Jim Harbaugh's and Bo Schembechler's Management Style

Two articles received my attention in the June 21, 2015 edition of The New York Times. One article dealt with the declining death rate among cardiac patients, while the other had to do with being nice in the workplace. For example, research shows that when individuals experience intermittent stressors too long or too often their immune systems pay the price with cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes and ulcers. These intermittent stressors elevate levels of the hormone like cortisol which lead to problems of increased appetite and obesity. A 2012 study tracked women for 10 years and concluded that stressful jobs increased the risk of a cardiovascular issue by 38%.

In these particular studies, they listed a number of rude behaviors by bosses that fell within their definition of uncivility. A few of these characteristics included: 1. Neglects employing or saying please or thank you. 2. Talks down to people. 3. Swears. 4. Puts down others. After reading the article, I instantly thought of Bo Schembechler and his treatment of his University of Michigan football players. More to follow later.

 But first, let me tell you the good news. Even though there have been no significantly new medical discoveries; no radical new technologies; and apparently no payment incentives, there has been a 38% decrease in the death rate within the last 10 years. Simply put, researchers looked at those hospitals [per Medicare statistics] that had outstanding times-the time it took to open up patient arteries. What they found were that these hospitals such as the Mayo Clinic, New York Presbyterian Hospital, etc. statistically could in 50 minutes from the time the paramedic who ran an EEG to the time a cardiologist threaded a balloon into the blocked artery that then allowed the flow of blood --a success. By streamlining the hospital and doctor procedures, they got that heart pumping efficiently, thus reducing death and stroke. Some hospitals, previously took over 150 minutes to accomplish the same. With a more streamlined procedure stroke has now fallen to 5 as a major killer.

Back to Bo. On the practice football field from 1969 and for the next 20 years, Bo Schembechler was an authoritarian dictator. Gen. George Patton, Woody Hayes would fit that category as well. Bo had no trouble in ordering his players around. The only time that came close to this was dealing with quarterback Jim Betts. On a previous practice, Bo kicked Betts in the ass and verbally abused him because Betts fumbled the snap from center. Embarrassed, hurt and angry Betts did something about it. The next day before practice, Jim Betts met with Bo Schembechler privately. Jim was clear and precise, and in no uncertain terms directed his coach not to treat him that way again. Then in the afternoon practice, Jim again fumbled the snap from center. This time, coach Schembechler came up to Betts and asked him civilly to run the play again.

Bo Schembechler had no problem berating, putting the player down for making an apparent mistake and even yelling and swearing at the player. One example happened when Bo was having his team work on punting drills since a punt was blocked in the previous game. Cocky Bo told his squad that he would give $10 to any player that blocked a punt during the drills [Bo was not going to pay anyone $10-he was confident]. Then of course, a punt got blocked and coach ran down the playing field after Jim Brandstatter believing that this offensive tackle missed his block and was responsible for the blocked punt. He caught up to this huge offensive tackle, and started yelling, screaming, swearing and hitting Jim. Line position coach Jerry Hanlon ran up to Bo telling him it wasn’t Jim-he made his block. Bo’s response was not “I’m sorry or mistaken” but “he needed it anyway.”

In a series of research studies [it’s not clear what the population was, but certainly it was not a random sample], various researchers found that when giving negative or uncivil feedback, their population performed worse on anagram word puzzles, and were less creative during brainstorming sessions. In fact, even if the group witnessed negative interactions, their cognitive ability was lessened. Just think if any of these subjects had been on the practice field with Coach Bo Schembechler.

Was Bo successful? The University of Michigan from 1969 through 1971, was victorious in 24 of 25 regular-season games. Obviously, Bo was uncivil in his treatment of players on the practice field and it did not interfere with their large motor activity. I don’t know if it interfered with their solving puzzles, but they all  graduated.  In fact, Jim Brandstatter is moving his Inside Michigan Football radio program to  WXYZ on Mondays. Jim Harbaugh will be on the show with Jim Brandstatter. Coach Harbaugh played for Bo and has a similar character structure. Jim Harbaugh has a reputation that suggests that he might not be a good manager in the business world. But I’ll wager, that he’ll get results on the football field. Will Jim ask his players or quarterback “Please run that play again”; “Would you mind catching that ball”; “Thank you for tackling that player” and “Do you think you could run a little faster?” Jim Harbaugh’s father was a head football coach, and Jim learned as early as 10 years of age about how Bo talked to his players. The cliché “an apple doesn’t fall far from the tree” fits here.

