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Flash of Consciousness Before Death

Flash of Consciousness Before Death

by | 2023 Aug 3 | Public, Quick Hits, Society Brains

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Daily brief research updates from the cognitive sciences

brain near-death 

We’ve all heard of near-death experiences and reports of people moving a long a white tunnel or corridor while technically dead. These are often believed to be proof of life after death or of the soul moving on.

These reports capture the collective imagination and they are also very consistent and though not common, common enough to warrant investigation. Attempts have been made but this is inherently difficult to investigate – first of all we need to actually know when people are dying and it may be immoral to suddenly wire them up to brain scanners when they are, not to mention that the concern with all involved will be on keeping the person alive.

However, a team of researchers at the University of Michigan decided to look into this in more detail and first of all looked at animal data they could access. Some of these showed surges after activity in the brain shortly before death which could be a signature of these experiences.

They then managed to find the data of four patients who had passed away in the hospital due to cardiac arrest while under EEG monitoring. These four patients were comatose and unresponsive and considered beyond medical help and had their life support removed after consultation with their families.

And in two of these patients after the removal of ventilation support there was in increase in heart rate and a surge in gamma waves in the brain – precisely those waves associated with consciousness. What’s more those brain waves were found in an area at the back of the brain at the junction between different brain lobes, regions (specifically the temporo–parieto–occipital junction).

This area is associated with dreaming and hallucinations in epilepsy and altered states of consciousness. This could therefore be a view of that near-death experience and it is certainly fascinating that this happens in the dying brain. However, this is only in two patients out of four and as these patents subsequently passed away we have no idea whether this was a near-death experience and a flash of consciousness or not.

It is, also, almost identical with another case I reported on last year – this was also a small sample – a sample of one.

I will continue watching this space with interest.

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Andy Habermacher

Andy Habermacher

Andy is author of leading brains Review, Neuroleadership, and multiple other books. He has been intensively involved in writing and research into neuroleadership and is considered one of Europe’s leading experts. He is also a well-known public speaker, speaking on the brain and human behaviour.

Andy is also a masters athlete (middle distance running) and competes regularly at international competitions (and holds a few national records in his age category).

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References

Gang Xu, Temenuzhka Mihaylova, Duan Li, Fangyun Tian, Peter M. Farrehi, Jack M. Parent, George A. Mashour, Michael M. Wang, Jimo Borjigin.
Surge of neurophysiological coupling and connectivity of gamma oscillations in the dying human brain.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2023; 120 (19)
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2216268120

 

 

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Smells Shown to Dramatically Boost Brain Power

Smells Shown to Dramatically Boost Brain Power

by | 2023 Aug 2 | Healthy Brains, Public, Quick Hits

Quick Hits
Daily brief research updates from the cognitive sciences

aroma smell brain cognitive performance aging

Who would have thought it – well, who apart from aromatherapists that is.

I have reported multiple times on the benefits of exercise on cognitive performance but also on diet, sleep, and cognitive activity. Many of these are well know and tie in to general health advice. However there is little research and thought given to smells, aromas.

Smell may also be an underrated sense – offices, for example, and homes, often give careful consideration to lighting but little thought to smell – though some smart marketeers and retail establishments have given some considerable thought to this e.g. the appealing smell of a new car, the smell of fresh bread in a supermarket all support the brand experience and encourage customers to buy more.

We could and would also assume that smell would have some, mostly emotional effect on us in certain circumstances – if a room is particularly bad smelling it would have a negative impact on work performance. However this piece of research showed that mere exposure, while asleep nonetheless, had dramatic impacts on cognitive performance (a 226% increase no less!) and also helping “grow” the brain in those with olfactory impairment.

These results are more than impressive – so impressive that I immediately became sceptical and read the academic paper to check on the validity – all above board I can report.

The study involved participants (this was partly disrupted by the pandemic) – 46 in total split into an intervention group and a control group. The active study group used an aroma diffuser over a six-month period and cycled through 7 different aromas. This diffuser was only active for two hours each night.

When the participants were re-measured on cognitive ability at the end of the study period there was a 226% increase in cognitive ability (the average of multiple assessments).

