Your Brain on Food

Rachel Tepper



There’s still so much we don’t know about the mass of gray stuff in our skulls and how it relates to what we eat. But two new pieces of research support the notion that our brains and appetites are intrinsically intertwined—and that it’s a two-way street.

New findings presented last week at the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior's annual conference in Seattle, Washington suggest that brain chemistry may cause some people — even those who aren't overweight — to be more easily tempted by that plate of chocolate chip cookies sitting on the kitchen counter.

The researchers found that men with higher levels of dopamine activity in the striatum, an area of the brain that lights up when food is given as a reward, responded more quickly to pictures of food. This phenomenon could lead to overeating, they concluded.

And since you’re thinking about how your head is linked to what you’ve got in front of you for dinner, consider seafood: A study recently published online by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine suggests that eating baked or broiled fish at least once a week—regardless of the level of beneficial omega-3 fatty acids they contain—boosts brain health.

Subjects who chowed down on fish had larger brain volumes in areas that are associated with memory and cognition, but only if it wasn’t fried. (Sorry, fish and chips fans!)

"This suggests that lifestyle factors, in this case eating fish, rather than biological factors contribute to structural changes in the brain," said the study’s senior investigator, James T. Becker, in a press release. “A confluence of lifestyle factors likely are responsible for better brain health, and this reserve might prevent or delay cognitive problems that can develop later in life.”
https://www.yahoo.com/health/your-brain-on-food-93985208582.html



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Laughing Makes Your Brain Work Better, New Study Finds

By SARAH FIGALORA

Ever have trouble remembering where you just left your keys? Just laugh it off. New research suggests that humor can improve short-term memory in older adults.

In a recent small study conducted at Loma Linda University in Southern California, 20 normal, healthy, older adults watched a funny video distraction-free for 20 minutes, while a control group sat calmly with no video. Afterwards, they performed memory tests and had saliva samples analyzed for stress hormones.

You guessed it; those who got to laugh the 20 minutes away with the funny video scored better on short-term memory tests, researchers said. And salivary levels of the stress hormone cortisol -- a memory enemy of sorts -- were significantly decreased in the humor group.

"Learning ability and delayed recall become more challenging as we age," said study author Dr. Gurinder S. Bains, a Ph.D. candidate in Rehabilitation Sciences. "Laughing with friends or even watching 20 minutes of humor on TV, as I do daily, helps me cope with my daily stressors."

The less stress you have, researchers said, the better your memory. It works like this: humor reduces stress hormones, lowers your blood pressure, and increases your mood state, according to Dr. Lee Berk, a co-author of the study and associate professor of Allied Heath.

The act of laughter -- or simply enjoying some humor -- increases endorphins, sending dopamine to the brain to provide a sense of pleasure and reward, Berk said.

That, in turn, makes the immune system work better and changes brain wave activity towards what's called a "gamma frequency," amping up memory and recall.

Want to lower your stress levels?

"Begin by laughing more daily," Bains said. "It will improve your quality of life."

So, maybe you don't have to feel bad about all that time you spend watching funny videos at work?

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/laughing-makes-brain-work-study-finds/story?id=23393053