Tag Archives: Strengthening

Enhance Your Brain Detox: Effective Tips for Strengthening the Glymphatic System

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X-ray image of a skull showing a colored brain and neurons

When neurons in the brain are active, they generate waste products.

Credit: Nick Veasey/Science Photo Library/Alamy

As we embrace the joy of the Christmas season, many are already thinking about detox plans for the new year, such as reducing movie watching or cutting back on alcohol. This leads to an interesting query: can we apply similar detox methods to our brains? After the festivities, how can we clear away any cognitive clutter?

The brain is naturally equipped to detoxify itself daily, flushing out accumulated metabolic waste that could be harmful. But can we assist in this vital process, potentially shielding ourselves from age-related cognitive decline and dementia?

Let’s delve into the glymphatic system, a newly uncovered pathway responsible for detoxification. This system effectively “sucks” away undesirable proteins and waste from the spaces between neurons, channeling them into cerebrospinal fluid (CSF).

“CSF circulates much like water in a dishwasher,” explains Maha Alattar from Virginia Commonwealth University.

This fluid systematically drains waste into lymph nodes, eventually allowing it to exit the body through the veins.

While the connection between the glymphatic and lymphatic systems is still not fully understood, researchers are increasingly focused on ways to optimize the glymphatic process. Enhancing this system could prove pivotal in combating cognitive decline and promoting healthy aging. Accumulation of metabolic waste in the brain is linked to symptoms such as declining cognitive function, increasing the risk of dementia and expediting Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease symptoms.

“The glymphatic system is fascinating,” says Nandakumar Narayanan from the University of Iowa Health Care. “Numerous innovative research efforts aim to better understand and quantify glymphatic functions, shedding light on human health and disease.”

Enhancing the Brain’s Waste Removal System

Are there ways we can enhance this waste disposal mechanism? Recent studies indicate that lifestyle changes may significantly impact its efficiency.

“The most proven method to boost glymphatic clearance is sleep,” notes Dr. Lila Landovsky from the University of Tasmania.

The glymphatic system is predominantly inactive during waking hours but reaches peak activity during sleep. For instance, in mice, CSF flow surges by about 60% while they sleep, enabling the removal of beta-amyloid, a protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease.

Though studies have yet to definitively establish that glymphatic activation directly prevents dementia, “the hypothesis is strengthened by evident links between factors that impair glymphatic clearance—such as sleep disturbances and sedentary behavior—and an increased risk for neurodegenerative conditions,” states Landowski.

The position in which we sleep could also affect glymphatic function. In 2015, Helen Benveniste and her team found that sleeping on one’s side improved glymphatic clearance in mice more effectively than sleeping on the back or stomach. While this has not yet been tested in humans, many types of dementia show strong associations with sleep disorders, suggesting sleep positions may be important in our fight against dementia.

Additional Strategies to Enhance Brain Detox

Emerging evidence suggests that other lifestyle choices, such as regular exercise, may also bolster glymphatic function. In April, a study involving 37 adults highlighted that only participants who completed a 12-week stationary cycling program experienced noticeable increases in glymphatic drainage, as observed through brain imaging.

“Research in mice indicates that glymphatic clearance can roughly double after five weeks of regular exercise in comparison to sedentary mice,” says Landowski. “However, short-term studies in mice have yet to be performed.”

Further examination of the glymphatic system may uncover additional methods to enhance its function. Lymphatic vessels connected to CSF are located deep in the neck, making direct manipulation challenging, but researchers led by Ko Young Gu at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology have identified another lymphatic network directly beneath the skin of monkeys and mice’s facial and neck areas.

In experiments, gentle downward stroking of the face and neck in mice tripled CSF flow, effectively rejuvenating older animals’ flow to a more youthful state.

Similar vessels have been detected in human cadavers, suggesting that facial and neck massages could potentially enhance CSF flow, aiding in glymphatic clearance. Nonetheless, more research is needed to substantiate these claims and verify whether this enhanced flow can shield against neurodegenerative disorders.

