In the past several hundred years, the ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids has changed dramatically from an original 1:1 ratio of our ancestors. Today the ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids varies from between 20:1 in general to as high as 45:1 in some mother’s milk. Infant formula commonly has a ratio of 10:1, but until 1997 none of this was in the form of DHA. This changing ratio of fatty acids appears to have serious implication for brain function. This excess of Omega-6 fatty acids affects Omega-3 fatty acid uptake and metabolism, because competitive inhibition of the Omega-3s by the more abundant Omega-6s reduces the concentrations of Omega-3s available to the cells of the brain. Because of the far lower amounts of the Omega-3s, especially DHA, in most people’s diet today it may be important to take a supplement containing these fatty acids to optimize your brain function. Indeed, supplementing with Omega-3 amino acids has been shown to increase the speed of nerve conduction and visual acuity, thus helping children with their physical coordination and reading. One condition that may result from or is definitely exacerbated by fatty acid deficiency, especially a deficiency of the Omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA is Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity (ADHD). Children and Adults suffering from ADD or ADHD and dyspraxia (poor motor co-ordination or clumsiness) have been shown to improve when their diets have been supplemented with EPA and DHA from fish oils. While the Omega-3 fatty acid, alpha-linolenic Acid (ALA), found in flax seed oil can be converted into EPA, and then EPA into DHA, this conversion is usually inefficient for most people, especially people with ADD and ADHD, and fish oil supplements have been shown to be superior to flax seed oil in improving ADHD symptoms. Good nutrition supports brain function. excerpt from Nutrition for the Brain. To order Nutrition for the Brain
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Fatty Acids and the Brain
Saturated fatty acids, such as sunflower and corn oils, and polyunsaturated Omega-6 fatty acids are also important in the structure and function of nerve membranes, but are abundant in most Western diets; in fact often too abundant in many people’s diet today. In contrast, the poly-unsaturated Omega-3 fatty acids are often deficient, especially DHA, the primary fatty acid in the brain controlling neural signaling and receptor activity. However, both Omega-6 and the Omeg-3 poly-unsaturated fatty acids EPA and DHA are needed for effective brain function. 
In the past several hundred years, the ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids has changed dramatically from an original 1:1 ratio of our ancestors. Today the ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids varies from between 20:1 in general to as high as 45:1 in some mother’s milk. Infant formula commonly has a ratio of 10:1, but until 1997 none of this was in the form of DHA. This changing ratio of fatty acids appears to have serious implication for brain function. This excess of Omega-6 fatty acids affects Omega-3 fatty acid uptake and metabolism, because competitive inhibition of the Omega-3s by the more abundant Omega-6s reduces the concentrations of Omega-3s available to the cells of the brain. Because of the far lower amounts of the Omega-3s, especially DHA, in most people’s diet today it may be important to take a supplement containing these fatty acids to optimize your brain function. Indeed, supplementing with Omega-3 amino acids has been shown to increase the speed of nerve conduction and visual acuity, thus helping children with their physical coordination and reading. One condition that may result from or is definitely exacerbated by fatty acid deficiency, especially a deficiency of the Omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA is Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity (ADHD). Children and Adults suffering from ADD or ADHD and dyspraxia (poor motor co-ordination or clumsiness) have been shown to improve when their diets have been supplemented with EPA and DHA from fish oils. While the Omega-3 fatty acid, alpha-linolenic Acid (ALA), found in flax seed oil can be converted into EPA, and then EPA into DHA, this conversion is usually inefficient for most people, especially people with ADD and ADHD, and fish oil supplements have been shown to be superior to flax seed oil in improving ADHD symptoms. Good nutrition supports brain function. excerpt from Nutrition for the Brain. To order Nutrition for the Brain
In the past several hundred years, the ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids has changed dramatically from an original 1:1 ratio of our ancestors. Today the ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 fatty acids varies from between 20:1 in general to as high as 45:1 in some mother’s milk. Infant formula commonly has a ratio of 10:1, but until 1997 none of this was in the form of DHA. This changing ratio of fatty acids appears to have serious implication for brain function. This excess of Omega-6 fatty acids affects Omega-3 fatty acid uptake and metabolism, because competitive inhibition of the Omega-3s by the more abundant Omega-6s reduces the concentrations of Omega-3s available to the cells of the brain. Because of the far lower amounts of the Omega-3s, especially DHA, in most people’s diet today it may be important to take a supplement containing these fatty acids to optimize your brain function. Indeed, supplementing with Omega-3 amino acids has been shown to increase the speed of nerve conduction and visual acuity, thus helping children with their physical coordination