Probiotics and mental health: Dahi, idli, pickle good for your mood and brain function

 Website content extracted from: Probiotics and mental health: Dahi, idli, pickle good for your mood and brain function | Health Tips and News (timesnownews.com)

Kirti Pandey

Updated Sep 17, 2021 | 23:46 IST

Who would have thought that the brain's health is directly affected by the balanced of gut microbiota? No wonder our ancestors traditionally wove in fermented foods and probiotics like dahi etc in our diet.

Gut brain connection  |  Photo Credit: iStock Images

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• The body is like a matrix. Everything is connected. But did you know that your brain and gut have a different connection?

• There is not just you and your brain and gut but millions of microbes - the friendly microbiota from your guts that can make or break your mental health.

Harvard research shows that probiotics can do more than improve your gut health. They also may indirectly enhance your brain health and functions.

Probiotics are traditionally thought to improve digestive health, and they are often used to treat diarrhoea or bloating. According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, probiotics have some basic functions we already know about: 
•    Shaping the body’s immune system
•    Producing antimicrobial substances
•    Fermenting fibre in the diet to generate nutrients for the cells that line our intestines

Patients suffering from depression experience significant mood, anxiety, and cognitive symptoms. Currently, most antidepressants work by altering neurotransmitter activity in the brain to improve these symptoms. Now research shows that the gut and brain are connected, a partnership called the gut-brain axis. Harvard says the two are linked through biochemical signalling between the nervous system in the digestive tract, called the enteric nervous system, and the central nervous system, which includes the brain.

The Vagus nerve complex:
The primary information connection between the brain and gut is the vagus nerve, the longest nerve in the body. 
Vagus nerve, also called X cranial nerve or 10th cranial nerve is the longest and most complex of the cranial nerves. The vagus nerve runs from the brain through the face and thorax to the abdomen. It is a mixed nerve that contains parasympathetic fibres.
The gut has been called a "second brain" because it produces many of the same neurotransmitters as the brain does, like serotonin, dopamine, and gamma-aminobutyric acid, all of which play a key role in regulating mood. In fact, it is estimated that 90 per cent of serotonin is made in the digestive tract.

Brain and gut are interconnected:
According to the Harvard report, what affects the gut often affects the brain and vice versa. When your brain senses trouble—the fight-or-flight response—it sends warning signals to the gut, which is why stressful events can cause digestive problems like a nervous or upset stomach. On the flip side, flares of gastrointestinal issues like irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), Crohn's disease, or chronic constipation may trigger anxiety or depression.

The gut bacteria sent satiation signals too:
The brain-gut axis works in other ways, too. For example, just like your gut sends signals of hunger through the digestive tract’s various mechanisms that the brain reads, your gut helps regulate appetite by telling the brain when it is time to stop eating. About 20 minutes after you eat, gut microbes produce proteins that can suppress appetite, which coincides with the time it often takes people to begin feeling full. That is how when your gut flora is fine, you are less likely to overeat.

Role of probiotics in the gut-brain axis:
Scientists have been studying the gut-brain axis and the interactions between enteric microbiota, central and enteric nervous systems. They have researched how probiotics might fit in the gut-brain axis? Some research has found that probiotics may help boost mood and cognitive function and lower stress and anxiety. 

For example, a study published online on 10th November 2016, by Frontiers in Aging Neuroscience found that Alzheimer's patients who took milk made with four probiotic bacteria species for 12 weeks scored better on a test to measure cognitive impairment compared with those who drank regular milk.

A small 2013 study reported in the journal Gastroenterology found that women who ate yoghurt with a mix of probiotics, twice a day for four weeks, were calmer when exposed to images of angry and frightened faces compared with a control group. 

MRIs also found that the yoghurt group had lower activity in the insula, the brain area that processes internal body sensations like those emanating from the gut.

After thorough research done in Italy, doctors claim that strong evidence suggests that gut microbiota has an important role in bidirectional interactions between the gut and the nervous system. It interacts with CNS by regulating brain chemistry and influencing neuro-endocrine systems associated with stress response, anxiety and memory function. It's too early to determine the exact role probiotics play in the gut-brain axis since this research is still ongoing. Probiotics may not only support a healthier gut but a healthier brain, too.

