Adult Neurogenesis
Author: Michael Logan

Adult neurogenesis is real. We grow new brain cells on a
daily basis.

When you are my age, 61, that is good news.

While we do grow new neurons, research indicates that the
body may not keep them unless they are challenged by a
novel learning experience.

We lock them into existing circuits when they are
challenged by learning something new, and most of what I
read says learning a new language, a new musical
instrument, starting a new career, or using certain of the
new computerized brain fitness programs provides the
necessary learning experience.

It is important, if using the computerized brain fitness
programs, to use one which provides the right kind of
feeback at the right challenge level to help us to lock in
the new neurons.

So the feedback needs to adapt to my increasing skill
level, and get a little bit harder as I get better at the
game. It should provide about an 80% success rate.

So a crossword or sudoku, while challenging, may not
provide the kind of increasing challenge necessary.

Here is what Tadzia Grandpre, Ph.D. has to say about adult
neurogenesis;

"Over the past decade, adult neurogenesis has become one of
the most exciting and rapidly evolving areas of research in
the field of neuroscience.

A central focus of current investigations is to increase
understanding of the functional significance of newly
generated neurons—what they do and how they
contribute to the brain's activities.

While many answers remain unknown, new insights are
emerging at a stunning rate.

Indeed, experimental studies suggest that new neurons are
not only generated throughout life, they also integrate
into the circuitry of the brain and actively participate in
its functions.

The hippocampus is known to play a critical role in
learning and memory and many scientists have hypothesized
that newly generated neurons within the hippocampus
contribute to these processes.

Although currently limited, there is support for this
hypothesis.

It appears, for instance, that conditions that impair adult
neurogenesis, such as stress, also impair learning.

In contrast, conditions that promote the generation of new
neurons, such as physical exercise, often are associated
with improved memory and learning of tasks that rely on the
hippocampus.

Studies also have shown that learning promotes the survival
of new neurons.

In fact, better learners seem to retain more new neurons,
especially when trained on difficult tasks.

These findings suggest an intriguing link between
neurogenesis and learning.

Some evidence suggests that neurogenesis is not only
correlated with learning and memory, but actually may be
required for some forms of learning.

One study has shown that blocking adult neurogenesis in
rats leads to specific impairments in the animals' ability
to perform some learning and memory tasks that rely on the
hippocampus.

This finding suggests that new neurons could be required
for the acquisition and retention of new memories."

Research published late in 2008 (less than a year ago, this
is an emerging field) indicates that one of the
computerized brain fitness tools which provides the kind of
learning we need for adult neurogenesis is the dual n back
task.

Folks who completed 19 days of 1/2 hour per day training
increased their IQ scores significantly, and actually
enhanced a measure of intelligence called fluid
intelligence.

That is the intelligence I use when I come into a situation
where I am learning new information, and cannot use my
crystallized intelligence.

(For example, if I read another counseling book, I would be
using crystallized intelligence, not fluid intelligence).

One of the interesting side lights of the dual n back
research is that there appears to be no upper limit to the
increase in IQ possible.

The more you practice the better you get.

So it appears that physical exercise and novel learning
challenges are what help my brain regenerate on a daily
basis.

I can do that. Maybe my son and I will play chess later
today. And I know the lawn needs mowing. That has got to
count for the physical exercise part.

The good news is that doing more of what I already do
physically, like walking, does count towards what the brain
needs to maximize neurogenesis.

So get after it folks, and get some adult neurogenesis
going on.


About the Author:

Michael S. Logan is a brain fitness expert, counselor, a
student of Chi Gong, and a licensed one on one HeartMath
provider. I enjoy the spiritual, the mythological, and
psychological, and I am a late life father to Shane, 10,
and Hannah Marie, 4, whose brains are so amazing.
http://www.askmikethecounselor2.com