and reading. One condition that may result from or is definitely exacerbated by fatty acid deficiency, especially a deficiency of the Omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA is Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity (ADHD). Children and Adults suffering from ADD or ADHD and dyspraxia (poor motor co-ordination or clumsiness) have been shown to improve when their diets have been supplemented with EPA and DHA from fish oils. While the Omega-3 fatty acid, alpha-linolenic Acid (ALA), found in flax seed oil can be converted into EPA, and then EPA into DHA, this conversion is usually inefficient for most people, especially people with ADD and ADHD, and fish oil supplements have been shown to be superior to flax seed oil in improving ADHD symptoms. Good nutrition supports brain function. excerpt from Nutrition for the Brain. To order Nutrition for the Brain
Understanding Switching in the Body and the Brain
Understanding Switching in the Body and the Brain What Does It Mean? (excerpt) by Dr. Charles T. Krebs The concept of switching has been around in kinesiology since its early days, but few kinesiologists have an in-depth understanding of either the nature of switching or the different types of switching. The original concept of switching came from Applied Kinesiology or AK. In the AK model, switching was perceived as neurological confusion, usually related to cranial imbalance. In later Kinesiologies, switching was perceived as a polarity problem so that when switching was “on-line,” there was a reversal of the body’s polarity, and this reversal of polarity led to a reversal of signals sent out to the body, and a reversal of mental orientation. So if a person was switched, they would often point to the Right as they said turn Left. Likewise, when a muscle on the top part of the body was sedated, it would switch off the homologous muscle (muscle that does the same function) in the lower part of the body. From a neurological perspective there are two distinct types of switching: 1) A cortically based Projection Switching, and 2) A brain-stem-limbic based Survival Switching. Cortical Projection Switching is more superficial and results from “stress,” either physical, emotional or mental stress, causing a reversal of the output of cortical processing such that sensory input correctly processed in a specific cortical area is then “projected” to the wrong, and usually opposite part of the body; or the brain reverses its orientation relative to the body, e.g. confusing right and left. This switching is normally transitory, and only exists for the duration of the stress, e.g. you’re very tired one day and switched, but well rested and not switched the next; or the emotional situation stressing you one day has been resolved the next day so you are no longer switched. In contrast, Survival Switching is a much deeper level of switching caused by psycho-emotional factors that exceed your personality’s ability to cope. You cannot live long in a non-coping state, so the subconscious must do something to survive psycho-emotionally. It must somehow reduce stress levels to allow your personality to cope with your life’s circumstances once more. This Survival Switching occurs deep in the brainstem and limbic areas involved with survival, and since these areas are totally subconscious, we are unaware of their existence. However, once a survival program has become switched, it totally controls our overt behavior, particularly in stress situations, because the survival system neurologically fires first before conscious cortical areas are activated.
reprinted with permission from the author.
reprinted with permission from the author.
Dangers of the Sleepy Brain
I remember watching a study that compared driving after drinking to driving when sleep deprived. Turned out that it was MORE dangerous to drive when fatigued, than to drive drunk.
In fact, the first accident I was ever involved in was with a man who fell asleep at the wheel and slammed into my new car. He had just started working a night job, and was on his way home and fell asleep behind the wheel. I had just started a new job and had to be there at 6am. He nodded off. I honked. He hit me. The impact woke him up. Wrong place at the wrong time, although to be honest, it was ok. There was a line of school kids waiting for the bus behind me. Could have been worse than crunching my car. Much worse. 
In the Journal of Neuroscience (May 21), Duke NUS graduate med students in Singapore showed what happens to the visual perceptions of someone that is fighting to stay awake while driving all night. We lose the ability to make sense of what we are seeing. The brain starts to pulse on and pulse off. Think of it like an energy-saving system. It's trying to conserve energy, and function without the resources. It's doing the best it can. The back up plan is start to shut down what might not be as important. The image above of the blurry stuff makes sense in terms of what we know about vision.
The amygdala, your safety sentinel, makes 'rough images' in an attempt to quickly sort for danger. The amygdala then, is allowing the frontal lobes to rest as much as it can, and says "it's ok honey, we'll take over for awhile". Of course, it can only do as much as it can do. It's not visual, it's 'rough visual'.
The frontal lobe processing need the most fuel and are the first to suffer if there is a lack of sleep, good nutrition, oxygen. So, when we are sleep deprived, we don't see as well, we don't process as well, we make stupid choices, we take more risks. Think of all the high risk jobs people do at night-gives you pause doesn't it? Air traffic controllers, pilots, doctors, nurses, police to name a few. Truck drivers. 