Promising Evidence Supporting Yoga and Breathing Techniques

One exercise that should not be overlooked is yoga breathing. Hamid Jalillian from the University of California, Irvine, notes that diaphragmatic breathing has robust evidence supporting its ability to increase CSF velocity, effectively activating a glymphatic “rinse cycle.”

Diaphragmatic breathing is characterized by keeping the chest relatively still while moving the abdomen outward and lowering the diaphragm as you inhale through your nose. Conclude the cycle by exhaling through pursed lips while retracting your belly.

Unexplored Potential

Despite the enthusiasm surrounding the glymphatic system, our comprehension of its intricate workings is still developing. Not everyone is convinced we possess enough knowledge to prescribe specific interventions at this time. “We are far from being able to accurately predict how a specific intervention, like exercise, will influence the glymphatic system. There are limited studies in both mice and small human populations, but nothing large-scale and conclusive,” cautions Narayanan.

Nevertheless, there is a sense of optimism. “The potential is immense, but these studies require meticulous and thorough execution,” he concludes.

For now, I’ll concentrate on essential routines—prioritizing quality sleep and regular exercise. These habits are crucial for overall health, but should glymphatic research hold true, they may soon play an even more critical role in keeping my brain clear, not just in the new year, but for years to come.

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Source: www.newscientist.com

Donald Trump criticizes Biden for strengthening US cyber defenses against Russian and Chinese threats

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The Biden administration is taking final steps to strengthen U.S. cyber defenses against increasing threats from China and Russia. They will address vulnerabilities across various sectors, including space and consumer electronics, just days before the administration changes hands. An extensive cybersecurity executive order has been issued as part of this effort.

This directive is expected to be the administration’s last major policy initiative before President Donald Trump takes over. The order aims to combat cyberattacks that have cost the country billions of dollars and caused significant damage to government offices.

A senior administration official stated, “The objective is to make hacking by China, Russia, Iran, and ransomware criminals more challenging and costly, demonstrating that the United States is committed to safeguarding our companies and citizens.” The order follows recent China-linked cyberattacks, including a breach of the U.S. Treasury and communication systems.

Key provisions of the order include the implementation of end-to-end encryption for email and video communications, as well as new requirements for AI-powered cyber defense systems and quantum computing safeguards. It also expands the authority of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) to detect threats across federal networks.

The order mandates that by 2027, federal agencies must only purchase internet-connected devices carrying the “Cybertrust Mark,” encouraging manufacturers to enhance security standards for products like baby monitors and home security systems. Additionally, stronger cybersecurity measures for space systems are called for in response to Russia’s targeting of Ukrainian satellite communications.

Amid uncertainties about the order’s longevity, Vice National Security Adviser Ann Neuberger, who led the initiative, plans to resign on January 17th, with the incoming Trump administration’s cyber team yet to be named. The order sets 53 deadlines for government agencies, ranging from 30 days to three years.

Despite the transition, administration officials remain hopeful about the order’s impact, describing it as an urgent response to a growing threat. The official stated, “Enhancing the defensibility of our national infrastructure and strengthening our ability to counter cyber attackers are bipartisan goals.”

