Behaviors & brains

“Others, however, say, "The self is identified with desire alone. What it desires, so it resolves; what it resolves, so is its deed; and what deed it does, so it reaps.”

— Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.5, 9th century BCE

The process of behavior change is fascinating, fun, and very challenging. In the spring of 2016, I undertook a big behavior change project. This is a short reflection on it. 

Because many behaviors can increase brain function and mitigate depression and other psychological disorders, even into old age, and because of who I am, I wanted to tackle all of them.

Behavioral habits that support a happy and healthy brain include:

-    Novelty and intellectual stimulus (Chopra, Tanzi, 2012, Nussbaum, 2015, Perlmutter, 2014, Tanzi, personal communication, May 2, 2016, Wexler, 2010)

-    At least 150 minutes per week of physical activity (Benedict, 2013, Servick, 2013, October 10).

-    A micronutrient rich diet high in potassium and DHA and low in saturated fats (Bourre, 2006, Fardet, Rock, 2014 , Stickgold, Walker,  2007, Winslow, personal communication, Feb. 7, 2016).

-    An average of 8 hours of sleep per night (Belenky et al, 2003, Lim, personal communication, Feb 22,2 016, Paturel, 2014, Walker, 2010),

-    Regular social activities (Ybarra, Burnstein, Winkielman, Keller,  Manis, Chan et al., 2008).

-    Meditation or a similar contemplative and brain calming practice such as prayer (Kabat-Zin, 2003, Lazar, 2011, Newberg, 2014).

-    Time in nature to provide rest for the prefrontal cortex and directed attention (Bratman, 2015, Logan, Selhub, 2012),

-    Resilience (Carson, 2013).

The difficulty for many, myself included, is twofold: behavior and lifestyle change within our societal, economic, geographic, and cultural restrictions. To change your behavior is very difficult and a long process requiring willpower and discipline. Change doesn’t stick until you have regularly incorporated the change into your life for six months (Why behavior change is hard, n.d.). And for many with fewer resources, less social and cultural support for positive behavioral change, an unfavorable geographic location, and less time due to the burden of multiple responsibilities—such as having more than one job or, as is the case of single, lower and middle income mothers with children, caretaking for children while also working for income—lifestyle inhibits change.

I am fortunate that I have some time, the natural location, and the social and cultural support, although the last is questionable. The world of the North American striving middle class gives lip service to exercise, meditation, and adequate sleep but not genuine permission. Our work weeks are long, the corporate and educational world is just beginning to incorporate physical activity and meditation, and economically and culturally legitimizing the labor of parenthood (particularly motherhood) and emotional labor is yet to find traction despite, or maybe because of, the feminist movement (Hochschild, Machung, 2003, Hochschild, 2012). Healthy behaviors are possible for parents and caregivers who are caretaking of children fulltime, yet in large part this work is unpaid thus, unsustainable. We have engineered what is good for our brains and bodies out of our income-producing and educational life. (Although Harvard stimulates intellectually, in other regards it may be one of the worst offenders.) To fit in exercise, meditation or prayer, a good diet, time with friends, and green parks to walk through into their day is a challenge for 97 percent of North Americans (Beck, 2016). Yet, it seems so simple.

It’s good practice for me to understand this challenge in my own life, so I can more empathetically and practically help others. What am I honestly going to continue to do? Luckily, physical exercise and a healthy diet, social life, and time in nature were already in my daily or weekly regimen. My focus now is on sleep, meditation, and stress resilience via appraisal, attitude, and problem-focused coping. I am also more aware of my need for novelty and intellectual stimulus. The scientifically based knowledge from class and personal awareness and experience from the behavior change project that these behaviors and habits keep me happy, intellectually sharp, and in an equanimous state of mind give me permission and encourage me to continue making them a daily priority. And, I’m also armed with the concept of self-compassion for those times that I struggle to fit it all in!

This quote taken from Harvard Women’s Health Watch is reassuring.

“Change is a process, not an event…Relapse is common, perhaps even inevitable. You should regard it as an integral part of the process…you learn something about yourself each time you relapse.”

