Los océanos y el derecho del mar

Goals: __________________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Action steps: ____________________________________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Timeline (when you will assess your progress): ________________________ ________________________________________________________________ Revise goals or set new ones: ______________________________________ ________________________________________________________________

MondayConduct a “walking meeting” at the office, rather than a sit-down session with a colleague.

TuesdayShake things up! Volunteer to collaborate on a project you don’t know much about, or learn a new soft- ware program.

WednesdayBring a bag of blueberries to enjoy during a coffee break.

ThursdayCard games are a great way to exercise your brain. Challenge a colleague at lunch.

FridaySharpen your communications skills by answering your emails with a phone call instead of pushing the “Reply” button.

Whatever your cognitive fitness focus turns out to be – more exercise, more stimulation, more social contact – you can pursue your goals at work as well as at home. Use these ideas to fill your work week with brain-boosting activities.

Additional resources about cognitive fitness and healthy brain practices.

You’ll find suggestions for additional reading at the end of this booklet. They can help you gain a deeper understanding of the many issues raised here, or help you find out more about what actions you can take to improve your brain at work and keep it fit for life.

Alzheimer’s disease(page 9): a degenerative brain disease of unknown cause and the most common form of dementia. Alzheimer’s disease usually starts in late middle age or in old age as memory loss involving recent events, then pro- gresses over the course of five to ten years to a profound intellectual decline characterized by dementia and personal helplessness.

Antioxidant(25): A substance, such as vitamin E, vitamin C, or beta carotene, thought to protect body cells from the damaging effects of oxidation.

Cardiovascular(25): of, pertaining to, or affecting the heart and blood vessels.

Cognitive function(1): a general term pertaining to functions of the brain, including thinking, per- ceiving, recognizing, conceiving, judging, sensing, reasoning, and imagining.

Dementia(9): general mental deterioration from a previously normal state of cognitive function or psychological factors (not to be confused with mental retardation or developmental disability). Alzheimer’s disease is one form of dementia.

Dendrites: short nerve fibers that project from a nerve cell, generally receiving messages from the axons of other neurons and relaying them to the cell’s nucleus.

Glia[glial cells] (13): the supporting cells of the central nervous system, which protect and nourish neurons and are increasingly believed to be direct- ly involved in the modulation of nerve signaling.

Hippocampus(7): structure located deep in the brain and involved in memory and learning.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)(7): A brain- imaging technique that measures metabolic activi- ty in neurons and constructs an anatomical image based on the data. Functional MRI is an adaptation of the technique that can identify which areas of the brain are active during specific tasks, thereby providing data on brain function in addition to anatomy.

central nervous system, neurons are responsible for the transmission of nerve impulses. Unlike any other cell in the body, neurons consist of a central cell body as well as several threadlike “arms” called axons and dendrites, which transmit nerve impulses. Scientists estimate there are more than 100 billion neurons in the brain.

Neuroscience(1): the study of the brain and nerv- ous systems, including their structure, function, and disorders. Neuroscience as a discipline has emerged only in the last few decades.

Obstructive sleep apnea(31): recurring interrup- tion of breathing during sleep because of obstruc- tion of the upper airway by weak or malformed pharyngeal tissues. It occurs especially in obese middle-aged and elderly men, and results in hypo- xemia and in chronic lethargy during the day.

Plasticity(6): in neuroscience, refers to the brain’s capacity to change and adapt in response to devel- opmental forces, learning processes, or aging, or in response to an injury in a distinct area of the brain.

Restless legs syndrome(31): feeling of uneasi- ness and restlessness in the legs after going to bed (sometimes causing insomnia); may be relieved temporarily by walking or moving the legs.

Self-efficacy(17): an individual's estimate or per- sonal judgment of his or her own ability to succeed in reaching a specific goal.

Synapse(6): the junction where an axon approaches another neuron or its extension (a dendrite; see definition above); the point at which nerve-to-nerve communications occurs. Nerve impulses traveling down the axon reach the synapse and release neurotransmitters into the synaptic cleft, the tiny gap between neurons.

Transcendental meditation(26): a technique, based on ancient Hindu writings, by which one seeks to achieve a relaxed state through regular periods of meditation during which a mantra is repeated.

