Brainwaves - Quareness Series 79th "Lecture".
Hey Grim Reaper!
I've always thought of you as foe
But now I'm not so sure you know
Maybe you could be friend
And help my Mam to go.
You see she's here and she's not here
Her antenna's gone and
She no longer knows her way around herself of old
That old self-stealer has an unrelenting hold
And she's losing her grip I'm told.
Although it's not been easy to be witness
To her ghostly self both inside and outside my head
I've previously heard it said we may have only hope
And hope can truly dwell among the best of things
And the best of things should never die.
Hey Grim Reaper!
When you come for all to draw us deeper
I hope you really are a Gate Keeper
And maybe when my Mam is ready
You can gently wake the Sleeper.
It can sometimes seem that there's nothing we can do about Alzheimer's disease and that succumbing to this heartbreak is our eventual destiny, should we live long enough. But maybe this doesn't have to be so...maybe we could change our brain's destiny, without relying on any cure or advancements in medicine?
Our current understanding of the science involved here provides us with a picture of two neurons connecting at a point we call the synapse into which neurotransmitters (like glutamate) are released and where signals are transmitted...where communication happens...where we desire, feel, hear, see, think and remember. And the synapse is where Alzheimer's happens. During this communicating, neurons also release a small peptide called amyloid beta which is normally cleared away metabolised by microglia (the janitor cells of our brains). And most neuroscientists now believe that Alzheimer's starts when this amyloid beta begins to accumulate in the synapse - too much is released, or not enough is cleared away, and on piling up it binds to itself forming sticky aggregates called amyloid plaques.
It's thought that it takes at least 15 to 20 years of amyloid plaque accumulation before a tipping point is reached, whereupon a molecular cascade is triggered causing the clinical symptoms of the disease. Afterwards the glitches in memory, language and cognition are different than before...instead of eventually say finding your keys in your coat pocket or on the table by the door, you might find them in the refrigerator, or perhaps on finding them wonder what they are for. Technically we can describe what happens at this accumuated point as our microglia janitor cells becoming hyper-activated and releasing chemicals that cause inflammation and cellular damage. Indeed it seems they might actually begin to clear away the synapses themselves, with a crucial neural transport protein called "tau" becoming hyperphosphorylated and twisting itself into "tangles" which choke off the neurons from the inside. By mid-stage Alzheimer's we appear to be looking at massive inflammation and tangles and even cell death. In the circumstances the ongoing search for a scientific cure/treatment is now leaning more towards keeping our amyloid plaques from reaching that tipping point through developing a compound that will prevent, eliminate, or reduce the critical accumulation.
However, it's also now known that the way we live can influence the accumulation of amyloid plaques - good news in that there are things we can do to keep us from reaching that tipping point. For most of us the genes we inherit will only increase (or indeed decrease) our risk of Alzheimer's a little bit e.g. APOE4 is a gene variant that increases amyloid, but we can inherit a copy of same from either or both parents and still never get the "self-stealer" disease. In slow-wave deep sleep, our glial cells rinse cerebral spinal fluid throughout our brains, clearing away metabolic waste that accumulated in our synapses while we were awake...kinda like a power cleanse for the brain. But poor sleep hygiene (shortchanging yourself on sleep) might actually be a predictor of Alzheimer's given that a single night of sleep deprivation leads to an increase in amyloid beta. And indeed amyloid accumulation itself has been shown to disrupt sleep, which in turn causes more amyloid to accumulate...feeding a positive feedback loop that's quite likely to accelerate the tipping of the scales. High blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, smoking and excess "bad" cholesterol too have all been implicated in studies pointing to an increased risk of developing Alzheimer's with some autopsies showing as many as 80% of sufferers also having cardiovascular disease. On the other hand aerobic exercise has been shown in many studies to decrease amyloid beta in animal models of the disease, suggesting that a heart-healthy diet and lifestyle can help to counter.