It’s more probable than not that these professors did not use a “random” sample for their research. The keyword is random, which means that everyone in the universe had an opportunity to be selected for the research. As a result, a random just doesn’t happen. And because of that, we question their ability to generalize with their results. Were there perhaps other variables not dealt with, that might influence the findings? In any event, it’s clear that Bo’s players, including Jim Harbaugh, are mentally tough, could and did take it from their coach. That’s not to say that first they grumbled, incorporated the abuse and finally, during the process wound up loving coach.  Could the individuals in these studies take it from Bo Schembechler, probably not? What do you believe?

Let’s be clear, Coach Jim Harbaugh’s going to bring mental and physical toughness to his Michigan Wolverines. Those players that can’t take it will not be starters. I’ll bet on that.

 Let me add that Fritz Seyferth, Reggie McKenzie, Frank Gusich, Jim Brandstatter, Tom Curtis, Thom Darden, Mike Keller and Jim Betts all prospered in their other life. If you don’t believe me, see for yourself and join us in Ann Arbor on September 17, 2015 at Sesi Motors from 6- 8 PM for a Bo’s Warriors book signing.

Go Blue!

Finding Justice

A law professor from Drexel University, wrote an article about the criminal justice system in the June 14, 2015 edition of The New York Times. In the article he pointed out how human problems affect justice. I have had some experience in the criminal justice arena as an expert witness. I provided competency to stand trial evaluations for the Superior Court and also testimony and evaluations for plaintiff attorneys. I also have a plaintiff attorney friend that I have consulted with regarding many of his cases.

Some of the human problems that exist in our criminal justice system are as follows: 1. The setting where the “crime” took place, as well as where the trial is held. For instance, if the so-called crime took place in San Francisco, compared to some rural area in Northern California there would be likely differences. To generalize, urban San Francisco is a multiethnic community, which may have a more liberal or forgiving setting than a more conservative, mostly Caucasian and rural community. So where a person is tried can most definitely affect trial outcome.

 2. Eyewitness testimony is noticeably and consistently flawed since memory is a mystery-it’s an important facet of cognition that encompasses everything as well as the capacity for remembering. There are different types of memory, such as declarative memory, episodic memory, procedural memory and implicit memory. We don’t know if the problem in memory is that we forget, or that we have trouble retrieving the memory. Aside from witnesses that lie, witness memory is highly unreliable because most crimes happen unexpectedly and are over in a flash, making them events that by definition are not remembered well. For instance, the indoor or outdoor lighting may be less than optimal and other events may serve as distractions. Not only that, witnesses may have been thinking about internal issues, or were not paying much attention. They may even be concerned about their own safety or that of other bystanders. Concerns, fears like these often greatly impair later memory. In the laboratory, significant research has demonstrated that is easy to fool participants trying to recall the details of an event by simply introducing misinformation. For instance, stop signs, have been remembered as yield signs, white cars have been remembered as blue ones and Mickey Mouse remembered as Minnie Mouse.  Highly suggestible individuals have the poorest memory recall events. In the traditional police lineup, witness confidence isn’t always a signal of memory accuracy. Witnesses’ who are absolutely certain may be no more correct with their recollections, compared to those who were fairly sure. Unfortunately, the degree of witness certainty often influences whether jurors believe their testimony. Further, most people are not very good observers of other people’s faces, especially if their exposure to the other person was very brief. Few people have perfectly matched eyes and one is usually larger than the other. Noses and ears come in all shapes and are also highly variable and irregular. Also, other commonly worn factors can distort the image of a face like eyeglasses, hats and caps. The combination of a wide brimmed hat and a high coat collar is almost as effective as wearing a mask. Facial hair, including beards, mustaches and sideburns comes in all sizes and shapes. Also, the reflection of light off the skin shows through many if not most beards, except for the thickest black beard or hair.

 3.  DNA findings are subjective. DNA matches are significantly more likely when the forensic expert was aware that the sample comes from someone the police believe is guilty or fits the theory of the police. Blind testing would be a simple way to get more accurate DNA findings.

 4. Confessions that appear voluntary are not always as such. Even the placement of the camera-either behind the accused or interviewer affects the definition of a so-called voluntary confession. In other words, when watching the recording with the camera behind a detective, people are much more likely to find that the confession was voluntary than watching the confession from the perspective of the suspect.

 5. The bias of the judge and his or her relationship with the plaintiff attorney was also important. If the judge disliked the attorney or for that matter, had a bias against the crime, then the suspect would be in big trouble and can likely predict an outcome of guilty.

