#5Thoughts Friday

The

Bingo

Edition



12/01/2023

36th Annual BIAMD Conference Call for Presentations!!!

Conference Date: March 21-22, 2024

Do you have a new presentation or research to share with the brain injury community at the 2024 Brain Injury Association of Maryland's annual conference?

If yes, we are currently taking submissions!!!

Photo by Emily Wade on Unsplash

5) Screen Time Might Change The Shape Of A Child's Brain. But What Does That Actually Mean?

Every parent knows that loads of screen time probably isn’t great news for our kids – but what exactly is it doing to their brains?

A new study has revealed time spent watching television or playing computer games has measurable and long-term effects on children’s brain function.

Every parent knows that loads of screen time probably isn’t great news for our kids – but what exactly is it doing to their brains?

A new study has revealed time spent watching television or playing computer games has measurable and long-term effects on children’s brain function.

The review of 23 years of neuroimaging research showed there are negative and positive impacts to screen time.

What did the study find?

The new research, published in the journal Early Education and Development, looked at 33 studies which used neuroimaging technology to measure the impact of digital technology on the brains of children under the age of 12.

In total, more than 30,000 participants were included and screen time was found to lead to changes in:

• the pre-frontal cortex of the brain, which is responsible for memory and the ability to plan or to respond flexibly to situations
• the parietal lobe, which helps us to process touch, pressure, heat, cold, and pain
• the temporal lobe, which is important for memory, hearing and language
• and the occipital lobe, which helps us to interpret visual information

Researchers said early digital experiences are having a “significant impact” on the shape of children’s brains and their functioning – this was deemed as both potentially positive and negative, but mainly negative.



CLICK HERE for more about this study.

Maria Garcia is a unique type of leader who subtly, yet powerfully influences others by modeling. In college, she double majored in Finance & International Business and spent her earliest years working in corporate. Now, she is the author of Breaking Into the Light, A Journey of Self-Discovery and Transformation which she wrote after a massive stroke turned her life upside down. After a recovery that lasted years, she discovered a food methodology that works and today passionately coaches WILDFIT® to help others in their own transformation by sharing with them how to reset their relationship with food, and thereby dramatically change their life experience. She is also a healer.

CLICK HERE to listen.

Photo by Maks Styazhkin on Unsplash

4) Good News – This Guilty Pleasure Morning Habit Could Increase Your Brain Power

If you find yourself repeatedly hitting the snooze button in the morning, you’re not alone. In fact, 60% of adults indulge in a little more snooze-time each morning and who can blame us?

When the mornings are darker and colder especially, who can blame us for snuggling for that little bit longer under our beloved covers? It maybe makes the morning a little bit more rushed but it is worth it, isn’t it?

Well, it turns out that not only is that little extra snooze time worth it, indulging ourselves with the snooze button could also be improving our cognitive function.

A worthy humblebrag, if ever there was one.

How the snooze button increases your brain power

Until recently, it was thought that frequently opting for 10-30 minutes extra time in bed each morning with scientists suggesting that these mini-cycles of five or ten minutes are harmful to the body and the best possible start to the day is getting up with the first alarm.

However, recent research from scientists in Sweden and Australia challenges this idea.

The scientists gathered 31 habitual snoozers in lab conditions and found that 30 minutes of extra sleep had either no impact or actually improved their cognitive abilities on a task undertaken immediately after waking, compared to regular snoozers who were forced to rise abruptly.

Tina Sundelin from Stockholm University, a co-author on the study said: “The findings indicate that there is no reason to stop snoozing in the morning if you enjoy it, at least not for snooze times around 30 minutes, in fact, it may even help those with morning drowsiness to be slightly more awake once they get up.”

CLICK HERE to read more.

Photo by Farhad Ibrahimzade on Unsplash

3) A new study on the Mediterranean diet offers the strongest proof yet that it’s associated with healthy brain aging

Adhering to the Mediterranean diet as one ages appears to reduce the risk of cognitive decline, finds yet another study—one scientists say provides the strongest proof yet of its benefits.

Researchers from the University of Barcelona in Spain followed nearly 850 French citizens over the age of 65 for more than a decade.

Participants were split fairly evenly between women and men, and all were dementia-free at the start of the study. They monitored a panel of biomarkers—like healthy omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA, found in foods consumed on the diet—every few years and performed five neuropsychological evaluations on each participant during the course of the study.

Those who closely followed the plant-based diet, rich in healthy fats—as evidenced by results of blood tests, not participant-completed food diaries or questionnaires—were less likely to experience cognitive decline as they aged.

Previous studies have examined the relationship between the diet and cognitive decline and produced mixed results, perhaps because participants didn’t accurately recall and/or report what they ate, researchers hypothesized. That’s why they opted to monitor diet adherence with biomarkers—an objective, versus subjective, approach.

CLICK HERE to read more.

2) Books We are READING This Week

Winning The War in your Mind

by

Craig Groeschel

We've all tried to think our way out of bad habits and unhealthy thought patterns, only to find ourselves stuck with an out-of-control mind and off-track daily life. Pastor and New York Times bestselling author Craig Groeschel understands deeply this daily battle against self-doubt and negative thinking, and in this powerful new book he reveals the strategies he's discovered to change your mind and your life for the long-term.

Drawing upon Scripture and the latest findings of brain science, Groeschel lays out practical strategies that will free you from the grip of harmful, destructive thinking and enable you to live the life of joy and peace that God intends you to live. Winning the War in Your Mind will help you:

• Learn how your brain works and see how to rewire it
• Identify the lies your enemy wants you to believe
• Recognize and short-circuit your mental triggers for destructive thinking
• See how prayer and praise will transform your mind
• Develop practices that allow God's thoughts to become your thoughts

God has something better for your life than your old ways of thinking. It's time to change your mind so God can change your life.



CLICK HERE to see more.

Photo by Aliona Gumeniuk on Unsplash

HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEKEND !



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