Foods that contain probiotic factors:
Now, probiotics are not just the ‘good bacteria’ preparations sold by commercial outlets. The friendly bacteria flora is also present in other traditional Indian foods like idli, dosa, pickles, Dahi, kefir, etc.

Disclaimer: Tips and suggestions mentioned in the article are for general information purposes only and should not be construed as professional medical advice. Always consult your doctor or a professional healthcare provider if you have any specific questions about any medical matter.

How the Ecosystems in Our Guts Could Be Linked to Brain Disorders

 Website content extracted from: How Gut Microbiome Could Be Linked to Brain Disorders like Alzheimer's (gizmodo.com)

By

Jackie Rocheleau

8/27/21 3:20PM

Within our guts is a tiny ecosystem populated by trillions of microorganisms. These germs affect digestion, the immune system, and even brain functioning. Scientists have also started investigating the potential role of gut bacteria in psychiatric and neurological conditions, including neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. If gut microbes prove influential, this could reveal how these diseases work, leading to earlier detection and new treatment targets.

Neurodegenerative diseases progressively damage and kill nerve cells, causing problems with mental or movement function, and sometimes both. Over the past 30 years, these diseases have grown more common with the world’s increasingly older population, yet there are no cures and few effective treatments. Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases lead the way, affecting millions of people worldwide.

These diseases arise from combinations of genetic, environmental, age-related, and lifestyle factors, but in most cases, doctors can’t pinpoint a cause. Given that the brain connects with the gut, scientists are increasingly looking at the possible role of gut microbes.

Much of this research has focused on Parkinson’s, which is associated with gastrointestinal issues. But preliminary connections between the gut microbiome and other neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), are also emerging.

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Bacteria account for the majority of the microorganisms in our guts, and they’re in direct and indirect communication with the nervous system, which controls mental functions, movement, sensory perception, and automatic processes like breathing.

Through a two-way connection called the gut-brain axis, our microbes could be liaising with the brain via nerves and chemical pathways. For example, gut bacteria can synthesize neurotransmitters, the brain’s molecular messengers, and other chemicals used in the brain. When absorbed by the gut walls and into the bloodstream, these molecules can travel to the brain. The bacteria also interact with immune cells. This could indirectly affect the brain through immune cell signaling pathways, or, in late neurodegenerative disease stages, directly affect the brain. During the late disease stages, it’s possible that immune cells infiltrate the brain from the bloodstream, through more porous blood vessels.

“That leads to this big chicken-and-the-egg problem. Did the disease cause the microbiome to change, or did the change in the microbiome influence the disease?”

The role of gut bacteria in neurodegenerative diseases is still an emerging field of research. “There’s some rightful skepticism,” said Timothy Sampson, assistant professor of physiology at Emory University.

“It is still a relatively young field, so there are a lot of unknowns,” said Jan-Pieter Konsman, a neuroimmunologist at the University of Bordeaux. Until recently, studies of the gut microbiome and neurodegenerative diseases were limited to comparing microbial communities in people with and without the diseases. Most studies didn’t look deeper at the operations within those ecosystems.

“You’ve got to break down that community to understand those interactions,” said Maureen O’Malley, a philosophy of microbiology researcher at the University of Sydney. But in the past five years, groups are increasingly drilling into those interactions, studying which specific microbes and molecules could be involved in disease.

Parkinson’s disease, in particular, has captured the attention of researchers interested in the gut-brain axis. Gastrointestinal issues, like constipation, often occur in people years before they develop the movement-related symptoms characteristic of the disease.

“One of the cardinal features originally of James Parkinson’s diagnosis of ‘the shaking palsy,’ which has become Parkinson’s disease, was this observation of intractable constipation in patients,” said Lynne Barker, associate professor of cognitive neuroscience at Sheffield Hallam University. The fact that the gut is involved in Parkinson’s hasn’t been a secret.