References:

Beck, J. (2016, March 21). Less Than 3 Percent of Americans Live a ‘Healthy Lifestyle. Retrieved May 14, 2016, from http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2016/03/less-than-3-percent-of-americans-live-a-healthy-lifestyle/475065/

Belenky, G., Wesensten, N. J., Thorne, D. R., Thomas, M. L., Sing, H. C., Redmond, D. P., . . . Balkin, T. J. (2003). Patterns of performance degradation and restoration during sleep restriction and subsequent recovery: A sleep dose-response study. Journal of Sleep Research J Sleep Res, 12(1), 1-12. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2869.2003.00337.x

Benedict, C., Brooks, S. J., Kullberg, J., Nordenskjöld, R., Burgos, J., Grevès, M. L., . . . Schiöth, H. B. (2013). Association between physical activity and brain health in older adults. Neurobiology of Aging, 34(1), 83-90. doi:10.1016/j.neurobiolaging.2012.04.013

Bourre, J.M. (2006). Effects of nutrients (in food) on the structure and function of the nervous system: Update on dietary requirements for the brain. Part 1: Micronutrients. The Journal of Nutrition, Health, & Aging; 10(5), 377-385.

Bourre, J.M. (2006). Effects of nutrients (in food) on the structure and function of the nervous system: Update on dietary requirements for the brain. Part 2: Macronutrients. The Journal of Nutrition, Health, & Aging; 10(5), 386-399.

Bratman, G. N., Hamilton, J. P., Hahn, K. S., Daily, G. C., & Gross, J. J. (2015). Nature experience reduces rumination and subgenual prefrontal cortex activation. Proceedings of the national academy of sciences. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 112(28), 8567-8572. doi:10.1073/pnas.1510459112

Prince, J., & Carson, S. (2013). Almost depressed: Is my (or my loved one's) unhappiness a problem? Hazelden (Minnesota): Harvard University. Ch. 3, 8, Appendix- 47 pages

Chopra, D. & Tanzi, R. (2012). Five myths to dispel. Super brain. (18-39) New York, NY: Random House.

Elwood, P., Galante, J., Pickering, J., Palmer, S., Bayer, A., Ben-Shlomo, Y., . . . Gallacher, J. (2013). Healthy lifestyles reduce the incidence of chronic diseases and dementia: Evidence from the Caerphilly cohort study. PLoS ONE, 8(12). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0081877

Chopra, D. & Tanzi, R. (2015). Super genes. New York, New York: Penguin Random House.

Fardet, A., & Rock, E. (2014). Toward a new philosophy of preventive nutrition: From a reductionist to a holistic paradigm to improve nutritional recommendations. Advances in nutrition: An international review journal, 5(4), 430-446. doi:10.3945/an.114.006122

Hochschild, A. R., & Machung, A. (2003). The second shift. New York: Penguin Books.

Hochschild, A. R. (2012). The managed heart: Commercialization of human feeling. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Kabat-Zin, J. (2003). Mindfulness-based interventions in contact: Past, present and future. Clinicial Psychology: Science and Practice,10(2), 144-156.

Lazar, S. (2011). How meditation can reshape our brains [Videofile] Retrieved May 14, 2016, from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8rRzTtP7Tc

Logan, A. & Selhub, E. (2012). Vis Medicatrix naturae: does nature "minister to the mind"? BioPsychoSocial Medicine, 6(11).

Mu, C., Yang, Y., & Zhu, W. (2016). Gut Microbiota: The Brain Peacekeeper. Front. Microbiol. Frontiers in Microbiology, 7. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2016.00345

Newberg, A. (2014). The neuroscientific study of spiritual practices. Frontiers in Psychology, 5(215), 1-6.

Nussbaum, P. (2015). Brain health for the self-empowered person. Journal of the American Society on Aging, 39(1), 30-36.