44 Your Brain at Work

brain

fitness

Your Brain at Work Links/other resources

Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives http://www.dana.org/about/dabi

Learn more about this nonprofit organization of more than 265 pre-eminent neuroscientists, including ten Nobel laureates, dedicated to advancing education about the brain. The Brain Center

http://www.dana.org/braincenter.cfm

Your gateway to the latest research on the human brain.

Brain Information and Brain Web http://www.dana.org/brainweb/

Visit this section to access links to validated sites related to more than 25 brain disorders. Brain Resources for Seniors

http://www.dana.org/seniors/

Older adults and caretakers can find a central bank of sites about brain health, education, and aging.

Brain Awareness Week

http://www.dana.org/brainweek/

Learn more about this international event organ- ized by the Dana Alliance.

MetLife

www.MetLife.com

Download a copy of Met Life’s Ten Tips for Maintaining a Healthy Brain.

National Institutes of Health www.Nih.gov

Links to all of the NIH websites, and a list of web-based health resources, listed by topic. National Health and Wellness Bureau http://www.nhwb.org/

Information on Employee Wellness programs. National Heart Lung and Blood Institute www.nhlbi.nih.gov

A quiz on the role of exercise in heart and overall health.

National Sleep Foundation www.sleepfoundation.org

General information on the importance of good sleep and tips and resources.

My Pyramid (the United States Department of Agriculture)

http://www.mypyramid.gov/

Customize your own “food pyramid” and get tips for healthy eating.

Acknowledgements

The following individuals and groups contributed extensively to the production of this guide.

The Conference Board

Mature Workforce Initiative Team

Linda Barrington, Ph. D. Lorrie Foster Diane Piktialis, Ph. D. Jeri Sedlar Mary Young, Ph. D. Wennie Lee Katherine Solis Publishing Department Peter Drubin Sana Olkovetsky Chuck Mitchell Susan Stewart

The Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives

Barbara E. Gill Laura Reynolds Sarah Thompson Brenda Patoine, writer

exercise-induced neurogenesis in the adult dentate gyrus. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 2007; 104(13):5638-43. Epub ahead of print March 20, 2007.

4. Willis, Tennstedt Marsiske, Ball, Elias, Koepke, Morris, Rebok, Unverzagt, Stoddard, Wright; ACTIVE Study Group. Long-term effects of cognitive training on everyday functional outcomes in older adults. JAMA 2006; 296(23):2805-14.

5. Wilson, Mendes de Leon, Barnes, Schneider, Bienias, Evans, Bennett. Participation in cognitively stim- ulating activities and risk of incident Alzheimer’s disease. JAMA. 2002; 287(6):742-8.

6. Kang, Ascherio, Grodstein. Fruit and vegetable consumption and cognitive decline in aging women. Annals Neurol. 2005; 57(5):713-20.

7. Lutz, Greischar, Rawlings, Ricard, Davidson. Long-term meditators self-induce high-amplitude gamma synchrony during mental practice. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 2004; 101(46):16369-73. Epub ahead of print Nov. 8, 2004.

8. Lazar, Kerr, Wasserman, Gray, Greve, Treadway, McGarvey, Quinn, Dusek, Benson, Rauch, Moore, Fischl. Meditation experience is associated with increased cortical thickness. Neuroreport 2005;15(17):1893-7.

9. Dux, Ivanoff, Asplund, Marois. Isolation of a central bottleneck of information processing with time- resolved MRI. Neuron. 2006; 52(6):1109-20.

10. Foerde, Knowlton, Poldrack. Modulation of competing memory systems by distraction. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2006; 103(31):11778-11783.

11. Hahn, Sakmann, Mehta. Phase-locking of hippocampal interneurons’ membrane potential to neocorti- cal up-down states. Nature Neuroscience 2006;9(11):1359-61.

12. Hahn, Sakmann, Mehta. Differential responses of hippocampal subfields to cortical up-down states. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 2007;104(12):5169-74.

13. Tan, Xue, Li, Carlson, Fried. Volunteering: a physical activity intervention for older adults – The Experience Corps program in Baltimore. J Urban Health. 2006; 83(5):954-69.

© 2008 by The Conference Board, Inc., and The Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives. All rights reserved. Printed in the U.S.A. ISBN No. 0-8237-0873-X. The Conference Board and the torch logo are registered trademarks of The Conference Board, Inc.

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