Lack of sleep can cause break downs in the immune system. It can cause weight gain because of the added stress. It can contribute to cognitive breakdown and emotional breakdowns. Get your sleep! References:
How the Brain Rewires Itself
Time Health and Science had an interesting article on How the Brain Rewires Itself
The brain, the bio computer that runs us-can be influenced. The brain, the hardware of how we operate in the world, feel, and see, think, and come to conclusions-can be changed.
Of course it can!
Compensations
Everything in our body/mind/spirit/soul, is based on cooperation. Everything relies on information from other areas, that it then passes on, responding to. It is a beautiful interactive dance, with a synchronized flow. Our heart depends on the synchronized beating of 10,000 pacemaker cells beating together in cooperation. All the cells in our body work together. All the organs, glands, chakras, meridians, all the processes from digestion to respiration, work in cooperation.When everything is working right, our ‘System’ functions smoothly, much like a relay race, with handoffs occurring without a hitch. Our brain has information moving from one area to another, sending and receiving like an amazing switchboard or like the functioning of a super speed freeway. It flows along at a certain speed and pace.
For the most part, we don’t notice what’s going on until there’s a problem, and even then, there is an amazing neural-plasticity that occurs as the system reroutes its energetic messenger.
When everything is working it works great. But how frustrating is it when the super-speed freeway has a problem? Road construction, an accident, can really
hamper the flow! The same thing can happen in our brain. We count on it and we often aren’t paying attention until something isn’t working right.
But it’s even more subtle than that really. We compensate so that we still get things done, but the compensations take even more energy. As we get older, we become less efficient at compensating. I told people that it wasn’t that my memory was worse, it was that I wasn’t working as hard at it.
We can also slowly lose function over the course of time, and we will adjust to it.
The Survivor's Brain - laugh
When we are faced with insurmountable emergency situations, 90% of us freeze. Freezing is a deep survival strategy that is in the unconscious system, and under some circumstances can help us live when we might otherwise die. Here's what happens:
We hold our breath
Our eyes open wide
and our muscles lock
we literally become the "Borg" waiting for new instructions. What should we do? We will follow someone else's plan at this point if they should come up with one. "Let's all run and jump off that cliff"... and in unision we say "Ok!" and run.
In the apocalyptic movie "The Day After Tomorrow" when New York is yet again destroyed, the young man, armed with logic and his father's up to date information, says 'stay here' and the Police Officer, eyes open wide, says "Let's get outta here" and they follow him.
I mean come on-who would you listen to? A young teen, or a big strong Police Man with a flashlight?
Logical? No. Emotional. Yes. Reactionary? Yes. Deadly. Oh yea.
The part of our brain that makes decisions, especially decisions of life and death proportions, is no longer on line and we have no way of accessing it as long as we are frozen or in zombie land. Many people are found dead in wilderness situations that had things in their gear that would have helped them.
The brain wiring of a survivor may be different, or it may be the heart of a survivor. They have to stay awake, alert and attentive. They have to breathe. They have to begin immediately to access the situation and access what they have at their fingertips to help them. They spend little or no time feeling sorry for themselves, and they absolutely know they cannot allow themselves to give in to fear. Fear, or the adrenalin rush of fear, must be used to mobilize instead of immobilize because fear is a runaway train with no driver. Fear will cause you to jump the tracks and crash. Fear, unleashed, will cause us to destroy ourselves. Get angry. That's better than afraid. We need our anger, and there are times to summon it's power.
If you find yourself in a survival / emergency situation:
1. The most important and simplest thing to do to keep yourself thinking clearly, is to take deep, long, even breaths and keep breathing. Your brain is incredibly sensitive to changes in oxygen levels.
2. Pray. Sing. Count. Any rhythmic patterning will calm and center the brain and organize the brainwave patterns into cohesion.
3. Laugh. Yep. Find that dark humor hidden inside, and make a joke about the situation. When you can, you know you'll live. It's the oddest thing about us, but there you go. If you can laugh in the face of death, then it can't claim you. It's like finding the name of "Rumplestilsken".
When I was in a dire situation, on a mountain in Peru, doing a near vertical descent without adequate equipment, under a new moon, without flashlight, out of food and water, having my contacts blurred over and my hip joint lock due to the extreme pressure of the descent, I couldn't help but see the incredible stupidity of the situation and that I could well die. I began to joke about it, and then I couldn't seem to stop laughing. Was it hysteria? No. Well maybe. But! Laughing brings more oxygen in, and it chemically shifts the brain. It's one of the best and fastest ways to ease stress and chemically change brain function.