This is impressive. However, we do know we have a direct connection between our sense of smell and memory and we also know that there have been over 70 mental disorders that are related to loss of smell – not just COVID. We also know that aroma enhancement – consciously focusing on and being exposed to different aromas – improves well being.

Further research has also shown multiple benefits in the brain with aroma enhancement linked to growth in various areas of the brain including the hippocampus which is closely related to memory.

This all points to aroma and our sense of smell being an important and vastly underestimated sense but also an effective intervention strategy – and in this case one that is particularly easy to implement: aroma diffuser in the bedroom is as easy as it gets.

I have to say that this research opened my eyes, well my nostrils, and it’s high time to plug in the aroma diffuser sitting dustily in the corner of my living room.

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Andy Habermacher

Andy Habermacher

Andy is author of leading brains Review, Neuroleadership, and multiple other books. He has been intensively involved in writing and research into neuroleadership and is considered one of Europe’s leading experts. He is also a well-known public speaker, speaking on the brain and human behaviour.

Andy is also a masters athlete (middle distance running) and competes regularly at international competitions (and holds a few national records in his age category).

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References

Cynthia C. Woo, Blake Miranda, Mithra Sathishkumar, Farideh Dehkordi-Vakil, Michael A. Yassa, Michael Leon.
Overnight olfactory enrichment using an odorant diffuser improves memory and modifies the uncinate fasciculus in older adults.
Frontiers in Neuroscience, 2023; 17
DOI: 10.3389/fnins.2023.1200448

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Your Brain on Laughter

Your Brain on Laughter

by | 2023 Aug 1 | Healthy Brains, Public, Quick Hits

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Daily brief research updates from the cognitive sciences

brain laughter

Oh, I do like a good laugh, I do. In fact many of us do with humour being a feature of our societies be that in daily interactions to paying money to see comedians to TV and streaming series that are humorous. And this is something that can be seen in all cultures.

But what part of the brain drives this humour and playfulness and are they related? Well, this is not a well-researched area, alas more serious topics get the focus in neuroscience research.

This is where a group researchers around Michael Brecht and Natalie Goveli at the Humboldt University in Berlin come in – see the Germans do have humour! In this research the researchers had the enviable task of making rats first of all feel comfortable in their environment and then playing (chase the hand) and tickling them!

Yup, rats are ticklish and giggle too – they vocalise high pitch subsonic squeaks – sweet. And don’t you just love the image of scientific researchers tickling rats.

First off, it must be noted that the rats need to feel comfortable in their environment, anxiety and stress inhibits playfulness. Not surprising but a good reminder to ourselves also.

During the play and subsequent laughter the researchers scanned the rats brains and were able to identify the regions involved in this – and this also highlights the surprising importance of play and subsequently laughter.

The researchers identified a region known as the peridaqueductal gray as being both involved in play and laughter. This region sits deep in the brain and is considered an older and more “primitive” part of the brain that controls instinctive behaviours and also survival important behaviour such as the fight or flight response. Other research has also shown that play can persist even if the newer “more advanced” region of the brain, the cortex, is missing.

This suggest that play is deeply instinctive and present to some degree in all of us – most noticeably , of course, in children. But rather than being childish we can consider it an essential feature of our brain. What’s more, lead researcher Brecht sees that play is a self-training behaviour meaning that play is essential in helping to build brains.

And therfore it is certainly something that is not just for children – indeed our societies with our laughter, jokes, and comedy shows, show this. This not to mention plenty of other benefits of laughter and play such as stress reduction and social bonding.

So go on, have a laugh will you.

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Andy Habermacher

Andy Habermacher

Andy is author of leading brains Review, Neuroleadership, and multiple other books. He has been intensively involved in writing and research into neuroleadership and is considered one of Europe’s leading experts. He is also a well-known public speaker, speaking on the brain and human behaviour.

Andy is also a masters athlete (middle distance running) and competes regularly at international competitions (and holds a few national records in his age category).