The experience of having Alzheimer's ultimately results from losing synapses. The average human brain, however, has more than 100 trillion synapses and this isn't at all a static number - we gain (and lose) synapses all the time through a process called neural plasticity e.g. every time we learn something new, we are creating and strengthening new neural connections. In this way we can protect ourselves from experiencing the symptoms of A even if we already have the disease. In a study of 678 nuns (all of them 75+ years old) involving regular physical checkups and cognitive tests over more than two decades, scientists discovered (on foot of autopsies) clear indications of Alzheimer's (plaques and tangles and brain shrinkage) in some of their brains although none had shown any signs of having the disease during their lives. It's thought this was due to these nuns having had a high level of cognitive reserve...they had more functional synapses. It seems that people with more education, a high degree of literacy and who engage regularly in mentally stimulating activities, all have more cognitive reserve...an abundance of neural connections. Trust and belief in wellness are also positively indicated...even if they have a disease compromising some of their synapses, they appear to have many extra backup connections to buffer them from noticing that anything is amiss.
So it seems we can be resilient in the face of Alzheimer's pathology through the creation of as yet undamaged pathways (= our cognitive reserve) by learning new things which would best be rich in meaning, recruiting sight and sound as well as associations and emotion. And it's not simply a matter of retrieving information we already know (e.g. for crossword puzzles) because such is like revisiting old familiar territory, but rather there's a need to pave new neural roads, perhaps through learning a new language or musical instrument, visiting new places, meeting new people, reading a new book, etc....being aware always that we are more than what we can remember.
In constant communication with each other, the nerve cells in our brains generate electrical impulses that fluctuate rhythmically in patterns called brain waves which in turn are closely correlated with the quality of our lives...in our ability to think clearly and to feel good or otherwise, along with the healthy or unhealthy functioning of the various systems in our bodies including our stress level, etc. And these brain wave patterns have a lot to do with the amount of awareness we have...perhaps the most fundamental ingredient for creating and exercising choice.
The most rapidly fluctuating of these common patterns is that of normal waking consciousness (= beta waves going up and down between 12 and 30 times per second) which is positively associated with arousal, alertness, concentration and cognition. At their most rapid level, however, beta waves are associated with anxiety, disharmony and dis-ease. In this regard it's of interest that meditation for example is known to slow brain waves and this appears to be one reason why meditators seem generally less stressed, with fewer stress-induced physical symptoms and/or medical problems.
As we become more relaxed our brain waves slow into an alpha wave pattern fluctuating between 8 and 12 times per second. The slowest alpha is a state of deep relaxation where we’re neither quite awake nor asleep. At the quicker end we’re in a more focused but still very relaxed state e.g. when we’re so absorbed in what we’re doing/reading/seeing that we’ve blocked out all awareness of our surroundings. Alpha brain waves are also associated with the ability to learn, process, store and recall large amounts of information quickly and efficiently. Alpha too is the primary brain wave pattern of meditation and indeed it seems that meditators make more alpha than non-meditators, even when they’re not meditating. Here again is another reason why meditators are apparently generally healthier, feel a greater sense of well-being, experience more inner peace, and are more focused than the rest of us.
Slower still are theta brain waves fluctuating between 4 and 8 times per second - the pattern of dreaming sleep. These waves are associated with a number of extremely beneficial states (i.e. states of super-awareness) including increased creativity. Research indicates that when we suddenly figure something out, find a solution to a problem, have a creative idea, or see a connection we didn’t see before, we’re making bursts of theta waves in our brains. Theta is also associated with some types of "superlearning", as well as with increased memory abilities (especially the ability to move information from short term to long term memory) and our seeming to become sponge-like in easily soaking up information.
The enhanced awareness we experience in making more theta brain waves serves to increase our problem solving abilities. And this additional awareness enables us to see any problem in a different way making us much more likely to come up with creative "outside the box" solutions. It's relevant here that when the brain's potassium and sodium ratio is out of balance our neurons have trouble communicating, creating a brain fog that makes it difficult to think clearly, solve problems, learn, or focus our attention. Theta restores this balance.
Another benefit of theta and the increased awareness it creates, is having integrative experiences where we suddenly see say ourselves or other people or situations in an entirely new and more resourceful way. We realise we have a choice we didn't see before...options we previously didn’t have enough awareness to see.
Unlike the average person, long-time meditators are known to make lots of alpha waves with occasional excursions into "awake" theta. Again the ability to create these slower brain wave patterns (of greater awareness) appears to facilitate meditators in being happier, more peaceful, less stressed, sharper mentally and better decision-makers. And with increased awareness, instead of responding automatically, we can see choices the less aware don’t see, and perhaps more easily and naturally choose what serves best in any particular situation.