Source: www.theguardian.com

Preventing Your Child from Catching a Cold: Strengthening with a New Approach

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“It is well known that the best way to prevent catching a cold is to stay in shape.” write Mariam Amankerdievna Sidikova Medical, Practice and Nursing JournalLest parents overdo it, she warns that only healthy children “can get stronger with hydrotherapy.”
While exercising may be your best bet, it’s not your only cold prevention strategy. Aman Keldievna, a researcher at Samarkand State Medical University in Uzbekistan, also recommends scrubbing. “Scrubbing should be done year-round,” she says. If done correctly, “scrubbing should begin with the arms, then the legs, chest, abdomen, and back.”
The hardening doesn’t have to be water-based: Amankerdievna also approves of air hardening. “Air hardening is a gentler factor and is allowed for children in any state of health,” she writes.
Sunbathing is another option, but hardening caused by sunlight can be problematic. “Sunbathing is only possible with the doctor’s permission,” says Amankerdievna.
We all know that
If you’re a good speed reader, it’s easy to keep up with all that’s known — just read the thousands of new research papers published every week — but not everyone is good at speed reading.
As a service to slow readers, the feedback aims to summarize some things that are officially well known, as evidenced by the scientific literature (see above), each of which is documented with a sentence beginning with “It is well known that…”
Here are some well-known examples:
Forgetful functors are well known. Cary Malkiewich and Maru Sarazola Writing in a preprint study: “It is well known that stable model structures on a symmetric spectrum cannot be transferred from stable model structures on a continuous spectrum via a forgetting function.”
It’s notoriously complicated. Frank Nielsen wrote in the Journal: entropy, Mentioned One is that “it is well known that the distorted Bhattacharya distance between probability densities of exponential families corresponds to a distorted Jensen divergence induced by a cumulant function between the corresponding natural parameters, and in the limiting case, the two-sided Kullback-Leibler divergence corresponds to the inverse two-sided Bregman divergence.”
Heinz Kohut’s paper on narcissism is well known. write In the journal Psychoanalysis, Self and Contextreminds us that “it is well known that Heinz Kohut’s work on narcissism led to a reevaluation of patients’ healthy self-esteem.”
Ronald Fagin and Joseph Halpern A new approach to belief updatingNote that “it is well known that conditional probability functions are probability functions.”
And Luca Di Luzio, Admir Greggio and Marco Nardeckia write: Physics Review Dassure us “It is well known The giant vector is yearning for ultraviolet (UV) completion.”
How many of these well-known things are known to most people? The answer to that question is unknown. If you know of any well-known things that are less well-known but should be brought to our attention, please submit them (along with documentation) to Well-known things, c/o Feedback.
Fascism Disease
Reader Jennifer Skillen shared in her feedback that thinking about thinking was what sparked her mother-son shared reading sessions, which began several years ago. The Very Hungry Caterpillar And now, embrace New Scientist, It also contains other, more mature content.
“The other day, I started reading the cancer section of “How Do You Think About…?” [New Scientist, 25 May, page 42]And my son said, ‘Mom, why don’t you just read it and replace the word cancer with the word fascist?’ And I did, because I was fine with anything that concerned my son,” Jennifer says.
“To my surprise, the article was still very readable even with the substitutions. It made sense, but was very entertaining. It seems that both cancer cells and fascist cells can respond to changes in their environment and divide rapidly.”
Feedback agrees, and offers some excerpts from the article so readers can judge for themselves: “Cancer cells compete for nutrients and only the fittest survive…Cancer cells have evolved to be the best cancer cells possible, which is usually bad news.”
Jennifer and her son were wondering about other word pair substitutions that readers might have spotted. New Scientist The article states that substitutions “add meaning, increase knowledge, and make things more interesting.”
terrible
The question “what’s in it?” has generated many surprises, sometimes involving eels. Rohit Goel and his colleagues from the Pondicherry Medical School in India have uncovered one such surprise.
writing American Journal of Forensic PathologyThe researchers said:Unusual examples “The discovery of an interesting post-mortem remains: the presence of a moray eel among the corpses.”
The research team said that to their knowledge, “this is the first time such a discovery has been reported.”
Marc Abrahams is the founder of the Ig Nobel Prize ceremony and co-founder of the journal Annals of Improbable Research. He previously worked on unusual uses of computers. His website is Impossible.
Do you have a story for feedback?
You can submit articles for Feedback by emailing feedback@newscientist.com. Please include your home address. This week’s and past Feedback can be found on our website.

Source: www.newscientist.com