Paturel, A. (2014). Sleep Well: Could getting more high-quality sleep protect our brains? Neurology Now, 10(1), 34-37. doi:10.1097/01.nnn.0000444223.41706.4a

Perlmutter (2014). The Gift of Neuroplasticity. (n.d.). Retrieved May 14, 2016, from http://www.drperlmutter.com/gift-neuroplasticity

Servick, K. (2013, October 10). How Exercise Beefs Up the Brain. (2013). Retrieved May 14, 2016, from http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2013/10/how-exercise-beefs-brain

Stickgold, R., & Walker, M. P. (2007). Sleep-dependent memory consolidation and reconsolidation. Sleep Medicine, 8(4), 331-343. doi:10.1016/j.sleep.2007.03.011

Walker, M. P. (2010). Sleep, memory and emotion. Progress in Brain Research, 49-68. doi:10.1016/b978-0-444-53702-7.00004-x

Wexler, B. (2010). Shaping the environment that shape our brains: A long term perspective. Hauptmann, D., Neidich, W., & Angelidakis, A. (2010). Cognitive architecture: From bio-politics to noo-politics ; architecture & mind in the age of communication and information. Rotterdam: 010.

Why behavior change is hard - and why you should keep trying - Harvard Health. (n.d.). Retrieved May 14, 2016, from http://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/why-behavior-change-is-hard-and-why-you-should-keep-trying

Ybarra, O., Burnstein, E., Winkielman, P., Keller, M. C., Manis, M., Chan, E., et al. (2008). Mental exercising through simple socializing: social interaction promotes general cognitive functioning. Pers. Soc. Psychol. Bull. 34, 248–259. doi: 10.1177/0146167207310454

Neurogenesis

The Rubin Museum, NYC. Poster for Brainwave 2017, Perception. 

Neurogenesis, the growth of new neurons in the brain, only occurs in the hippocampus according to Dr. Majid Fotuhi, whereas, we can create new synapses in the hippocampus and the cortex. The hippocampus is responsible for emotion, autonomic nervous system, and short-term memory such as where we put our car keys or the name of our new professors, the teachers and friends of our children, or the lyrics to the last song you heard right before heading into an exam. The name comes from Latin for seahorse because the hippocampus resembles the S shape of a seahorse. The fact that neurogenesis happens is exciting; that is only occurs in the hippocampus is perhaps unfortunate. If only neurogenesis occurred in all parts of the brain!

Neurogenesis and synaptogenesis, the creation of new synapses, are functions of neuroplasticity, the idea that our brains are malleable and can recover from damage, grow and make new pathways if they are treated well. Our brains thrive on lifestyle behaviors such as healthy food, physical activity, mental stimuli such as novel and complex experiences, enough sleep, stress reducing meditation, and social interactions.

If we feed our brains with healthy lifestyle behaviors—I like to think of these behaviors as fertilizer for our brains—neurogenesis and synaptogenesis will occur creating a more dense and resilient brain, also known as brain reserve. According to Dr. Fotuhi, brain reserve is like money in the bank: the healthier and denser the brain is, the more it is resilient to damage and potential future disease such as Alzheimers.

On the other hand, if we don’t engage in healthy lifestyle behaviors, or if we sustain head injuries such as concussions, the hippocampus will shrink. Shrinking also occurs due to depression and stress.

Single motherhood

It’s critical in the work of helping others to understand the underlying circumstantial factors and limitations of behavior. In my case, I am a single mother with three children in college, working for financial compensation part time and going to graduate school also part time. The related stress of single parenting during the high school years and consequent increase in cortisol, functioning to increase glucose availability and prepare the body to face perceived challenges, could be damaging to brain health (Hibel, L. C., Mercado, E., & Trumbell, J. M., 2012). But most would say my load has lessened since all three children are in school and in some ways it has. Yet, my children, ages 19, 19, and 21, are actually just older adolescents (Johnson, S. B., Blum, R. W., & Giedd, J. N., 2009) who need support, attention, visits, and real time, in-person love—not social media, texting, or even phone call love. We are just beginning to measure the time intensive emotional work of mothers (O'brien, M., 2005). In the context of brain health, if not in many other areas, this work of love is time well spent as it may mitigate the increase of stress-related cortisol (The Brain on Love, n.d., Love, Sex, Relationships and the Brain, n.d.). Yet, it’s a trade-off. And in my case, the trade-off is sleep.

