The Science of Brain Health and Cognitive Decline | Eric Kandel | Big Think
The Science of Brain Health and Cognitive Decline Watch the newest video from Big Think: https://bigth.ink/NewVideo Join Big Think Edge for exclusive videos: https://bigth.ink/Edge ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Lifelong learning is extremely important," says Nobel laureate Dr. Eric Kandel, "and the more we learn about life span the more important we realize it is." As people age, they're susceptible to two kinds of cognitive decline. One is Alzheimer's disease, and the other is Age Related Memory Loss (ARML). These operate very differently, and while Alzheimer’s is still an urgent mystery for scientists to unlock, researchers have found that ARML can be prevented, and to some degree even reversed, says neuropsychiatrist Dr. Eric Kandel. Things that can prevent and even wind back ARML are social involvement, learning new skills, learning a foreign language, physical exercise, a good diet and good health, and in the more micro view, a hormone called osteocalcin, which acts on the brain to enhance memory storage. Dr. Kandel explains the intricacies of this hormone, how to increase it, and the intriguing experiment that led to this realization. Eric Kandel's most recent book is Reductionism in Art and Brain Science. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ERIC KANDEL : Dr. Eric Kandel is University Professor and Fred Kavli Professor and Director of the Kavli Institute for Brain Science at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. His most recent book is The Age of Insight: The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind, and Brain, from Vienna 1900 to the Present. Kandel's research has shown that learning produces changes in behavior by modifying the strength of connections between nerve cells, rather than by altering the brain's basic circuitry. He went on to determine the biochemical changes that accompany memory formation, showing that short-term memory involves a functional modulation of the synapses while long-term memory requires the activation of genes and the synthesis of proteins to grow new synaptic connections. For this work, the Austrian-born Kandel was awarded the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRANSCRIPT : Eric Kandel: There are two major forms of learning: implicit or explicit or declarative and non-declarative. The simple form of learning, which I studied in Aplysia, which holds true for all invertebrate animals, is learning of perceptual and motor skills. More complex learning involves the hippocampus requires conches participation and it involves learning about people, places and objects. So two different systems, implicit learning, which does not involve conscious participation, involves a number of systems in the brain. In the simplest cases just reflects pathways themselves, but in other cases it could involve the amygdala for emotional learning, the basal ganglia for some motor tasks. So these are a variety of systems, but the hippocampus is not in any fundamental way involved. In the learning of people places and objects it involves conscious participation and it involves the hippocampus. The hippocampus is not critical throughout the lifetime of the memory, but it's critical for the initial storing and consolidation of the memory. So these are two very fundamental systems. Mammals have them both, invertebrate animals only have one. Life long learning is extremely important and the more we learn about life span the more important we realize it is. First of all it's pleasurable. Most people after a while realize when they acquire new knowledge about something that it's really quite an enjoyable experience. But also it's like doing exercise, in fact it's exercise of the brain. It's good for you. So as people age they're susceptible to one of two kinds of cognitive declines. One is Alzheimer's disease, which begins in the 70s but becomes almost an epidemic when people are in their 90s when almost have the populations has Alzheimer's disease. And the other, which was only recently appreciated to be quite distinct from Alzheimer's disease, is called age related memory loss. The difference between Alzheimer's disease in the sense that it starts earlier, it starts in mid life; it involves a different part of the brain it starts in the dentate gyrus, Alzheimer's disease starts in the entorhinal cortex. And it is prevented. You can prevent it. And also to some degree you might be able to reverse it. Read the full transcript at https://bigthink.com/videos/eric-kandel-on-memory-loss-lifelong-learning-and-brain-health
The Science of Brain Health and Cognitive Decline Watch the newest video from Big Think: https://bigth.ink/NewVideo Join Big Think Edge for exclusive videos: https://bigth.ink/Edge ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Lifelong learning is extremely important," says Nobel laureate Dr. Eric Kandel, "and the more we learn about life span the more important we realize it is." As people age, they're susceptible to two kinds of cognitive decline. One is Alzheimer's disease, and the other is Age Related Memory Loss (ARML). These operate very differently, and while Alzheimer’s is still an urgent mystery for scientists to unlock, researchers have found that ARML can be prevented, and to some degree even reversed, says neuropsychiatrist Dr. Eric Kandel. Things that can prevent and even wind back ARML are social involvement, learning new skills, learning a foreign language, physical exercise, a good diet and good health, and in the more micro view, a hormone called osteocalcin, which acts on the brain to enhance memory storage. Dr. Kandel explains the intricacies of this hormone, how to increase it, and the intriguing experiment that led to this realization. Eric Kandel's most recent book is Reductionism in Art and Brain Science. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ERIC KANDEL : Dr. Eric Kandel is University Professor and Fred Kavli Professor and Director of the Kavli Institute for Brain Science at the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. His most recent book is The Age of Insight: The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind, and Brain, from Vienna 1900 to the Present. Kandel's research has shown that learning produces changes in behavior by modifying the strength of connections between nerve cells, rather than by altering the brain's basic circuitry. He went on to determine the biochemical changes that accompany memory formation, showing that short-term memory involves a functional modulation of the synapses while long-term memory requires the activation of genes and the synthesis of proteins to grow new synaptic connections. For this work, the Austrian-born Kandel was awarded the 2000 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- TRANSCRIPT : Eric Kandel: There are two major forms of learning: implicit or explicit or declarative and non-declarative. The simple form of learning, which I studied in Aplysia, which holds true for all invertebrate animals, is learning of perceptual and motor skills. More complex learning involves the hippocampus requires conches participation and it involves learning about people, places and objects. So two different systems, implicit learning, which does not involve conscious participation, involves a number of systems in the brain. In the simplest cases just reflects pathways themselves, but in other cases it could involve the amygdala for emotional learning, the basal ganglia for some motor tasks. So these are a variety of systems, but the hippocampus is not in any fundamental way involved. In the learning of people places and objects it involves conscious participation and it involves the hippocampus. The hippocampus is not critical throughout the lifetime of the memory, but it's critical for the initial storing and consolidation of the memory. So these are two very fundamental systems. Mammals have them both, invertebrate animals only have one. Life long learning is extremely important and the more we learn about life span the more important we realize it is. First of all it's pleasurable. Most people after a while realize when they acquire new knowledge about something that it's really quite an enjoyable experience. But also it's like doing exercise, in fact it's exercise of the brain. It's good for you. So as people age they're susceptible to one of two kinds of cognitive declines. One is Alzheimer's disease, which begins in the 70s but becomes almost an epidemic when people are in their 90s when almost have the populations has Alzheimer's disease. And the other, which was only recently appreciated to be quite distinct from Alzheimer's disease, is called age related memory loss. The difference between Alzheimer's disease in the sense that it starts earlier, it starts in mid life; it involves a different part of the brain it starts in the dentate gyrus, Alzheimer's disease starts in the entorhinal cortex. And it is prevented. You can prevent it. And also to some degree you might be able to reverse it. Read the full transcript at https://bigthink.com/videos/eric-kandel-on-memory-loss-lifelong-learning-and-brain-health