New research reveals clues about maintaining sharp mental function.

The deadline squeezes you like a vise. Your co-worker is out, leaving you to pick up the slack. A secretary notifies you that the CEO just wired in some new instructions and now your e-mail is on the fritz. Just when you least expect it, the client calls and asks you to find that invoice from two months ago. Your mind goes blank. What invoice? Where did you put it? What did it even say?

If you’ve ever held a job that involves any kind of stress, you’ve likely experienced its debilitating effects on your mental clarity. In today’s fast-paced world, the adult brain is asked to juggle and balance competing priorities and highly detailed information in ways our ancestors would have never imagined. Not surprisingly, it’s becoming more common for many to suffer from “mental burnout.” The mind goes blank. Short-term memory becomes foggy. Your ability to think wisps away like thin air.

In recent years, brain research has made amazing strides. Compared to 10 or 15 years ago, scientists have uncovered many mysteries behind the body’s most amazing organ. These findings have not only dispelled previously held notions about how the brain stores and retrieves important information. But specific research on stress and its effects on the brain has opened a new chapter in nutritional science. Now, more than ever, it seems possible to enhance your mental clarity and encourage sharp memory by employing a new class of “smart nutrients.”

Misconceptions About Perception
When most people think about brain function and memory, they tend to visualize the process similar to putting information in a filing cabinet: memories sit ready for retrieval. However, new research reveals that mental perception and memory retrieval is complex and sensitive to many external and internal factors (Ingvar, 1985).

As you may know, the brain contains a web-like construction of brain cells (called neurons) that can “light up” in a variety of ways. Scientists refer to these patterns as “neural networks” (Rolls, 1994). Each network consists of thousands of neurons that light up when they react to external stimuli (such as a sight, sound, smell, taste or touch).

Each time a specific pattern is lit up, an impression becomes imprinted on the brain’s neurons. For example, say you are visiting the Grand Canyon. The sight of the South Rim, as you look across the impressive geological features and the beauty before you, stimulates a specific neural net to fire. The neurons that get fired encode a memory in the brain about what you see, smell, hear, etc.

Now, say a few months later, you are talking to a friend and he or she asks: “Have you ever been to the Grand Canyon?” This auditory clue (the question) causes that neural net to get “lit up” again. As a result, you find yourself flooded by memories of the Grand Canyon. You might not only remember the sight of looking over the vast canyon, but you may remember who was standing next to you, what they were wearing, even how the air smelled or how a nearby bird chirped. Therefore, the brain does not store actual memories or photographic images, but rather “stores” the specific pattern of a neural network firing in unison (Kapur, 1995).

When you are trying to recall valuable information, what you are really asking your brain to do is activate the correct pattern of neural net firing. If a certain pattern has been stimulated in the past, the probability of it being re-activated is enhanced. That’s why you don’t have to think about driving to work every day; the pattern for that memory has been imprinted over and over again in your brain’s neural nets. However, if someone asked you to drive to a place where you’d been only once before, that neural net may be “dim” and require more mental effort to “light up.”

How Stress Interferes
Thinking of brain function in this way illustrates that memory is not static. It does not involve retrieving static pictures from a “file cabinet,” but rather is an active process that requires the brain’s neurons to continually maintain a high level of interaction. These findings also reveal why problems can occur. If your mental clarity depends on particular neuronal nets to “fire” or “light up” correctly, anything that interferes with those patterns can interrupt your ability to recall or retrieve information when you need it.

Stress qualifies as such an event. Research shows that high levels of stress produces elevated amounts of specific hormones (such as cortisol). Studies suggest that excessive stress hormones inhibit the specific processes involved in memory processing (Howe, 1998). In large amounts, cortisol can actually inhibit neuron growth and function, and in some cases, even kill brain cells (McEwen, 1999; Lombroso, 1998; Bremner, 1998).

Therefore, the key to enhancing brain function and memory processing may be as simple as “de-stressing” your mind. But for many adults, this is easier said than done. While day spas, personal masseuses and yoga classes can do wonders, you may not be lucky enough to make use of these stress relievers every day. That’s why many adults supplement their diet with specific nutrients that can encourage health brain functioning.

Breaking News About an Old Friend
Ginkgo biloba remains one of the most highly touted nutritional supplements to encourage healthy mental clarity. This herb—which comes from the world’s oldest living tree species—has been used as far back as 2800 B.C.E. Ginkgo experienced a revival of sorts when research suggested that those who took it experienced enhanced memory and mood. For example, a recent study conducted at University of Adelaide in Australia found that adults aged 55 to 79 years old showed improved longer-term memory during associated learning tasks (Burns, 2005).

For years, researchers have suspected that Ginkgo aids mental function because it helps encourage blood flow to neurons and other brain tissues. However, recent studies suggest that Ginkgo may also help counteract the mind-numbing effects of stress. Initial studies with rats found that Ginkgo helped lessen cognitive deficits brought on by an injection of a stress hormone (Walesiuk, 2005). Meanwhile, a study with young volunteers suggests that a single use of Ginkgo may ease stress-induced changes in blood pressure and may also influence cortisol release (Jezova, 2002). Plus, French researchers recently found that Ginkgo may affect the expression of specific genes implicated in the stress response (Soulie, 2002). In addition, new research highlights other so-called “smart nutrients” that can be used as part of a healthy supplement program.

What You Can Do
Thanks to cutting-edge research on how the brain functions and stores memory, you now have a better understanding of your own mental abilities. In light of the new information about how stress can compromise cognitive clarity, it makes sense to seek out a dietary supplement featuring smart nutrients. When combined with a healthy diet and other stress-relieving strategies, this natural approach can remove the fog and help make you feel sharp once again.

 

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