4. Chunk things down. I counted steps. In Qetchua. This focused my brain on something that was manageable and that I could be successful at immediately, and small successes are important.
5. Figure out options, supplies, and immediately start finding solutions. Mobilize your mental equipment so it's working for you instead of against you.
6. Raise your head up and look around and realize that you are in a spectacular moment that will never be the same. Plan your book about the adventure. Who is going to play your part?
Another terrifying moment, on a different mountain in Peru, my not-so-sure footed mountain pony began to slide down a shale incline towards the 1000's foot precipice that was now inches away, I sat up straight and said "I'm ready for my close up Mr. DeMille". I was simply on a set in an action adventure and I had read the script. The star does not die like this! The unnamed supporting actress maybe, but not the star!
And my friends, when you can do that, you know you will live. The Zen monk that is able to be completely in that moment, with no concern for the next, knows freedom from the drama. Free yourself and you will move beyond the hypnotic lock the situation seems to have over you. And you are also telling your neurology that this is just a moment that will end and you can see a future beyond it.
We hold our breath
Our eyes open wide
and our muscles lock
we literally become the "Borg" waiting for new instructions. What should we do? We will follow someone else's plan at this point if they should come up with one. "Let's all run and jump off that cliff"... and in unision we say "Ok!" and run.
In the apocalyptic movie "The Day After Tomorrow" when New York is yet again destroyed, the young man, armed with logic and his father's up to date information, says 'stay here' and the Police Officer, eyes open wide, says "Let's get outta here" and they follow him.
I mean come on-who would you listen to? A young teen, or a big strong Police Man with a flashlight?
Logical? No. Emotional. Yes. Reactionary? Yes. Deadly. Oh yea.
The part of our brain that makes decisions, especially decisions of life and death proportions, is no longer on line and we have no way of accessing it as long as we are frozen or in zombie land. Many people are found dead in wilderness situations that had things in their gear that would have helped them.
The brain wiring of a survivor may be different, or it may be the heart of a survivor. They have to stay awake, alert and attentive. They have to breathe. They have to begin immediately to access the situation and access what they have at their fingertips to help them. They spend little or no time feeling sorry for themselves, and they absolutely know they cannot allow themselves to give in to fear. Fear, or the adrenalin rush of fear, must be used to mobilize instead of immobilize because fear is a runaway train with no driver. Fear will cause you to jump the tracks and crash. Fear, unleashed, will cause us to destroy ourselves. Get angry. That's better than afraid. We need our anger, and there are times to summon it's power.
If you find yourself in a survival / emergency situation:
1. The most important and simplest thing to do to keep yourself thinking clearly, is to take deep, long, even breaths and keep breathing. Your brain is incredibly sensitive to changes in oxygen levels.
2. Pray. Sing. Count. Any rhythmic patterning will calm and center the brain and organize the brainwave patterns into cohesion.
3. Laugh. Yep. Find that dark humor hidden inside, and make a joke about the situation. When you can, you know you'll live. It's the oddest thing about us, but there you go. If you can laugh in the face of death, then it can't claim you. It's like finding the name of "Rumplestilsken".
When I was in a dire situation, on a mountain in Peru, doing a near vertical descent without adequate equipment, under a new moon, without flashlight, out of food and water, having my contacts blurred over and my hip joint lock due to the extreme pressure of the descent, I couldn't help but see the incredible stupidity of the situation and that I could well die. I began to joke about it, and then I couldn't seem to stop laughing. Was it hysteria? No. Well maybe. But! Laughing brings more oxygen in, and it chemically shifts the brain. It's one of the best and fastest ways to ease stress and chemically change brain function.
4. Chunk things down. I counted steps. In Qetchua. This focused my brain on something that was manageable and that I could be successful at immediately, and small successes are important.
5. Figure out options, supplies, and immediately start finding solutions. Mobilize your mental equipment so it's working for you instead of against you.
6. Raise your head up and look around and realize that you are in a spectacular moment that will never be the same. Plan your book about the adventure. Who is going to play your part?
Another terrifying moment, on a different mountain in Peru, my not-so-sure footed mountain pony began to slide down a shale incline towards the 1000's foot precipice that was now inches away, I sat up straight and said "I'm ready for my close up Mr. DeMille". I was simply on a set in an action adventure and I had read the script. The star does not die like this! The unnamed supporting actress maybe, but not the star!
And my friends, when you can do that, you know you will live. The Zen monk that is able to be completely in that moment, with no concern for the next, knows freedom from the drama. Free yourself and you will move beyond the hypnotic lock the situation seems to have over you. And you are also telling your neurology that this is just a moment that will end and you can see a future beyond it.
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