Alpha Mind Blog

Well, I have a category on this blog called Brain Care, but I don’t post to it very often. Here, though, is a wonderful, straightforward article about how to keep the new neurons that grow in our brains.

Results showed that lasting increase was restricted to new neurons that appeared between one and three weeks before living in an enriched environment. This corresponds to the time when new neurons are extending their neurons in search of targets and their dendrites are developing synaptic contacts to the neurotransmitters normally used in the hippocampus. The new neurons that developed during this time window survived up to the four months of monitoring, even when removed the enriched environment. It would seem that the learning experiences encountered in a rich environment provide the stimulus needed to help new neurons get established into memory-forming circuits, but there is a limited critical time when this effect occurs.

Read the rest:

» New Neurons: Good News, Bad News   « Brain Fitness Revolution at SharpBrains

Heidi Miller is an ace. I’ve been a fan of her Diary of a Shameless Self-Promoter podcast for a long time.

Today she posts about Getting your passion up. Passion is the product of energy, and she’s talking about how to stay energetic in a high-demand, long-haul situation like a multi-day trade show. Well, it’s been some years since I “boothed,” but I remember some of what I learned. After you go read Heidi’s five tips, come back here for mine.

Back already? Great.

Before I give you my list, I’ll just say that my tips, unlike Heidi’s, are mostly about what not to do. Because for me, one of the secrets of being up is avoiding what gets me down.

Ok, here are my 5:

1. Live a normal life. Keep as close to your normal routines as you can. If you don’t normally stay up all night, don’t try it at trade shows. (Yes, there are important schmoozing ops, but most of these are high-value only while folks are still sober, which means you can skip the rest and get to bed on time). And if you’re a person who exercises (which should be a normal part of everybody’s brain care), keep as close as you can to your normal workout routine.
2. Take care of your feet. Remember Forrest Gump? Remember Gump’s platoon commander telling him about the importance of clean socks? Well, in a trade show environment, support matters even more than cleanliness. If you can get away with wearing support hose, do it. If you need more arch support in your shoes, get it.
3. Use sugar wisely. Some of us are more sensitive to this than others, but nearly everyone has a bit of a slump after getting a sugar high. Best to let your high come from tricks like Heidi’s and not try to jolt yourself with sugar, which lots of booths will offer. Avoid, avoid, avoid.
4. Use stimulants wisely. As with sugar, so with stimulants. If you have to stay really-up for a long time, you have to pace yourself. A strong dose of coffee early may give you a great morning but a less lovely afternoon. For many of us, the typical Chinese approach is better: cups of mild green tea several times a day, or half-cups of half-caf.
5. Know thyself. These tips are the things that have been most important to me. It took me years to learn them. (And I’d be vastly wealthier if I’d learned about my sugar sensitivity decades earlier.) Learn what works for you, and apply it. Start with lists like Heidi’s and mine, and customize for yourself.

And I have a special bonus trade show tip for those who, like me, are night persons:

• 5.5. Save your energy for after hours, and hire a pro like Heidi to be passionate on your behalf during the day.

Of course, the first 5 tips aren’t only for trade shows, but for any kind of mini-marathon you’re faced with in your business life. Any situation where it’s day & night, for multiple days in a row. And where, when you have to be up, you have to be really up.

del.icio.us Tags: trade,shows,tradeshows,boothmanship,energy,brain,care,braincare,exercise,showmanship

From the BBC, we get the news that Chocolate is ‘better than kissing’.

What’s “better”? How about “different”?

The article defines “better” as “a more intense and longer lasting ‘buzz’.”

I did a little interview with the loser of this competition, and I think he makes a very valid point in his own defense.

“I didn’t train for this contest,” said Kissing. “If I did, I’d be dead meat for what I’m actually meant to do. Sustained satisfaction? Dude, what kind of criterion is that? ‘Sall well and good if you ain’t got no stake in propagating the species. Look here, does chocolate care about making human babies? Not last I heard. I do, so I’ll be doggoned if I’m gonna leave folks satisfied with kissing! Getting folks’ lips together don’t get the job done, knowwtI’m talkin’?”

I know what he’s talkin’. I love theobromine, and chocolate helps me blog. But if it’s something bigger than a post I want to produce, kissing just might be the better stimulant, knowwtI’m talkin’? Y’all who want families, please don’t get confused about this.