Remembering what we want to remember can be tricky at the best of times but when the pressure of exams is added, it can feel like our mind is completely and utterly overwhelmed. Teenagers and young adults are most often under academic pressure to perform well and achieve highly. Inevitably, there will be lifestyle factors that can affect their cognitive ability. These can often be overlooked but are so important to take into consideration. A big one is stress. Obviously exams cause stress in all of us but when it gets to breaking point, cognitive decline is likely.1 Stress can cause a domino like effect. With stress comes anxiety, which can affect our sleep, energy metabolism and immunity. To stop stress taking hold of us, we need to do everything we can to stop it in its tracks.
Memory is essentially our permanent record of experience and internal model of the external world. This includes storing information about events and concepts differentiated into short term (working) memory and long term aspects. Our whole brain is essentially our ‘memory card’ comprising of different structures and elements including visual, auditory and emotional. However, modern life is very demanding of our brain function, with the constant need to multitask, remember, concentrate and articulate. We are constantly exposed to TV’s, computers, tablets and smartphones, stimulating the brain from all directions.
For our brains to work efficiently enough to deal with all this, our neurotransmitters need to be working optimally. These are acetylcholine, glutamate and dopamine, which are required for memory, stimulation and motivation. Healthy nerve cell structure and good circulation is vital to ensure our neurotransmitters are kept in check and nutritional factors are important here, but we will get to that later.
Is Your Body Clock Affecting Your Cognition?
We have all heard people describing themselves as more of a ‘morning lark’, ‘daytime finch’ or ‘night owl’, referring to the time of day they are most productive. There is some truth to this, especially when it comes to cognitive performance. It all comes down to our circadian rhythm or ‘body clock’, which is our 24 hour repeated cycle to ensure that we wake up, eat and go to sleep at the right times, which can vary from person to person. Academic schedules are often time sensitive, forcing our body to be more alert at certain times of the day, which all things considered, may be more demanding on some, compared to others. Students can actually feel unpleasantly ‘jet lagged’, reducing their academic performance significantly.2
Maintaining a social life is important at this age and it actually vital for maintaining cognitive health.3 However, the reality is that most students dealing with this intense expectation to achieve are likely to isolate themselves socially, creating intense feelings of loneliness. Again, this is a significant risk factor for reduced cognitive function.4,5
So what can we do to ensure our ‘memory card’ doesn’t run out of storage space?
Well, nutrition is an essential foundation for healthy cognition. It provides the raw materials that neurotransmitters require including choline, amino acids and B vitamins.
- Herbs like rosemary have a significant benefit on cognitive function, showing a reduction in cognitive decline.6 Sage improves performance, memory, reduced mental fatigue and increases alertness7 and recall.8
- Phosphatidyl Serine is a major phospholipid in nerve cell membranes9 and can improve cognitive decline,10 increase memory recognition, memory recall, executive functions, mental flexibility11 and verbal recall.12
- Low levels of B vitamins have also been associated with incidence of cognitive impairment13, particularly folate14 and vitamin B12.15 These help to support a process called methylation which is essential for making neurotransmitters. Vitamin B5 may be helpful as a precursor for the memory neurotransmitter acetylcholine.16
- Magnesium is one of the co factors necessary for neurotransmitter synthesis and balance, which is supportive for calming down the nervous system. 17 Lemon balm and L-Theanine have similar properties and have been shown to reduce stress response18,19 and anxiety symptoms. 20,21
- Fish oil, (in particular EPA and DHA), has anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties,22,23 provides nourishment for the nerve cells24,25 and supports the repair of damaged brain cells.26
As we mentioned, lifestyle can affect cognition, we would therefore recommend the following:
- Increase daylight exposure by going for a gentle walk or even just sitting in the garden for a while. People with low levels of vitamin D have a 60% greater risk of experiencing substantial cognitive decline.27
- Having a healthy sleep wake cycle and a well-balanced diet full of good quality protein is important for having sufficient daytime energy, blood sugar management, thyroid and adrenal function. Keep to a routine with a regular sleeping pattern (e.g. 10pm-7am per night) and no late night snacks! Time of eating is a crucial part of the diet and can be helpful to reduce glucose peaks and dips.
