Do your brain a favor and turn off the television

BOOK NOTES by Dr. Joan Ruddiman

   So what’s up with television and brain growth? Not much, actually.
   TV-Turnoff Week is slated April 25 through May 1. It may just as well be called "Be Kind to Your Brain Week" given what is known from current brain research. All those moms over all those years who yelled at kids, "Turn off the TV, you’re gonna rot your brain!" were actually on to something.
   Here’s what we know and how we know it. First, the how we know is thanks to some remarkable technology, in particular the fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) that allows researchers to see inside the brain as it is working (functioning). The parts of the brain that are "engaged" (where blood flow is intense) show up on a computer screen as red, orange, yellow — hot spots. The cool parts that show up as dark blues and purples are inactive.
   Not only does the brain glow when it is interested, involved, engaged — active — it also grows. The brain has billions of little cells called neurons which hold bits of information. With the little tentacles attached to the neurons, called dendrites, information is gathered in and then shared (via axons) all over the brain. The more neurons fire together, (synapses) the more they wire together — creating more neurons and more brain!
   The brain is very discriminating about what actually gets into the sharing and storing process (called working memory.) Some researchers estimate that 99 percent of what hits the brain (from eyes, ears, nose, touch, etc.) is dumped. The brain (the hippocampus) just doesn’t need or want this information. However, when information does make it into the hippocampus, the next step is to find what is already known. Bits of information and connections to the incoming information are pulled from memory to create a new understanding. Neurons fire and the extended information is stored.
   This is what we call learning.
   Marian Diamond, the grand dame of brain research, explains that the brain responds to experiences. But the brain has to first be receptive — literally must be ready to receive rather than dump incoming information. Novelty is good. Surprise! Shake up the routine and the brain will "sit up and notice," so to speak. The brain also really likes to make connections to what is already stored (prior knowledge.) That’s what the hippocampus jumps to as soon as interesting stuff comes in, bringing old information (schema) forward to connect to the new information to "learn something new."
   But the strongest motivation to learn — to fire those neuron connections — is a need to know. Our curiosity, our need to answer a question fires the brain like nothing else.
   So what about TV and the brain? It may be — still theory here but based on some interesting evidence — that television is just too passive to jazz the brain. It seems, as Dr. Diamond says, that what makes it into the hippocampus and working memory are questions and stories, unusual stimuli (colors, sounds, new experiences), and our own need to know. If we are motivated to know about something, the brain is all over it to answer the question or satisfy our curiosity.
   When does television answer a question or satisfy a curious notion? Due to the nature of television programming, we turn it on to sit and watch whatever it delivers. Unlike reading or talking or using the Internet, we don’t go to television with questions. It is just a passive activity. As such, the brain is really bored and not much is firing or wiring up there.
   Now here’s the part about what we do know.
   In 1986, David Snowdon at the University of Minnesota began a study of aging with a group of nuns who lived in his city. The School Sisters of Notre Dame were old — many in their 80s and 90s. When Dr. Snowdon first met with them, he discovered that these women had daily journals they had kept since 1925. He realized he had the longest longitudinal study on aging in history with evidence of health and mental behaviors that spanned lifetimes.
   The Mankato Nun study is now famous for two major findings. First, Snowdon determined six variables that positively influenced the nuns’ mental and physical health.
   1. Drink water
   The brain is fueled by oxygen — using 10 times more than any other organ. Water is part oxygen!
   2. Eat sensible, balanced meals — six small meals preferable to three large ones.
   The brain is fueled, also, by glucose. Most foods break down into glucose, but better to have a steady stream of fuel than big influxes.
   3. Exercise daily (not strenuous, moderate walking works)
   Pump the blood — carrying oxygen and glucose — to the brain!
   4. Be intellectually active.
   These very old women worked crossword puzzles, read newspapers in several languages, took up new hobbies. My dear Uncle Ed who is well into his 90s began writing poetry in his late 80s. He writes at least one poem a day — which all rhyme as "that’s harder to do." Fire those neurons and create new ones!
   5. No television except "Jeopardy."
   Questions! The brain loves questions! The brain must be active to fire neurons. TV just doesn’t stimulate the brain.
   6. Prayer and meditation
   Keep the brain calm. We all have good stress and bad stress in our lives. "Dis"stress really is tough on the brain and body. Anything we do to relax helps to cut down on distress that negatively impacts the brain.
   Here’s the second revelation from Snowdon’s study. The nuns agreed to leave their brains to science upon their death. Autopsies revealed that many of the women had Alzheimer’s, though they exhibited none of the loss of memory or effects of the disease in their lifetimes. Further examination revealed that where the disease had destroyed brain cells indicated by holes in the brain matter (the Swiss cheese effect), new cells surrounded the area. The nuns literally were building new brain cells until they died.
   A long held assumption that the brain "wears out" and "begins to slip" as part of the aging process is absolutely not true. The Mankato Nun Study proves that even a brain under attack by disease can continue to flourish if properly nourished — with fuel and intellectual fiber!
   Groucho Marx said, "I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book."
   How right he was!
   The only way television can possibly be "good" for a child’s brain is if an adult watches with him or her, talks about what is seen, answers the child’s questions and poses interesting questions to the child. In short, make a passive act very active. The brain will wake up and neurons will fire.
   Even better, and a whole lot of research confirms this, read to your child. The brain loves stories. Imagination triggers intense brain activity. Who was the sage who said, "I had a mother who loved me. She read me books."
   Television is part of our life. However, it does not have to be our life. Take a week to turn it off. Discover the amazing things to do in your home, your community, with your family. Think how happy your brain will be!
   Need ideas? Visit www.tvturnoff.org.
   Fire some neurons. Turn off the TV today!
   Joan Ruddiman, Ed.D., is a teacher and friend of the Allentown Public Library.