Our internal cognitive processes (which determine much of our experience of life) are generally meant to operate on autopilot. But in those difficult "short of resources" areas of our lives when we are feeling bad, behaving in ways we later regret, failing to take appropriate action, becoming involved with the “wrong” people or situations, or assigning self-sabotaging meanings to what happens...our automatic (unaware) processes hurt us. With more awareness, however, we can clearly see ourselves creating outcomes we don’t want, and quite naturally choose to stop undermining ourselves e.g. by dropping bad habits, recovering from addictive patterns and emotional problems, etc. In short...awareness creates choice.
Spending time in theta also reduces the amount of cortisol (the major stress hormone) we make as well as providing us with lots of relaxing endorphins. In addition our parasympathetic nervous system (“relaxation response”) is enhanced, while the sympathetic nervous system (“fight or flight”) is calmed. Researchers have even found that subjects who remembered past traumatic events while making theta waves quite often experienced a resolution of the trauma as if it happened to someone else and the emotional charge was gone. When we’ve been traumatised, we're naturally on guard against any repetition. If something reminds us of that trauma, we unconsciously recreate the same fear and anxiety and the same avoidance behaviours as those we experienced during the original episode...even if there’s no real danger. And any such reminder involving authority figures, taking a risk, being the centre of attention, asking for what we want, saying no, being criticised or anything else, makes us feel bad because our automatic internal processes are set to create anger, anxiety, confusion, guilt or some other self-sabotaging state whenever something triggers them. Awareness releases us from these old traumas and we can naturally choose not to re-experience the bad feelings and less-than-resourceful behaviours that don’t serve us.
Incidently theta brain waves are also associated with expansive mystical experiences, generating feelings of “oneness” and connection to everything...expanding awareness in a spiritual sense.
Delta waves fluctuate between 0.1 and 4 cycles per second and are generally associated with dreamless sleep although it's possible to remain alert in this very deep, trance-like, "non-physical" state. Apparently it's also possible that those who can make large amounts of waking delta may generally gain greater leadership abilities and become highly persuasive high achievers. And in certain delta frequencies it's thought that the brain can release highly beneficial substances such as human growth hormone, which we produce less of as we grow older...perhaps resulting in symptoms such as loss of muscle tone, increased weight gain, loss of stamina, and illnesses linked to aging. Spending time in delta can maybe slow the aging process and keep us young for longer?
In 2006 the Wall Street Journal published an article about research carried out by Dr. Richard Davidson (Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at University of Wisconsin-Madison) who had monitored the brain waves of experienced Tibetan Buddhist monks who were associated with the Dalai Lama. To begin with, the brain waves of these monks showed levels of brain activation far beyond that achieved by ordinary non-meditators (again a sign of increased awareness). However, the monks were also found to be making high amounts of gamma brain waves...apparently the result of up to 50,000 hours of a Tibetan Buddhist meditation practice designed to increase compassion ( = a feeling of loving kindness for all living things). Accordingly although fluctuating faster than beta waves (the high end of which is associated with anxiety and dis-ease, as stated above) these less common gamma brain waves (between 30 and 50 cycles per second) are positively associated with compassion and loving kindness.
It seems that alpha, theta and gamma all play a role in creativity...alpha readies the brain (after transitioning from the linear thinking mode associated with beta waves) and milliseconds before the intuitive creative moment, the brain makes a burst of ultra-fast gamma waves. And because the two waves are coupled together, this “gamma spike” happens inside theta waves. Being in alpha then sets the scene for creativity in allowing easier access to theta where the brain in turn begins to process and make connections between some number of seemingly unrelated stimuli. And as the brain connects these bits of information in a new way we make bursts of gamma waves. Indeed this is also what appears to happen when we have an integrative experience...where we suddenly see our lives or ourselves or a problem from an entirely new perspective.
Such evidence as we have suggests that when we experience the entire range of brain wave patterns on a regular (e.g. daily) basis, our brain gets better at creating them (in the same way that say practicing the piano enhances the parts of the brain that create musical ability). Then when we need to learn, remember, be creative, calm down, be more focused, enter a flow state, have more willpower or whatever, we’ll have access to the brain wave patterns that allow us to do so. In other words...
super-awareness becomes available to us...a state of mind that surely must counteract the impact of the likes of Alzheimer's disease?
Sean.
Dean of Quareness.
June, 2017.