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References

Natalie Gloveli, Jean Simonnet, Wei Tang, Miguel Concha-Miranda, Eduard Maier, Anton Dvorzhak, Dietmar Schmitz, Michael Brecht.
Play and tickling responses map to the lateral columns of the rat periaqueductal gray.
Neuron, 2023
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2023.06.018

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How Exercise Helps New Brain Cells Grow

How Exercise Helps New Brain Cells Grow

by | 2023 Jul 31 | Healthy Brains, Public, Quick Hits

Quick Hits
Daily brief research updates from the cognitive sciences

brain growth exercise

Ok, I know we all know that exercise is good for us. Many of you also know that I have reported multiple times over the years on the many positive impacts exercise has on our brains and one of these is in building new brain cells.

Yup, we can grow new brain cells – it was long thought that our brains were fixed with some flexibility in how our brain cells wire together and potentially rewire. However, over the years neurogenesis, the birth of new brain cells has been seen. Granted this is in limited areas of the brain – so don’t get too excited.

It is also know that exercise increases the production of new brain cells (in animal models) – and this could be as simple as walking. But why and how this happens was a mystery and this is where this piece of research published din June 2023 comes in because it shows how this can happen.

If you’re a sports person you may have heard of lactate – often in the form of lactic acid which is the by product of short bursts of intensive exercise that gives you that heavy “pumped” feeling in your muscles and can also lead to lack of coordination (the mechanisms of this has also been misunderstood to the lay sports person but that’s not for here – hint it’s not the “acid” that causes the problem).

As I said lactate is a by product of exercise and metabolism – that is the old story but we also know that lactate can be an energy source in itself and it is known that lactate is also an important signalling molecule in the nervous system i.e. triggers other cells to activate or not. And this signalling seems to be involved in brain cell growth and formation of new cells. The precise mechanisms, however, was unknown – enter Yidan Xu working in the team of Ryoichi Nagatomi at the University of Tohuku University in Japan.

They examined the role of lactate in the central nervous system and particularly in combination with a protein called NDRG3. This mediates gene regulation and in their experiments they showed NDRG3 is modulated by lactate stimulating plasticity and growth of new cells when present (that’s a very simplified summary).

So there you have it – not only do we know exercise is good for health, and good for your brain, we now know that lactate, that is a by product of exercise, is one of the factors that influences your genetic activation to build and grow brain cells.

If that’s not a good reason to exercise I don’t know what is.

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Andy Habermacher

Andy Habermacher

Andy is author of leading brains Review, Neuroleadership, and multiple other books. He has been intensively involved in writing and research into neuroleadership and is considered one of Europe’s leading experts. He is also a well-known public speaker, speaking on the brain and human behaviour.

Andy is also a masters athlete (middle distance running) and competes regularly at international competitions (and holds a few national records in his age category).

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References

Yidan Xu, Joji Kusuyama, Shion Osana, Satayuki Matsuhashi, Longfei Li, Hiroaki Takada, Hitoshi Inada, Ryoichi Nagatomi.
Lactate promotes neuronal differentiation of SH-SY5Y cells by lactate-responsive gene sets through NDRG3-dependent and -independent manners.
Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2023; 299 (6): 104802
DOI: 10.1016/j.jbc.2023.104802

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Light Activity Improves Brain Function

Light Activity Improves Brain Function

by | 2023 Jul 28 | Healthy Brains, Public, Quick Hits

Quick Hits
Daily brief research updates from the cognitive sciences

walking brain health

In the quest for fitness and health there has been a focus on exercise as a key factor – we all know that. And recommendations are normally about increasing heart rates over long periods of time or possible also shorter more intensive sessions. These have also been shown to improve cognitive function – making your brain more effective.

However, the route to greater health may be easier – or more specifically of enhanced brain function. The effects of light activity in the focus on more intensive and extensive exercise has been largely underestimated – and is considered by some to be a key factor in public health. Our engagement in light activity has over the decades decreased significantly – see my previous article here.

In this research just out Ryuta Kuwamizu and colleagues of the University of Tsukuba in Japan conducted a simple but effective experiment. In this participants did 10 mins of easy exercise – in this case light pedalling while seated. During this they measured pupil dilation because this is also related to brain function specifically executive function. Executive function refers to harder cognitive tasks such as decision making, short-term, memory, calculation, and analysis – basically what many consider the heavy lifting of the brain in our daily lives.

Yes, and indeed just this short light exercise intervention increased delation of the pupil and this was directly related to improved executive functions which was determined though scanning the frontal part of the brain where our executive functions reside with a technique called near infrared spectroscopy.