Scientists look at bacterial genes in stool samples to approximate the bacterial composition of the gut. These studies have shown that microbiomes of people with Parkinson’s differ from those without Parkinson’s. These differences arise independently of other influences over the microbiome, like diet. “But that leads to this big chicken-and-the-egg problem,” said Sampson. “Did the disease cause the microbiome to change, or did the change in the microbiome influence the disease?”

In a small, preliminary study, Purna Kashyap, professor of medicine and physiology and co-director of the microbiome program at Mayo Clinic, and his team used mouse models of Parkinson’s disease and showed that mice needed gut bacteria to develop movement-related symptoms. In germ-free mice, ones without any detectable bacteria, fungi or viruses in or on their bodies, movement problems never materialized.

Studies in rats and mice have also shown that the gut bacteria Escherichia coli make proteins akin to alpha-synuclein protein clumps that form in the brain in Parkinson’s disease. In mice engineered to overexpress alpha-synuclein, Sampson has shown that this bacterial protein in the gut exacerbates both alpha-synuclein aggregation in the brain and movement symptoms.

O’Malley cautioned that while these animal experiments go deeper than earlier studies, they should be interpreted with caution, since animal studies often fail to replicate in humans. But, she said, “I think you can still get some of the suggestive findings that then allow you to build a better model of what’s going on.”

More recently, a few research groups have started looking for gut microbiome disturbances in other neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer’s. Protein clumps called beta-amyloid plaques disrupt brain cell functions in people with Alzheimer’s. Mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease also suggest a role for gut microbes.

“We have not learned the mechanisms that link that to the brain, and until we firmly know those, we’re not going to be able to develop effective treatments.”

“If you keep those mice germ-free, they don’t develop as many amyloid plaques,” said Barbara Bendlin, a professor of medicine at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. “It does really suggest that in some way there’s a link between microbes and the development of Alzheimer’s disease pathology.”

As a starting point in human research, Bendlin and her team have studied gut microbiomes of people with Alzheimer’s disease by analyzing stool samples. In a small study of 25 people with Alzheimer’s and 25 people without, they found that Alzheimer’s patients had a less diverse bacterial population and different amounts of certain bacteria. They also analyzed the cerebrospinal fluid, which surrounds the brain and spinal cord, of participants to look for relationships between Alzheimer’s-related biomarkers and the gut microbiome.

“We found that there were relationships between the gut microbiome and those cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers, even among individuals who were asymptomatic,” said Bendlin. “That suggested to us that maybe there’s a link between the gut and brain pathology that’s present even before people develop dementia.”

Scientists have also begun exploring links between gut bacteria and ALS, a disease in which neurons powering the muscles gradually die. In a study of mice with a genetic mutation known to cause ALS in some human cases, Eran Blacher, postdoctoral fellow studying the gut-brain axis at the neurology department of Stanford University School of Medicine, and his team showed that gut microbiome changes preceded ALS symptoms. Blacher said that indicated that such changes might have to do with the disease.

The researchers also found that certain gut bacteria produced molecules that altered the disease in mice. Giving the mice a probiotic supplement with that bacteria boosted levels of the molecule nicotinamide and improved their symptoms. Nicotinamide produces key chemicals for cellular pathways scientists think are involved in ALS. “So we can change the disease progression and manifestation by treating the mice with specific bacteria, which was very surprising,” said Blacher.

Blacher’s preliminary findings in a small group of human patients supported those results: People with ALS had lower levels of bacterial genes needed for nicotinamide metabolism in their stool samples compared to people without ALS. They also had lower levels of nicotinamide in their blood and cerebrospinal fluid. “We are not saying that we were able to cure ALS, or to change anything in disease progression in humans,” said Blacher. Rather, larger follow-up studies could reveal more about mechanisms underlying ALS and reveal potential therapy targets.

But overall, the microbiome’s role in neurodegenerative diseases remains mysterious. Barker’s group is analyzing data from a small feasibility study to see whether administering a common probiotic to people with Parkinson’s disease could change their microbiome composition or influence quality of life. Unlike earlier work, Barker said her group is looking beyond big-picture changes in microbial communities to zero in on specific bacterial species.

