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Daniel G. Amen, M.D.
Daniel G. Amen, M.D., is a psychiatrist, brain imaging specialist, and the CEO and medical director of Amen Clinics Inc. (ACI) in Newport Beach and Fairfield, Calif.; Tacoma, Wash.; and Reston, Va., as well as editor of Dr. Daniel Amen’s Brain Health Report.
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Am I in Danger of Dementia and Alzheimer's?
First, I would suggest that you take the free memory screening test on our Web site so you can get a better idea of whether you may have a problem. There are many things you can do to improve your memory, such as getting enough sleep, engaging in regular exercise, and eating brain-healthy foods
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What Does 'Mental Exercise' Mean?
Mental exercise means acquiring new knowledge. New learning — such as learning a new medical technique, a new hobby, or a new game — helps establish new connections.
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Is Television Harming My Grandchildren's Brains?
There is a good reason why television is called the “boob tube.” It is not good for brain development, and viewing too much TV as a toddler can lead to a host of behavioral and emotional problems.
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What Can I Do to Reduce My Risk of Developing Alzheimer's?
Studies have shown that non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medications, such as ibuprofen, reduce the risk. So does low-dose aspirin, although to a lesser degree.
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Why Do I Wake in the Middle of the Night?
Many people fall asleep easily but wake up a few hours later and have trouble getting back to sleep. I first encourage my patients to eliminate anything that might interfere with sleep, such as caffeine, alcohol, or reading Stephen King before bedtime. I also try natural supplements and treatments.
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Does Junk Food Aggravate ADD Symptoms?
The foods we feed our children can greatly impact the severity of ADD symptoms. Food can be used like medicine in the treatment of ADD. It can have a powerfully positive — or negative — effect on cognition, feelings, and behavior.
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Is Exercise Important for Brain Health?
Exercise actually stimulates "neurogenesis," the ability of the brain to generate new neurons. In exercising laboratory rats, research shows that they generate new neurons that die off unless stimulated.
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Will Supplements Help Protect Against Alzheimer's?
Certain antioxidants have significant disease-delaying effects.
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When Should I See a Professional if I Have Concerns About My Brain?
If your behavior, thoughts, moods, feelings, or memory are getting in the way of your ability to be your best at work, at school, or in your relationships, then it’s time to seek professional help.
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Do Video Games Harm the Brain?
With SPECT imaging, we see that video games work in the same area of the brain as cocaine and methamphetamine. Video games increase the amount of dopamine released in the brain, so when kids play video games, they really like it! The problem is that games release so much dopamine that there isn’t enough of the chemical available for the little things in life.
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Should I Take a Fish Oil Supplement?
I have advocated that people take a daily fish oil supplement for years. Fish oil is a fantastic source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are crucial to good brain health.
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Should I Limit My TV Time?
No matter what your age, watching too much TV is bad for your brain. Research has linked TV viewing to an increased risk for depression, ADD, Alzheimer’s disease, a higher body-mass index, and increased cigarette smoking.
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Is Coffee Hurting My Brain?
Caffeine works in the brain by messing with a natural process involving a chemical called adenosine, which is involved in sleep, and adenosine receptors. When adenosine is produced in the brain, it attaches to adenosine receptors, and induces drowsiness. When you drink caffeine, however, the adenosine receptors mistake the caffeine for adenosine and bind to it.
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Are My Memory Problems Related to My Husband's Dementia?
New research suggests that if your spouse has dementia you are at significantly increased risk of developing it yourself. The reason for the increased risk lies in the tremendous amount of stress involved in caring for a loved one with the disease.
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Natural Treatments for ED
To be a great lover you have to protect your blood flow. Eliminate anything that decreases blood flow, such as smoking or drinking too much caffeine.
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Why Does My Husband Say Hurtful Things?
When your brain works right, you tend to be thoughtful, loving, consistent, and reliable — all necessary ingredients for great relationships. When the brain is troubled, people tend to be angry, inattentive, moody, and unreliable — all things that undermine relationships.
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Benefits of SPECT Scans
A SPECT scan helps develop a deeper understanding of patients’ problems, resulting in reduced shame, guilt, stigma, and self-loathing. This can promote self-forgiveness, often the first step in healing. Patients can see that their problems are, at least in part, medical and physical.
