North Star Mental Fitness

Thoreau or Mental Fitness

In three sentences, Henry David Thoreau explained the essence of mental fitness.  Here is the wisdom of Henry David Thoreau:

1. As a single footstep will not make a path on the earth, so a single thought will not make a pathway in the mind.
2. To make a deep physical path, we walk again and again.
3. To make a deep mental path, we must think over and over the kind of thoughts we wish to dominate our lives.

A mentally fit person thinks "over and over again the kind of thoughts" he or she wishes to dominate his or her life. 

Are you thinking thoughts that you want to "dominate your life"?  Or are you thinking thoughts determined by others, your wish to please others or by your past or current circumstances?

Repetition of thoughts creates mental fitness or mental dysfunction.  Repetition of thoughts for centering our lives creates inward joy and strength.  Repetition of anxious, fearful and depressed thoughts creates detours and dead ends.

Are you on the path of your choice?

Remember, We Live within the Identities and Environment Created by Our Thoughts!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

Brain Fitness Programs

As a clinical psychologist, I am frequently asked to evaluate people for memory loss and other areas of cognitive decline.  After evaluating people, some are prescribed medications by their physicians.

Frequently, I encourage people to use brain fitness programs.  There are brain fitness programs to improve memory, eye-hand coordination, visual-spatial problem-solving, attention and focus, and processing numbers.  I discovered a very practical website, Play with Your Mind.  This website offers a lot of different brain fitness programs.  I highly encourage you to visit this website and utilize their programs.

Unfortunately, many people with memory losses and declining ability to function, are unaware of resources for improving their functioning for delaying the process of cognitive decline.

I really want you to keep this post for a resource.  There was a post at Play with Your Mind entitled Brain Fitness Programs and Websites.  You'll have to look no further for brain fitness training and opportunities.  This will be a wonderful resource for you.

Brain fitness programs are relatively new, but extremely important for people who want to be fully functioning for as long as possible.  These programs will stimulate and challenge our senses and cognitive abilities.

These programs are different than the  North Star Mental Fitness Program, which provides exercises to improve decision-making, taking care of oneself and making one stronger than one's problems.

The  North Star Mental Fitness Program is a practical program for making life's decisions, while most brain fitness programs are developed to improve various sensory and cognitive functions.  Both mental fitness and brain fitness programs are important and necessary, although different in their objectives.

You can use the North Star Mental Fitness Program's strategies for improving your life focus and for making life decisions easier and more satisfying.  You can use the brain fitness programs for sharpening your senses and thinking abilities.  We need both.

Remember, We Live within the Minds and Environment Created by Our Choices!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

Physical Exercise and Your Mental Fitness

After reading Steve Siebold's book "Die Fat or Get Tough", I began an exercise program.  I was motivated to apply Steve's idea that 99% compliance with my goal was insufficient for success.  I was determined to reach 100% compliance with my goal.  I exercised daily for over three months.  I felt better. 

I felt even better, when I read Dr. Amen's article on the power of physical exercise and mental fitness.  Dr. Amen talked about the 10 ways exercise helps obtain a "mental edge".  Exercise really helps in regard to memory loss and depression.

In my private practice, I have been asked to evaluate many people regarding memory loss.  I also have many clients that wish to depend on themselves rather than medications to improve the quality of their lives.  Regular physical exercise is an important way to nurture your brain.

I encourage you to read Dr.Amen's article if you are concerned about memory loss, depression, attention problems or cognitive anxiety.  Dr. Amen presented numerous research studies that shows physical exercises increase mental fitness.

Studies were reported that demonstrated the power of physical exercise on memory:

• Canadian researchers reported that exercise helps "prevent, delay and lesson the effects of dementia and Alzheimer's disease".
• Other researchers presented research that indicated that exercise can prevent and delay cognitive decline associated with dementia and Alzheimer's disease. 
• A study of people over 65 revealed that mild to moderate exercise reduced about 50% the risk of cognitive dementia associated with Alzheimer's disease.
• Australian researchers reported that memory impaired individuals who participated in a six-month exercise program showed a decrease in cognitive decline over 18 months.
• Indian researchers have stated that exercise provide some of the same benefits as medications used to treat cognitive decline in dementia and Alzheimer's disease.

Exercise also reduces the symptoms of depression.  Dr. Amen believes that exercise can be as effective as prescription medication for treating depression.  In a study comparing the effects of exercise and a prescription for Zoloft, exercise was as as effective as Zoloft in reducing depression after 12 weeks.  After 10 months, exercise was more effective than Zoloft.

Exercise is a very important ingredient for mental health and mental fitness.  No matter what how old a person is, it is never too late to start to exercise and improve your physical and mental well-being.

Remember We Live within the Minds and Bodies Created by Our Choices!

Dr. Hal

Life and Mental Fitness Coach

 

 

Triggers for Brain Plasticity

Brain plasticity refers to the brain's ability to rewire itself.  What triggers brain plasticity is one of the exciting pursuits of researchers.  Repetition of activities or brain exercises triggers brain plasticity.  However, in reality, repetition of activities or brain exercises do not automatically trigger brain plasticity.  Paying attention and concentrating on repetition of activities can trigger brain plasticity. 

Science News had a very interesting and enlightening article on the visual triggers for brain plasticity.  Takao  Hensch, PhD, of the Neurobiology Program and Department of Neurology at Boston Children's Hospital, reported that their research identified a protein Otx2 which can trigger the brain's ability to learn.  Dr. Hensch wrote:

Otx2 helps a key type of cell in the cortex to mature, initiating a critical period -- a window of heightened brain plasticity, when the brain can readily make new connections.

The work was done in a mouse model of the visual system, a classic model for understanding how the brain sets up its wiring in response to input from the outside world.

The researchers speculated that our other senses may also operate similarly in creating critical periods for learning in the brain.  The brain has to rewire itself during the critical period and when there is maximum sensory input.

Dr. Hensch reported "If the timing is off, the brain won't set up its circuits properly".

Here is the most surprising and enlightening finding:

 the brain cells that switch on critical periods in the visual system (parvalbumin cells) don't actually make Otx2 themselves. Instead, Otx2 is sent by the retina. In essence, the eye is telling the brain, "The eyes are ready and seeing properly -- you can rewire now."

The eye is telling the brain when to become plastic rather than vice versa.  Otx2 is originally produced during embryonic development   Some days after birth, it reappears in parvalbumin cells. "The nervous system is recycling an embryonic factor to induce brain plasticity," says Hensch.

Hensch, who last fall won the highly competitive NIH Director's Pioneer Award, is also interested in the transport mechanism that propagates Otx2 from the retina to the cortex. He speculates that Otx2 itself could be a carrier for factors you'd want to deliver to the brain, envisioning eye drops for brain disorders such as schizophrenia, in which parvalbumin cells don't properly mature.