One of the most important things we can have, as a business owner, high performer, or just human in general is a sharp memory. Being able to remember important tasks, client details and cherished life events is crucial for our success in business, in relationships, and life. Unfortunately, many of the clients who seek out my coaching feel as though their memory is “shot.” It’s hard for them to remember what they had for breakfast this morning, not to mention that meeting they were supposed to have an hour ago. I’m sure many of you reading this can relate. A burden, embarrassment, and frustration for many, the inability to remember can have consequences that reach far beyond our day to day functioning, as it might even signal a deeper concern of a degrading brain and a future of neurodegenerative diseases.
This all being said, improving and protecting your memory is of utmost importance for anyone striving to reach their Peak in their work, but also those who want to improve their chances of living a long, healthy life. In this blog post, I’m going to talk about some of the processes that promote the brain’s ability to create, store, and protect some of our most precious information in the form of memories. These are the three of the processes I help my clients to enhance to help recover their memory function in the “NOW” and protect their memory for the future.
Neurogenesis
Neurogenesis is the growth of new neurons. It used to be thought that this process was impossible, and that the neurons you were born with were the ones you had to deal with for life. If you’re like me, your parents told you every time you hit your head that, “you just lost a few hundred brain cells that will never be regrown!” Luckily for many of us (who may have lost a few too many brain cells in college…) in 1998 it was established that even through adulthood, we have the ability to produce new brain cells (Sierra, Encinas, & Maletic-Savatic, 2011). What does this have to do with memory? The formation of new neurons in key brain areas involved in memory, such as the Dentate Gyrus, is crucial for cognitive processes such as learning and memory. Research is suggesting that a dysregulation of adult neurogenesis may be associated with cognitive decline due to neurodegenerative diseases (Toda et al., 2019). Studies have shown that increasing or decreasing neurogenesis either sped up or slowed down the recovery of memory capacity, respectively (Alam et al., 2018), and increasing neurogenesis improves subsequent learning (Scott et al., 2021). How is all of this possible? Do you remember that vacation you went on when you were 13 years old? Or the name of your best friend’s dog in elementary school? Probably not. That’s because neurogenesis aids in forgetting. You read that right, forgetting is an essential part of memory formation! By clearing out old, not-so-important memories, it allows for the encoding of new memories without interference from old ones (Scott et al., 2021).
Butyrate Production
Butyrate is the most important Short-Chain Fatty Acid when it comes to cognition. Butyrate is shown to serve several benefits as it relates to memory:
- It is capable of facilitating long term potentiation (LTP), the cellular mechanism behind creating and storing new memories (Mohajeri et al., 2018).
- It helps to reduce inflammation, which can be associated with neuronal cell death and memory impairments (Meijer, de Vos, & Priebe, 2010).
- It facilitates neuronal plasticity (an important sidekick to neurogenesis), and memory formation.
- It can even serve a protective effect in neurodegenerative diseases, where it helps to partially restore neuronal function (Mohajeri et al., 2018).
- Finally, butyrate raises levels of BDNF, a memory-boosting protein you’ll learn about in just a moment (Canani, Di Costanzo, & Leone, 2012).
This fatty acid is produced in the gut and is transported up to the brain, where it crosses the Blood Brain Barrier, enters the brain, and has neuroactive properties by which it influences neurological processes such as memory (Silva, Bernardi, & Frozza, 2020). All this to say, ensuring that your gut produces enough butyrate can improve memory formation.
Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) Production
A memory superhero, BDNF is a protein that’s found in the brain that promotes the creation of new neurons and protects existing neurons to ensure their survival. This is especially the case in the memory centers of the brain. When BDNF was sprinkled on neurons in a petri dish, the neurons were shown to sprout dendrites, the parts of the cell that facilitate communication between neurons. These dendritic spines are thought to be how we form and preserve memories (Lugavere & Grewal, 2018). BDNF also plays an important role in LTP (Miranda et al., 2019). Having high levels of BDNF can improve memory in the “now” but it has also been shown to promote brain plasticity over the long-term, a protective measure against cognitive decline (Lugavere & Grewal, 2018). In fact, it has been shown that those with Alzheimer’s have half of the BDNF in their brains compared to healthy controls, and raising their levels of BDNF might help to slow its progression (Aisen, 2014). Its role in neuron growth, survival, and plasticity is thought to underpin its impact on memory.