This therefore points to, as I have mentioned in other places, the significant benefits of short bouts of light exercise on improved brain function – something of particular interest to businesses no doubt. I have long since promoted the idea of regular short walking breaks – this shows again why. For a review of the benefits of walking see this article here).

Not that it has to be at work – a walk or light exercise will improve your brain function – and that is good for all of us, all the time.

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Andy Habermacher

Andy Habermacher

Andy is author of leading brains Review, Neuroleadership, and multiple other books. He has been intensively involved in writing and research into neuroleadership and is considered one of Europe’s leading experts. He is also a well-known public speaker, speaking on the brain and human behaviour.

Andy is also a masters athlete (middle distance running) and competes regularly at international competitions (and holds a few national records in his age category).

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References

Ryuta Kuwamizu, Yudai Yamazaki, Naoki Aoike, Taichi Hiraga, Toshiaki Hata, Michael A. Yassa, Hideaki Soya.
Pupil dynamics during very light exercise predict benefits to prefrontal cognition
NeuroImage, Volume 277, 2023.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuroimage.2023.120244

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A Surprisingly Simple Technique to Improve Learning and Memory

A Surprisingly Simple Technique to Improve Learning and Memory

by | 2023 Jul 27 | Learning Brains, Public, Quick Hits

Quick Hits
Daily brief research updates from the cognitive sciences

memory brain

“Imagine you are a master thief doing a heist at an art museum,”. These were the instructions, that may sound strange, at the start of a scientific experiment. All harmless of course and something we can relate to with many an entertaining film about master thieves.

This was all part of setting the scene in a computer game to measure memory in a clever experiment conducted by Alyssa Sinclair and colleagues at Duke University. But, and this is crucial, the instructions given differed slightly and this is what led to different learning and recall outcomes.

The potential master thieves, study participants, 420 adults in all, were told that they were in the moment of the heist itself or, alternatively, that they were scouting out the museum for a future heist. The virtual museum was exactly the same with four coloured doors leading to four rooms with different collections of art with some picture and collections being more valuable than others.

And these two mindsets labeled a high-pressure mindset, needing to perform in the moment, and a curious mindset gave noticeably different outcomes when measured the following day.

The following day participants logged back in and were queried on their recall of the paintings and their values. They were presented with a whopping 175 pictures, 100 from the game and 75 additional ones, and asked to identify them and place the respective values to them.

Those who were in the scouting, curiosity, mode, the curiosity mindset were much better at identifying the correct pictures and assigning the correct values to them.

It seems that this lower-stress state allows for better mapping of the world and therefore better memory and recall. However, it’s not all bad for the high-pressure mindset. Though recall was lower, they were able to more effectively identify the highest value pieces and subsequently “won” on collecting the most stash.

This highlights what other research has pointed to, namely that high-pressure is good for value-based judgements in the moment. This is the proverbial scenario of escaping from the threatening bear – if you are faced with a bear, scouting the environment and remembering this, is not the best strategy and immediate value-based i.e. save my neck, judgement is needed.

It also does show that curiosity is effective for learning and needs to be in lower pressure situations. This in our adult lives can, however, be challenging, as it can be for many businesses. We are often moving constantly from one high-pressure situation to another and this can therefore impede learning and recall (not to mention leave us in a constant state of stress).

So the big outcome of this is that for learning and recall, curiosity is the best mindset – and this is something that is free and accessible to all of us.

Curious to learn more? I reported previously that curiosity could be an inborn trait and the newly discovered brain networks that drive curiosity.

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Andy Habermacher

Andy Habermacher

Andy is author of leading brains Review, Neuroleadership, and multiple other books. He has been intensively involved in writing and research into neuroleadership and is considered one of Europe’s leading experts. He is also a well-known public speaker, speaking on the brain and human behaviour.

Andy is also a masters athlete (middle distance running) and competes regularly at international competitions (and holds a few national records in his age category).

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References

Alyssa H. Sinclair, Yuxi C. Wang, R. Alison Adcock.
Instructed motivational states bias reinforcement learning and memory formation.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 2023; 120 (31)
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2304881120

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