Still, studies are far from revealing microbiome-based treatments for neurodegenerative diseases. Even if some kind of probiotics or dietary changes were shown to be effective at alleviating some symptoms, it wouldn’t be a cure for these complicated diseases. If gut microbes are involved in neurodegeneration, scientists also need to figure out how this fits with other potential disease causes.

“We have not learned the mechanisms that link that to the brain, and until we firmly know those, we’re not going to be able to develop effective treatments,” said Bendlin.

Jackie Rocheleau is a freelance journalist and editor based in upstate New York. She writes about neuroscience, public health, and medicine. Follow her on Twitter at @JackieRocheleau.

To Mind Your Brain Health As You Age, Study Says Try This Exercise

 Website content extracted from: To Mind Brain Health As You Age, Study Suggests Aerobic Exercise (mindbodygreen.com)

July 26, 2021 — 23:07 PM

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As we get older, we all want to look out for our brain health and, namely, preserve our memory. According to a new study published in the journal NeuroImage, researchers have identified the best form of exercise to help with this, plus why it's beneficial. Here's what they found.

Looking at the effects of exercise.

For this study, researchers gathered 180 older adults who were considered healthy but inactive. They were separated into three groups, with one group focused on walking, one focused on dance, and one control group that did balancing and stretching exercises.

The groups met three times per week for six months. For the dancing group, their dance classes got progressively harder throughout the course of the study.

Before and after the six months, each of the participants had MRIs, as well as cognitive and cardiorespiratory tests, to see how their respective forms of exercise affected the brain.

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What they found.

Based on the findings of this research, it would appear that aerobic exercise is the way to go when considering which exercises are most beneficial for the brain. In fact, the regions of the brain that bear the brunt of aging seem to benefit the most from aerobic exercise.

For the people in the walking and dancing groups, the researchers observed increased white matter following the study, particularly in areas that play a role in memory and executive function. The group who walked even had improved memory after the study and were better able to recall memories from their lives.

And as far as the group who did balancing and stretching moves, they did not see any brain benefits but rather a normal decline in white matter.

The takeaway.

The bottom line is, after just six months of working out three times per week, the participants doing aerobic exercise achieved noticeable improvements in their brain health and memory. It's never too late to improve your brain health, which is certainly good news for anyone looking to get in better shape.

As graduate student and first author on the study Andrea Mendez Colmenares notes in a news release, she hopes their research offers a better understanding of white matter aging, and people will consider lifestyle interventions to help themselves (and their brains) as they age, "so they can live independently for longer and with better cognition."

While all types of exercise are important for various functions, if you're looking to preserve your brain health, this research suggests your best bets are aerobic exercises (like running, vigorous walking, swimming, or biking).

Sarah Reganmbg Spirituality & Relationships Writer

Sarah Regan is a Spirituality & Relationships Writer, as well as a registered yoga instructor. She received her bachelor's in broadcasting and mass communication from SUNY Oswego,...

Drinking beetroot juice can result in healthy ageing, says new study

 Website content extracted from: Drinking beetroot juice can result in healthy ageing, says new study - Hindustan Times

A new study published in the Redox Biology journal showed that consumption of beetroot juice results in the production of a mix of mouth bacteria that are associated with healthier brain function and blood vessels.

ANI | , Washington [us]

PUBLISHED ON APR 05, 2021 09:12 AM IST

The findings of a recent study suggest that drinking beetroot juice promotes a mix of mouth bacteria that are associated with healthier brain function and blood vessels.

The findings of the study were published in the journal 'Redox Biology'.

Beetroot - and other foods including lettuce, spinach, and celery - are rich in inorganic nitrate, and many oral bacteria play a role in turning nitrate into nitric oxide, which helps to regulate blood vessels and neurotransmission (chemical messages in the brain).

Older people tend to have lower nitric oxide production, and this is associated with poorer vascular (blood vessel) and cognitive (brain) health.

In the new study, by the University of Exeter, 26 healthy older people took part in two ten-day supplementation periods: one with nitrate-rich beetroot juice and another with nitrate-free placebo juice, which they drank twice a day.

The results showed higher levels of bacteria associated with good vascular and cognitive health, and lower levels of bacteria linked to disease and inflammation.