 6. Law enforcement bias has been in the news. Questions like was the policeman, a racist exist today? Other factors to consider would be the character of the policeman or arresting officer. Some officers of the law dislike and are prejudiced and have ill feelings against the poor, the weak, and individuals from low socioeconomic conditions. They perceive these individuals as being inferior, lazy, irresponsible, and requiring being controlled and dominated.  When the officer comes from a position of strength like the institution of law enforcement with its guns, clubs and backup he or she is more likely to use force to get the individual to submit, comply and become passive. However, when the behavior is to the contrary, the officer often consciously or unconsciously reacts aggressively. When feeling threatened, look out for that law enforcement’s over-the-top aggressive behavior.

These are just a few of the issues confronting our criminal court justice system. Hopefully, stay clear and make good choices, so that one doesn’t become a victim of our system. Our system is not perfect, but it’s the one we have so far. Hopefully, a more scientific approach can help modify and improve what we have.

Tom Brady's Balls

Apparently, Tom Brady and staff had  4 hours [lasted over 11 hours] to present their appeal case to the current high commissioner of NFL football. This happening has been called “deflategate” by the press. Did Brady have a hand in the so-called deflating of footballs in the AFC championship game? According to NFL rules, a fine of $25,000 is punishment for tampering with footballs. That $25,000 fine is not what the NFL punished Tom Brady and his Patriot team. The NFL Commissioner acted as judge and jury, and handed out a non-commensurate fine of suspensions, millions of dollars, and loss of draft picks.

There was an enlightening article in the June 14, 2015 edition of The New York Times written by authors associated with the American Enterprise Institute. This impartial group made its mark when it evaluated “Bountygate” in 2012. According to the NFL, the New Orleans Saints were guilty of offering bounties that resulted in injury to opposing football players on other teams. To make a long story short, the data collected by the NFL indicated just the opposite. In fact, in 2009, the New Orleans Saints ranked either at number 30 or number 31 on the list of injuring other players- in other words, they were at the bottom of the 32 team league. That evidence was presented to the High Commissioner and the New Orleans Saints suspensions were quickly vacated the following month.

The impartial American Enterprise Institute evaluated the non-impartial Ted Wells report [he was paid $3 million for his deflategate investigation]. The summary per the American Enterprise Institute: 1. The referees used two different air pressure gauges. This is significant because these gauges did not measure PSI equally. 2. Each team provided its own footballs. 3. A football exposed to the cold weather conditions have a lower PSI compared to a football in a warm heated room -it has a higher PSI. 4. All 11 “cold weather” Patriot footballs were measured.  Only 4 “room heated “Indianapolis Colt footballs were measured. 5. Referees did not remember which air pressure gauge were used to measure any of the footballs. 6. The Patriot balls were measured in the cold temperature- deflated [PSI] by about the expected statistical significance. 7. On the other hand, when the Colts balls were measured the PSI measurement - were statistically higher than expected. In other words, statistically significant, the changes in air pressure of the two teams balls was not because the pressure of the Patriot balls were too low, but because the Colts balls were too high. 8.It’s more than likely that the Patriots began the game with their footballs that had too little air. 9. Unfortunately, the Wells report did not address points 1 through 8.

So Brady was expected to prove his innocence. I naïvely thought that the burden of proof was on the accuser. How silly was my thinking. Because the High Commissioner did not recluse himself, how impartial and transparent is Roger?  After all, he paid Ted Wells $3 million and Wells was expected to defend his “more probable than not” conclusion that the Patriots footballs were deliberately doctored, thus breaking an NFL rule.

This current information suggests that a sloppy and inaccurate evaluation regarding the footballs was made by Wells. Not only that, the cold-warm conditions, the PSI measuring devices, the referees measuring all 11 footballs from one team, and only 4  from the other, and the referees, not knowing there were PSI gauge differences and they didn’t care to remember which gauges  were used on which football was not considered. Is this a bad dream?

High Commissioner Roger states that he’s all about defending the integrity of the NFL. I don’t believe that for one minute. He’s more concerned about defending his integrity and keeping his multimillion dollar job. Well, he can do that by changing his stripes regarding the over-the-top punishments. If he doesn’t, I would fire him and ask Wells to return the 3 million. Otherwise, there seems to be an apparent collusion between Roger G and Ted W. And, they’re just covering their own asses. Thank goodness there was an impartial group that evaluated this $3 million boondoggle.

Recruit Players with Character, Jim Harbaugh

College football recruiting seems to go on all the time, as evidenced by articles in the Bleacher Reports as to where a 3, 4 or 5 star high school player might attend in the 2016 or 2017 season. And yes, we have national rankings of stars in either a 3 or 4 or even a rating of 5 of a high school football player. These rankings are supposed to assess football ability. However, there are no rankings of character as of yet. What seems to matter is the physical attributes as opposed to the personality development of today’s athletes.