The divorce rate in the United States hovers around 50%. Living alone, taking care of house, work, pets, bills, and maintaining friendships, and maybe beginning a new relationship takes far more time than when coupled in marriage or partnership. One person shoulders the fiscal, emotional, social, logistical, and maintenance responsibilities. Additionally, many women feel it is essential to reinvest their energies into a new career or additional education in order to have long term financial stability if, as I was, they mostly stayed at home to raise the children and not invest in career during the marriage. Jayita and Murali Poduval write that, “financial implications of living on a single income and economic aspirations compel a majority of women to get back to work” (Poduval, J., & Poduval, M., 2009).  This takes a lot of time. Again, it’s a trade-off. And again, it’s sleep. 

References

Hibel, L. C., Mercado, E., & Trumbell, J. M. (2012). Parenting stressors and morning cortisol in a sample of working mothers. Journal of Family Psychology, 26(5), 738-746.

Johnson, S. B., Blum, R. W., & Giedd, J. N. (2009). Adolescent Maturity and the Brain: The Promise and Pitfalls of Neuroscience Research in Adolescent Health Policy. Journal of Adolescent Health, 45(3), 216-221.

Love, Sex, Relationships and the Brain. (n.d.). Retrieved March 12, 2016, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-mindful-self-express/201210/love-sex-relationships-and-the-brain

O'brien, M. (2005). Mothers as educational workers: Mothers’ emotional work at their children's transfer to second-level education. Irish Educational Studies, 24(2-3), 223-242.

Poduval, J., & Poduval, M. (2009). Working Mothers: How Much Working, How Much Mothers, And Where Is The Womanhood? Mens Sana Monogr Mens Sana Monographs, 7(1), 63.

Intrinsic motivation

As an educator and school founder, I’ve been fascinated with the concept of self-determination theory and the power of intrinsic motivation (Kennedy, M., Barrera, E., Feb, 4, 2016, Segar, M. L., & Richardson, C. R., 2014). What motivates students to show up to class and pay attention? I created a structure at my school, Pacem School and Homeschool Center, in which all classes were optional. Once committed to the class after the first two weeks students had to attend for the semester. The result was consistent attendance and engaged students, which for this age group of middle and high school students, can often be a challenge. The only times when students were not engaged was when their parents had persuaded them to take a class. As director, I knew this dialogue well and tried to dissuade parents from pushing classes on their children.

It is not surprising that physical activity is much the same. Dr. Michelle Segar, PhD, MAPS approach (Meaning, Awareness, Permission, Strategy) approach encourages sustainably intrinsic motivation, i.e., a program which lasts (Segar, M., Feb 2, 2016, Segar, M. 2015). Once people discover body and mind benefits from physical activity it is a very strong motivator to continue. But for the program to stick, people need to feel they are in control and come up with a reason (or "why") for doing it that is personally meaningful. As she says in her book, No Sweat, “The right whys are relevant to our daily lives and personally meaningful” (Segar, M., 2015). With the right why, competence, relatedness and autonomy can follow and re-inspire (Kennedy, M., Barrera, E., Feb, 4, 2016). Once the student or client digs into the work and has connected to the meaning and purpose of the work, in increments and with time they can be competent.

The most successful week of the entire year at Pacem was the Mountain and Service Retreat when students signed up to climb two of Vermont’s tallest mountains and on the remaining three days, serve as volunteers for outdoor projects such as building puncheons for the Nature Conservancy or creating vegetable gardens for a home for transients. Students wanted to be outdoors and with their friends (the why), found meaning and purpose in the work (relatedness), could hike at their speed and had a voice in how to proceed with the volunteer task (autonomy) and completed big volunteer projects that visibly made a difference (competence or mastery.) At the end of the week, students often passionately voiced that they didn’t want the experience to end.

