Lysine and aging dementias



It's not uncommon to come across new studies revealing potential links between the onset of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and a wide array of factors. These factors range from alcohol consumption, both excessive and abstinent, to various medical conditions like stroke, pre-eclampsia, high blood pressure, and even dietary choices such as soy intake and carbohydrate-heavy diets. Simultaneously, there is an extensive list of recommendations for preventing Alzheimer's Disease, including increasing physical activity, maintaining social connections, moderate alcohol consumption, adopting a Mediterranean-style diet (which includes soy), and minimizing prescription drug usage while


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What is cognitive reserve and how do you preserve it?



When I started to look for images for "cognitive reserve", the majority of photos that popped up were related to preservation - such as preserving different aspects of the environment. Not what I was looking for, but when you think about it, preserving your individual environment has a lot to do with preserving cognitive reserve. I have always been fully supportive of any efforts we make to preserve the environment that we have and in many ways, the same principles apply to preserving our cognitive abilities through the


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How to biohack with the Brain Gauge



The Brain Gauge is a device that aims to provide insights into various aspects of brain health and function. It's designed to measure brain function metrics and track changes over time. Biohacking with the Brain Gauge involves using the device to gather data about your brain's performance and using that information to optimize your cognitive function. Here's how you can use the Brain Gauge for biohacking:

Baseline Measurement: Start by taking baseline measurements of your cognitive performance using the Brain Gauge. This will give you a starting point to compare


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Treating chronic pain with brain training?



Can the Brain Gauge be used to decrease pain or improve brain function?
For many years, people have found modest success with treating different forms of chronic pain with different types of tactile stimulation (vibration, electrical stimuli, etc.). Results from those studies (and there were quite a few) are both divergent in terms of results obtained from tactile stimulation and inconclusive. In our own work, we demonstrated a reduced effect of high frequency tactile stimulation (this means we delivered 150 Hz vibration to the skin at the same time as


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GABA and lateral inhibition



The brain maintains a balance between two neurotransmitters: GABA, the brain’s main inhibitory neurotransmitter and glutamate, the main excitatory neurotransmitter. GABA, countering the stimulating effects of glutamate, functions to slow the firing of brain cells, inducing a calmed and relaxed state.

There are two types of GABA receptors: GABAa and GABAb. When GABA binds to a GABAa receptor, excited neurons are blocked, which leads to relaxation, sedation, sleep, and reduced anxiety. When GABA binds to a GABAb receptor, a more complex process is triggered, which reduces stress, boosts cognition,


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Weeding Through the Latest in Cannabinoid Research



"Marijuana", "pot", and "weed" are among a few of the street names used to refer to cannabis, a popular pyschoactive drug that is starting to become legalized for recreational use around the nation. While your parents might have warned you back in the day that "Sitting around smoking pot will turn your brain into mush!", there has never been any scientific data to prove any harmful or lasting neurological impact from cannabis use.

In fact, today, you might encounter someone who argues


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The best types of exercise for your mental health



Exercise is an incredible medicine. It can lower blood pressure, prevent diabetes, and alleviate the debilitating symptoms of chronic depression and anxiety. It’s even been shown to promote better skin health, improve eyesight, and ward off the aging process of cells.

On the other hand, not exercising can lead to mood disorders, arthritis - and not surprisingly - obesity and cardiovascular disease. The CDC estimates that inadequate exercise accounts for 11% of total annual healthcare costs in the United States - that’s just over $130 billion each year.


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Your child might need more time than you think to recover from a concussion



Children are resilient. They can often laugh off traumatic injuries that would send most otherwise healthy adults to the ER. For most of elementary school, there was more of my skin in tatters on the playground than on my knees or elbows, the result of daily high-speed bike crashes and padless tackle football games on the blacktop. (You might be wondering where my parents were during all this. Thank you, I appreciate your concern. They were usually at the doctor’s office with one of my brothers tending to an


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Autism: What kind of results could you expect from the Brain Gauge?



In another article, we discussed the nature of autism and how it guided the design of the Brain Gauge testing methods. One question that we often get is what Brain Gauge scores look like before and after treatment. We are often inquired whether Brain Gauge scores indicate if someone is improving or not.

Let’s take a look at one of the subjects in one of our autism studies. At the time, the patient was 22 years old, IQ in the 120 range and had an AQ of 38. He


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PTSD, inflammation and more..



Although it is has been considered difficult to treat (and sometimes diagnose), it appears that one underlying symptom in PTSD is neuroinflammation.

It is estimated that approximately 8% of Americans will develop Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) at some point in their life, but nearly 70% of the same population will experience a traumatic situation. So why do some people develop PTSD while others do not? As is the case with TBI/concussion, ethics prevents controlled studies of the development of PTSD, but there are other ways to tease apart


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