A diet low in Meat and Dairy and High in Plants Keeps a Brain Healthy

Website content extracted from: https://thebeet.com/a-diet-low-in-meat-and-dairy-and-high-in-plants-keeps-a-brain-healthy/

Think you can’t prevent Alzheimer’s? Think again. You actually have more control over your risk of dementia, Alzheimer’s included, than you might suspect, doctors now tell us. In fact, many experts say that most Alzheimer’s cases, at least 90 percent, can be prevented or at least delayed through a healthy lifestyle. That’s good news, considering that more than five million Americans aged 65 and over have been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, a population that’s expected to grow to 13.8 million by 2050, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.

While healthy lifestyle habits like exercising regularly and getting quality sleep are also key to the prevention of mental decline, a diet focused on plants also plays a significant role, studies now say.  “Evidence suggests that diet can play a decisive role in whether a person gets Alzheimer’s,” says Neal Barnard, M.D., president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) and author of Your Body in Balance and Power Foods for the Brain.

Researchers from Loma Linda University in California suggest that eating a whole-food, plant-only diet can lower their risk by 53 percent. “The myth has long been that Alzheimer’s cannot be prevented, treated or even slowed down,”  says Dr. Dean Sherzai, neurologist and co-director of Loma Linda's Brain Health and Alzheimer’s Prevention Program. “The truth is it can be prevented, treated, and slowed over time.”

So even if you have a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer’s, or someone close to you in your family has suffered from dementia, eating a mostly or fully plant-based diet can lower your risk, these doctors say. Here’s what you need to know to make it happen.

How Animal Products Can Damage the Brain

It’s no secret that the meat-heavy diet most Americans follow is bad for the heart, leading to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and coronary blockages, all part of heart disease. But what’s good for the heart is good for the brain, and the opposite is also true, as the standard American diet has deleterious effects on the brain, as is evidenced by numerous studies.

Take, for instance, just one study published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, which found that meat consumption was the highest dietary risk factor for Alzheimer’s. Also detrimental were eggs and high-fat dairy which raised risk of Alzheimer's--though not as much as meat did. Meanwhile, plant-based foods like grains, vegetables and fruits were found to be protective against Alzheimer’s.

Interestingly, the study also found that eating grains, fruits, vegetables, and fish are associated with reduced risk of Alzheimer's, but do not counter the effects of meat, eggs, and high-fat dairy. So it's not enough to add plants; you have to cut out animal products for the full benefit. Higher vitamin D intake is also associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer's.

Animal products are linked to increased risk of Alzheimer's but why does it happen?

So what is it about animal foods that seem to drive Alzheimer’s? Numerous factors are undoubtedly at play, but one of the most obvious ones may be saturated fat in animal foods. “Saturated fat raises cholesterol, which affects the brain in the same way it does the heart, and that could be the main mechanism,” Barnard says. And while saturated fat and cholesterol are directly linked with Alzheimer’s, they also increase risk factors for Alzheimer’s like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and greater inflammation in the body.

Here’s the surprise, though: Changes in the brain as a result of an unhealthy lifestyle start early, perhaps even earlier than you might imagine. Dr. Barnard points to one study that tracked cholesterol levels in almost 10,000 participants starting at age 40, and found that the risk of Alzheimer’s increased as cholesterol levels went up, linking the incidents of damaged arteries to more frequent occurrences of brain disease. Other studies have shown a decline in arterial health in kids as young as 12, meaning that changes in your brain could also begin to take hold in teenagers who have unhealthy diets.

Eating for Better Brain Health

If you want to improve your brain health and lower your risk of Alzheimer’s, the message is clear: Eat mostly or all plants, starting now.

By cutting the animal foods from your diet, you’ll eliminate the brain-damaging saturated fat and cholesterol these foods are high in. Not to mention that plants give your brain all the healthy nutrients and phytochemicals it needs. “A whole-food, plant-based diet provides the necessary macro and micronutrients for your brain to grow, thrive and connect,” says Dr. Ayesha Sherzai, neurologist, and co-director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Program at Loma Linda,  and co-author of The Alzheimer’s Solution.