Kennedy, M., Barrera, E. (Feb, 4, 2016). Section for The Science of Physical Activity. Personal Collection of M. Ewing, E. Barrera. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

Segar, M. L., & Richardson, C. R. (2014). Prescribing pleasure and meaning. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 47(6), 838-841.

Segar, M. (2015). No sweat: How the simple science of motivation can bring you a lifetime of fitness. New York City, NY: AMACOM.

Segar, M. (Feb 2, 2016), Lecture for The Science of Physical Activity. Personal Collection of M. Segar. Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

Risk of Efficiency

What and by which measurements are we measuring?

What are we measuring? What are we not measuring? Is the productivity paradigm healthy? Is it progress to level up?

Robert Paarlberg states that in Stage One countries “without increased access to markets, improved technologies, health services, and schooling, productivity will remain low” (Paarlberg, 2011).

View fullsize

To start with the last piece of that concept, lower productivity levels may allow other valuable factors contributing to the health of the community, which may be at risk when productivity is high.

In my work with the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) installing a potable water system in Mexico’s high Sierra for a tiny, off-the-grid village called Bermudez (which was not yet on the map), community cohesion and lifestyle were valued equally to productivity; the villagers had time to drink coffee with neighbors, to ride up to the plateau across streams and through the woods to trade goods, to listen or dance with friends to ballads played on the porch. People laughed and sung and danced and moved their bodies in nature a lot. Are we measuring happiness? Physical activity? Positive social interaction? Immersion in nature?

[I’d like to note here that the Quakers wait until the community asks for their help and takes full responsibility for deciding the course of action.]

The productivity paradigm is at odds with the health of the community. Access to markets, better roads and transportation, is a two-way street— excuse the pun. It would most likely lead to foreign investment and market integration, which is shown to correlate to unhealthy food consumption (Stuckler, McKee, Ebrahim, Basu, 2012). In Bermudez, there were no soft drinks and no packaged food.

Improved technologies are costly to buy and to service creating dependency on external markets, most likely some foreign. This dependency pressures remote communities to move away from trade within the community and neighboring communities, and to create cash flow to pay for technological goods and services by increasing productivity, specifically of commodities in demand from external consumers. Is this paradigm healthy for the community?

Finally, what is valuable schooling for each community? In Helena Norberg Hodge’s work detailed in her book Ancient Futures (2009), for centuries children in Ladakh learned from their families and elders how to live sustainably in the harsh climate of northeastern India. When taken from their homes and land to go to “school”, they studied foreign subjects and concepts that had little to do with their lives. Additionally, they were exposed to foreign marketing that extolled Aryan physical qualities and western values and lifestyles and devalued local ones, and were separated from their families and the meaningful work and healthy food they had in their communities, tearing the fabric of their ancient and successful community system. Is that progress?

As I have no right to insist that remote communities are better if unexposed to foreign meddling, neither do others have the right to assume that productivity, “access to markets”, and “schooling” is better for health of these the communities. Self-determination may be the better answer.

***

And we need to reconsider our arrogance towards people who labor hard on their "inefficient" farms. They are moving their bodies, creating community, talking to each other, outdoors, in nature while highly capitalized farms rely on expensive machinery, reduce human movement to the degree where farmers who were once lithe and fit are now combating obesity and depression. No doubt, the small farm life and growing carrots in rocky soil is taxing. I do it. But all the small farmers I know in Vermont who’ve been in the business for at least half a lifetime—and I know and have interviewed plenty—wouldn't give up their life if offered a million bucks and a starter castle. Well, maybe some.

References

Paarlberg, Robert. (2011). Governing Dietary Transition: Linking Agriculture, Nutrition and Health.

Stuckler, David; McKee, Martin; Ebrahim, Shah; Basu, Sanjay. (2012). Manufacturing Epidemics: The Role of Global Producers in Increased Consumption of Unhealthy Commodities Including Processed Food, Alcohol, and Tobacco.

Hodge, Helena Norberg. (2009). Ancient Futures: Lessons from Ladakh for a Globalizing World. Sierra Club Books.