained attention and found that, over time, our ability to maintain focus, recognize important events and make decisions declines.  Simply put: we’re limited as to how long we can concentrate.

Likewise, self-control is like a muscle – it can be exhausted, it requires rest to return to full strength, and can even grow stronger with exercise.  Our ability to concentrate is an important part of self-control, and it is also limited.  The take-home message is to be conscious of our limited ability to maintain vigilance; plan ahead, create a structured program we can follow fairly easily, and allow ourselves time away from temptation by limiting the choices we have available.

No need to try white-knuckling it all the time – your brain is working against you.  In time, our new plan will become as automatic as the old one.

Looking for a sensitive new-age makeover?  Problem solved!

New nasal spray made with oxytocin, the ‘cuddle hormone,’
could make men more sensitive

Is it really necessary that we display “levels of sensitivity usually found in females”?  Should we all be the same?  Perhaps male sensitivity is expressed in different ways.

Just as testosterone does not MAKE us aggressive, less oxytocin does not MAKE us insensitive.  We can cultivate this characteristic in a manner that is consistent with our maleness by developing our Alpha attitude.