Of course, you’ll be best protected if you eliminate all animal foods from your diet. “Even when people eliminate some animal foods but keep others in their diet, whether eggs, dairy, fish, chicken or meat, the saturated fat and cholesterol in those foods are more than enough to have noticeable effects on their cholesterol levels, body weight and other physical measures that affect brain health,” Dr. Barnard says.

Yet that’s not to say that even small changes can't make a difference. In one of Dr. Sherzai’s studies, every incremental step, such as eating a salad instead of a deli sandwich for lunch or adding a couple of servings of fruits to your daily menu, made a monumental difference in study subjects’ risk of stroke, which also applies to the risk of developing Alzheimer’s as well.

The Best Foods to Eat to Defend Your Brain

While the plant kingdom is loaded with brain-healthy food, there are stand-outs, such as leafy greens, which top Dr. Sherzai's list of "go-to" brain foods. “Greens have some of the highest nutrient contents, including polyphenols, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals that provide the brick and mortar for creating connection and infrastructure in the brain, while working as a garbage disposal for getting rid of toxic byproduct,” she says.

Second behind greens are beans. They’re not only high in antioxidants, plant protein, and other brain-healthy nutrients, they also have fiber, which can help lower cholesterol, Sherzai says. What’s more, they have a “second meal effect” that helps regulate your body’s glucose for 24 hours, which becomes even more critical if you’ve eaten something sugary. “Sugar is one of the major promoters of inflammation in the body, which damages the brain,” she says. Your body can handle a small amount of sugar but not in the excessive amounts Americans eat, and every time you eat a cookie or cupcake, even if it’s vegan, you’re putting that brain at risk, more so if you eat excess sugar regularly.

Other brain-healthy foods include cruciferous vegetables like broccoli and Brussels sprouts; vitamin E-rich foods like walnuts and sesame and sunflower seeds; and brightly colored fruits like grapes and blueberries, Barnard adds. For more brain-healthy foods, check out the top 20 brain health foods from Team Sherzai.

Inhaling pure oxygen could keep your brain younger for longer

A (pricey) breath of fresh air for anti-aging research.

By Candice Wang

July 27, 2020

Subjects take part in hyperbaric oxygen therapy in Florida. Many showed increased cognitive response after a three-month trial.The Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research

No matter how much retinol cream and hair dye we slather on our faces and roots, we’ll all succumb to age eventually. There’s no cure for it, and it’s much more than skin-deep—aging takes a severe toll on our neurological well-being. Although biologists recently discovered how to reprogram the molecular processes of aging in yeast cells, we haven’t yet cracked the mysteries behind aging in the human brain. Nearly 16 million people in the US struggle with cognitive impairment, a debilitating condition that eventually robs individuals of their independence by chipping away at their memory, motor functions, and ability to concentrate or learn.

But neuroscientists in Israel are trying to turn back the biological clock with one simple ingredient: oxygen. Shai Efrati, a physician and director of the Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research at the Yitzhak Shamir Medical Center in Israel, has developed a new type of hyperbaric oxygen therapy that increases blood flow in the brain to prevent declining cognitive function in the brains of healthy, older adults. His team’s results were published in the journal Aging this month.

Hyperbaric oxygen therapy involves breathing in pure, highly concentrated, oxygen in a pressurized chamber for a long duration, allowing a person’s lungs to collect three times the normal amount of oxygen from air. With elevated blood-oxygen levels, body tissues supposedly heal at increased rates by stimulating the formation of new vessels at sites of injury. Historically, doctors have used the therapy to treat carbon monoxide poisoning, skin burns, traumatic brain injuries caused by strokes, and gas embolism, a condition that impacts deep-sea divers when nitrogen bubbles form in the circulatory system. More recently, hyperbaric oxygen therapy has been advertised as an all-encompassing treatment for many diseases—though the FDA emphasizes that the therapy hasn’t been clinically proven to treat cancer, diabetes, and autism.

