We Are Headfood

My friend Rosemary Hope, who used to write for the old print version of this magazine, sent me an e-mail that said, "Roger, why not call your webzine BrainChow?"

Rose, a publicist at the KU Medical Center, knows the new webzine will be full of information, and information is, after all, brain food.

Randy Nudo, the associate director of research at the KUMC Center on Aging and an expert on brain recovery after stroke, told me so.

Having talked with him I can say without hesitation that if you read this magazine's contents, your brain will grow.

Here's the scoop. Picture the typical brain cell as a straight shaft that branches at its tips, just like the branches off a tree trunk. The branches are called dendrites. Now growing off the dendrites are the brain cell's equivalent of leaves. Brain scientists call those "leaves" spines, and it's through the spines that brain cells talk among themselves.

When you read Explore: webzine, or engage in any learning task, you stimulate the growth of new dendrite branches. This increases the number of connections and potential communications between and among brain cells. Theoretically, that richness of connection might afford protection against some disasters the brain is heir to, such as stroke. Scattered evidence for this does exist, Nudo says.

And that's not all, folks. It also appears that when you learn, formerly silent or weak connections between brain cells come on or rev up, Nudo says. It's as if a light bulb that was totally out suddenly sputtered on, or a bulb that was glowing dimly suddenly brightened.

Now the only threat here is that because Explore: is so information rich, your brain will overload. Some scientists believe that at a certain point, the only way to jam more info into the brain is to subtract some, Nudo says.

Rest assured, though: You'll be able to read many issues of the new electronic Explore: webzine before memory dump occurs.

So take some time right now to feed your head.

Roger Martin Research Writer/Editor Center for Research