The importance of having a sharp memory can’t be emphasized enough. To reach your Peak in your business, and in life, you need to make sure your body and brain are working to protect your memory processes. Luckily for us, we can ensure that this is the case through our diet and lifestyle choices. By enhancing the above three processes, you will find you’re better able to remember client details, meeting notes, and your kids’ soccer game starting in 10 minutes. But, these are just three of the many processes that can improve and protect your memory. In my 1:1 MINDPEAK program, I work together with my clients to develop a lifestyle that enhances all of their processes necessary to protect their memory. To see how you can improve your lifestyle to improve your memory, sign up for a FREE 30 minute coaching session here. In this session we’ll discuss a plan that fits YOUR needs, YOUR health, and YOUR memory. Your clients, team members, spouse and kids will thank you!
If you’re tired of forgetting meetings, client details, and anniversaries, or you just want to decrease your risk of developing a devastating neurodegenerative disorder, I want to work with you. My 1:1 MINDPEAK program is designed to help you do just that. To see if you’d be a good fit for this program, sign up for a FREE 30 minute coaching session here.
References
Alam, M. J., Kitamura, T., Saitoh, Y., Ohkawa, N., Kondo, T., & Inokuchi, K. (2018). Adult Neurogenesis Conserves Hippocampal Memory Capacity. The Journal of Neuroscience, 38(31), 6854–6863. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.2976-17.2018
Aisen, P. S. (2014). Serum Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor and the Risk for Dementia. JAMA, 311(16), 1684. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2014.3120
Berni Canani, R., di Costanzo, M., & Leone, L. (2012). The epigenetic effects of butyrate: potential therapeutic implications for clinical practice. Clinical Epigenetics, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/1868-7083-4-4
Bracko, O., Njiru, B. N., Swallow, M., Ali, M., Haft-Javaherian, M., & Schaffer, C. B. (2019). Increasing cerebral blood flow improves cognition into late stages in Alzheimer’s disease mice. Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism, 40(7), 1441–1452. https://doi.org/10.1177/0271678×19873658
Meijer, K., de Vos, P., & Priebe, M. G. (2010). Butyrate and other short-chain fatty acids as modulators of immunity: what relevance for health? Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care, 13(6), 715–721. https://doi.org/10.1097/mco.0b013e32833eebe5
Miranda, M., Morici, J. F., Zanoni, M. B., & Bekinschtein, P. (2019). Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor: A Key Molecule for Memory in the Healthy and the Pathological Brain. Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2019.00363
Mohajeri, M. H., La Fata, G., Steinert, R. E., & Weber, P. (2018b). Relationship between the gut microbiome and brain function. Nutrition Reviews, 76(7), 481–496. https://doi.org/10.1093/nutrit/nuy009
Scott, G. A., Terstege, D. J., Roebuck, A. J., Gorzo, K. A., Vu, A. P., Howland, J. G., & Epp, J. R. (2021). Adult neurogenesis mediates forgetting of multiple types of memory in the rat. Molecular Brain, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13041-021-00808-4
Sierra, A., Encinas, J. M., & Maletic-Savatic, M. (2011). Adult Human Neurogenesis: From Microscopy to Magnetic Resonance Imaging. Frontiers in Neuroscience, 5. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnins.2011.00047
Silva, Y. P., Bernardi, A., & Frozza, R. L. (2020). The Role of Short-Chain Fatty Acids From Gut Microbiota in Gut-Brain Communication. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2020.00025
Toda, T., Parylak, S. L., Linker, S. B., & Gage, F. H. (2018). The role of adult hippocampal neurogenesis in brain health and disease. Molecular Psychiatry, 24(1), 67–87. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41380-018-0036-2