In this recent study, Efrati tested the therapy on normally aging adults without preexisting conditions to improve their cognitive function. For three months, 63 adults aged 65 and older spent five days a week, two hours a day in a pressurized chamber, breathing in concentrated oxygen at twice the amount of pressure as that of the Earth’s atmosphere. By the end of the study, Efrati discovered that blood flow in the brain increased. Frequent cognitive assessments also revealed that patients scored much higher on attention and information-processing speed tests than prior to the experiment.

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The study results showed an uptick in blood flow and oxygen levels in certain regions after the hyperbaric oxygen therapy.The Sagol Center for Hyperbaric Medicine and Research

Here’s how the researchers say it works. By dramatically raising blood-oxygen levels in aging patients, Efrati harnessed oxidative stress to prompt some brain cells to go into survivalist mode. Oxygen atoms are free radicals—at concentrated amounts, they scour the body, damaging DNA, cells, and proteins in a phenomenon called oxidative stress. “These short periods of high oxygen actually impose a mild beneficial stress on cells in the brain,” says Mark Mattson, a professor of neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University. This pressure might promote neurogenesis, a process in which stem cells form new neurons and brain cells, essentially making the central processing unit look and run “younger.” Exercise and intermittent fasting invoke similar reactions in the brain, Mattson says, without extreme adverse impacts.

It’s not just about raising oxygen levels, however: Fluctuation is also key. During the study, Efrati instructed patients to keep oxygen masks on for 20 minutes, then remove them for five-minute breaks. “You put the mask on and breathe 100 percent oxygen,” says Alexander Alvarez, a physician at Aviv Clinics, who administers hyperbaric oxygen therapy. “Then, when you take off the mask, the body thinks it’s in trouble.”

Patients must spend at least two hours, five days a week in the oxygenation chamber at Aviv Clinics.Dave Globig

Efrati thinks that stress caused by fluctuating oxygen levels in the blood might stimulate stem cell growth. But this chain of events hasn’t been scientifically proven yet, says Uri Ashery, a professor of neuroscience at the Sagol School of Neuroscience in Israel. “The mechanisms behind hyperbaric oxygen therapy are unknown,” he notes. When asked if increased blood flow means more brain activity, as indicated in the study, Ashery also hesitated. “Not necessarily,” he says. “It can allow the brain to be more active since it brings in new oxygen. But it doesn’t always mean the brain is more active.”

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But what about the patients’ high scores on cognitive assessments after the treatment? While there’s no direct evidence of stem cell proliferation, the study participants exhibited better short term memory, longer attention spans, and the ability to process information at faster speeds than before. Cognitive performance peaked after 20 treatments, Alvarez says, and remained elevated six months after therapy. It did drop off eventually—and scientists still aren’t sure how long the effects last. The treatment doesn’t last forever, Ashery explains, and its longevity depends on each individual’s genetics and lifestyle.

Despite those caveats, the waiting list for the hyperbaric oxygen therapy at the Florida-based company Aviv Clinics is already starting to grow, says CEO Dave Globig. Despite the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, adults 55 years of age and older have been scrambling to get appointments since the treatment was first rolled out in mid-June. While most clients come from the Villages, a sprawling retirement community that hems the clinic, Globig anticipates taking on patients coming from all over the world. Each treatment package costs $60,000 and spans sixty days, requiring individuals to commute to the clinic five times a week for two-hour sessions.

After their 60 days are up, patients will continue to be monitored with a wearable medical device. If their cardiovascular or cognitive health declines, they’ll be invited back for a physical test and perhaps another round of hyperbaric oxygen therapy, Alvarez says.

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Ashery hopes that one day the treatment might be popularized enough that it becomes accessible for more populations. “This is something that the government could invest in,” he says. “The scientific and medical communities show that it is quite helpful and prevents a lot of care later on, so this could easily become part of our regular treatment for older adults.”

Efrati, meanwhile, dreams of an aging community that’s completely independent and well-functioning. Longevity isn’t enough—a high quality of life is what these neuroscientists strive for. “We will all die someday,” Efrati says. “But we want to die when we are functioning. We want to go down with our heads up, not when we are debilitated.”

Correction: The story previously said that the treatment allowed patients to breathe in 1,500 times the amount of oxygen found in the atmosphere. Plainly put, that was a dire error.