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Why Isn't My Wife's Antidepressant Working?
We have discovered that depression and anxiety are not single disorders that occur separately but rather are a cluster of closely related disorders. Using SPECT scans, we have identified seven subtypes of depression and anxiety.
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School Sports and Head Injuries
Football is a brain-damaging sport. Personally, I would love to see schools eliminate tackle football, but I realize that football can be a big moneymaker for schools and universities, so that isn’t likely to happen.
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Do Men Lie More Than Women?
Men tend to be more impulsive and do things without fully thinking them through and often find themselves in hot water with their wives or girlfriends. So, yes, men are more likely to lie. Women also lie, but they get caught less.
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Memory Problems in the Aging
Memory problems are not a normal part of the aging process. They can be signs of dementia or Alzheimer's disease. If your father is having problems with his memory, encourage him to see a doctor for screening.
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Should I Have a SPECT Scan?
You do not need a SPEC scan to optimize your brain's health. After reviewing nearly 50,000 brain scans, I've learned that enhancing your brain health can be as easy as making some simple lifestyle changes. In my 25 years of clinical practice, I've helped thousands of patients make these changes to improve their brain function and to live a better, more fulfilling life.
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What is a SPECT Scan?
SPECT stands for "single photon emission computed tomography." It is a nuclear medicine procedure that is widely used to study and diagnose problems related to the heart, liver, thyroid, bone, and brain. Safe and reliable, brain SPECT imaging measures cerebral blood flow.
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ADD Behavior
ADD is the most common brain problem among children, affecting 5 percent to 10 percent of children. The symptoms of ADD are a short attention span, procrastination, distractibility, disorganization, and poor internal supervision. The notion that children can outgrow ADD is a popular one but, unfortunately, it isn't true in most cases.
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Child Misbehaves in Public
You can improve your child’s behavior in public by following three steps. First, before you go somewhere, give your child a set of simple rules. For example, if you’re going to the store, you might give her three rules. “Stay close. Don’t beg. Don’t touch.” Then have her repeat these rules back to you and have her promise to follow them.
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Public Speaking Anxiety
I have two great breathing exercises you can try. They're simple to do and easy to learn. Brain cells are particularly sensitive to oxygen, and even the slightest changes in oxygen content can alter the way you feel. The first breathing technique I recommend is diaphragmatic breathing, which calms the basal ganglia, the area of the brain that controls anxiety.
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Holding Grudges
We have scanned more than 500 couples and have found that when couples have chronic relationship problems, it may be a sign of underlying brain dysfunction. We scanned one couple — Bob and Betsy — who fought constantly. Betsy had a Ph.D. in grudge holding. When we scanned this couple's brains, we found that Betsy's scan showed marked increased activity in a part of the brain called the anterior cingulate gyrus.
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Grieving for Pets
Many people become as attached to their pets as they do to the significant people in their lives. Pets often give unconditional love and connect with our innermost, caring selves. The pets we love come to live inside our brains, and when they die, our brains are still searching for them.
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Differences Between Male and Female Brains
Actually, it’s hard to find areas of the brain that gender does not affect. Men, for instance, have more neurons than women, but women have a larger number of cellular connections and a larger corpus collosum, which connects the left and right hemispheres of the brain. This gives women access to language on both sides of the brain, which might explain why they often have so much to say.
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Meditation and the Brain
Decades of research have shown that meditation and prayer calm stress and enhance brain function. At the Amen Clinics, we performed a SPECT study on meditation in which we scanned 11 people after a meditation session. The brain-imaging scans taken after the meditation showed marked decreases in activity in the left parietal lobes, which showed a decreasing awareness of time and space. A more surprising finding was that the scans indicated significant increases in activity in the prefrontal cortex, which showed that mediation helps people tune in, not out.
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Texting and the Brain
Cell phones, text messaging, and social networking are the latest must-have communication tools. What’s ironic is that these very communication devices may be causing communication breakdown as well as a host of brain-related problems. Although texting is intended to promote social connections, it may be stunting real-life social skills and the ability to communicate face-to-face.
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