- Establish work-life balance, allowing time to socialise such as meeting a friend for lunch to break up the day. It is important to choose the relaxation technique which is meaningful to and sustainable for you to keep doing. Music has been shown to reduce cortisol in certain situations,28 as well as dancing29 and laughing.30
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References
1 Peters JL et al. Interaction of stress, lead burden, and age on cognition in older men: the VA Normative Aging Study. Environ Health Perspect. 2010 Apr;118(4):505-10.
2 Benjamin L et al. 3.4?million real-world learning management system logins reveal the majority of students experience social jet lag correlated with decreased performance. Scientific Reports 2018: 8 (1) doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-23044-8
3 Crooks VC et al. Social network, cognitive function, and dementia incidence among elderly women. Am J Public Health. 2008 Jul;98(7):1221-7
4 Bassuk SS et al. Social disengagement and incident cognitive decline in community-dwelling elderly persons. Ann Intern Med. 1999 Aug 3;131(3):165-73
5 Fratiglioni L, Paillard-Borg S,Winblad B. An active and socially integrated lifestyle in late life might protect against dementia. Lancet Neurol 2004;3:343–353.
6 Pengelly A et al Short-term study on the effects of rosemary on cognitive function in an elderly population. J Med Food. 2012 Jan;15(1):10-7. doi: 10.1089/jmf.2011.0005. Epub 2011 Aug 30.
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8 Tildesley NT et al Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2003 Jun;75(3):669-74.
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10 Crook. Phosphatidyl Serine in Alzheimers Disease. Psychopharmacol Bull. 1992; 28: 61-66.
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19 Unno K et al Anti-stress effect of theanine on students during pharmacy practice : positive correlation among salivary alpha-amylase activity, trait anxiety and subjective stress. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 2013;16(111C):128-135.
20 Lu K et al. The acute effects of L-theanine in comparison with alprazolam on anticipatory anxiety in humans. Hum Psychopharmacol. 2004; 19 (7): 457-465.
21 Cases J et al. Pilot trial of Melissa officials L leaf in the treatment of volunteers suffering from mild to moderate anxiety disorders and sleep disturbances. Med j Nutrition Metab 2011;4(3):211-218.
22 Hossain et al. Antioxidative effects of docosahexaenoic acid in the cerebrum versus cerebellum and brainstem of aged hypercholesterolemic rats. J Neurochem. 1999; 72: 1133-8.
23 Calon et al. Docosahexaenoic acid protects from dendritic pathology in an Alzheimer’s disease mouse model. Neuron. 2004; 43: 633-45.
24 De Caterina et al. The omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoate reduces cytokine-induced expression of proatherogenic and proinflammatory proteins in human endothelial cells. Arterioscler Thromb. 1994; 14: 1829-36.
25 Simopoulos. Omega-3 fatty acids in inflammation and autoimmune diseases. J Am Coll Nutr. 2002; 21: 495-505.
26 Calder et al. Inflammatory disease processes and interactions with nutrition. British Journal of Nutrition. 2009; 101 (S1): S1-S45.
27 Llewellyn et al. Archives of internal medicine, 2010; 170 (13), 1135-41
28 Uedo N et al. Reduction in salivary cortisol level by music therapy during colonoscopic examination. Hepato-Gastroenterology. 2004; 51 (56): 451–3.
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30Berk LS et al. Cortisol and Catecholamine stress hormone decrease is associated with the behavior of perceptual anticipation of mirthful laughter. The FASEB Journal. 2008; 22 (1): 946.11.
31 Peters JL et al. Interaction of stress, lead burden, and age on cognition in older men: the VA Normative Aging Study. Environ Health Perspect. 2010 Apr;118(4):505-10.
May 21, 2018
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