Back in the late 60s, when coach Bump Elliott was recruiting, there were no star rankings. There were only local and state rankings and an All-American ranking. Once again, player football ability was the most important and only variable measured. Of course it was subjective back then, and these rankings did not have a sophisticated computer logarithm component built in to it. Then, it was up to the coach and his recruiting staff to evaluate potential high school prospects.

Of the eight players interviewed, in Bo’s Warriors, one central character theme dissects each regardless of player position, racial origin, socioeconomic status, or rural versus urban playing environment . Underneath the extraordinary athletic ability [These athletes excelled in many numerous sports], there was an element of insecurity, and doubt about their ability to play on the big stage. These terrific athletes did not have inflated narcissistic egos nor did they believe they were the King of the castle. Did Bump sense this in his recruiting process and thereby recruited only athletes that had an underlying insecurity? I do not know if my sample of eight is representative of his entire career. However, I do know about these wonderful eight U of M super stars.

I will give two examples of some of the things these players told to me during their interviews with me. I’ll begin with Tom Curtis. Tom was a superstar quarterback from Aurora, Ohio, a small rural community near Cleveland, Ohio. Tom didn’t understand and was irritated that Coach Bo Schembechler, then the head coach at Miami of Ohio, didn’t recruit him out of high school. Tom and his father made sure that Bo got his newspaper clippings. The fact that Tom was somewhat unknown [Based on level of competition] contributed to his insecurity. In fact, Brian Healy, the quarterback from Sandusky, Ohio was the Ohio player of the year and he enrolled at Michigan, also. That didn’t help, Tom’s sense of competence, but only doubted his ability to play quarterback at that prestigious level. Also, In Tom’s sophomore season, his position coach asked him to start at a different cornerback position. It was different from the side he was practicing – he was uncomfortable, afraid and insecure, and made sure he didn’t dare admit that to his coach. Even the town crier spread it around the community that Tom, would not even make the traveling squad at the University of Michigan. Tom never challenged or confronted the man.

Mike Keller was a superstar athlete from Grand Rapids, Michigan. According to Mike, his level of football competition ranked about third in the state behind the Detroit public schools and Lansing area schools. Keller in Grand Rapids was the big fish in a little pond. However, at Michigan, he was the little fish in a big pond. He didn’t place football as a first priority, in his thinking, and wondered why Coach Elliott offered him a football scholarship. In fact, Notre Dame’s Ara Parseghian did not offer him a scholarship but told him he probably would receive one at a later date. Mike Keller saw himself as a student first and was hoping to get his degree, which would set the stage for things to come in his future by becoming an attorney. He said that he was hoping to at least make the traveling squad. Mike played even though he was not a full physical strength because he knew there was somebody behind him ready to take his place and he was afraid of that happening. He did not miss any playing time.

With doubt and insecurity comes anxiety. Anxiety is not pleasant and something to get rid of or reduce if possible. When the anxiety level gets too high or too much, that can result in psychological paralysis. In sports, it is referred to when a player “chokes” during an important play or event during a significant part of the game. When it comes to taking a school exam, and the student does miserably, it’s called test anxiety. On the other hand, another option is to increase the activity level of something physical. It could be by playing the game of solitaire quickly and over and over. It’s not uncommon today to see individuals with some electronic device in their hands, compulsively being a captive. When it comes to sports, physical activity can reduce anxiety, perfectly. This means compulsive weightlifting, running, and bike riding, being on a rowing machine, etc. works well.

For Mike Keller and Tom Curtis, It was playing all sports at all hours in the night and in the day. There was unlikely a day when either was not practicing, playing or improving their skill. Both played basketball and loved to shoot and compete [Both played in the evening-Mike even played in the dark]. So for these two individuals, they reduced their anxiety through the physical activity of sport. They would come home tired because they extended themselves when they played. They played to win [Competition served a good purpose for them because it reduced their anxiety].

Another way to deal with insecurity and anxiety was their submission to the authoritarian dictator like football coach Bo Schembechler. Bo was a tyrant on the field and disrespected the players verbally and physically. He frequently put them down verbally through the use of his colorful street-gutter language. And, initially they disliked, and some even hated the man. They were angry and resentful. In order to deal with their anger, resentment, they had to unconsciously repress those feelings. And by repressing those feelings, they submitted to Bo and became part of the team. That was their way of dealing with their anger and resentment. They had to become the team, the team, the team. It was Bo’s team, and make no mistake about it. And once that happened [It was the fifth game of the season with Minnesota when it happened-team came together],  played as a unit on offense and defense and began to function as a single dynamism with Bo Schembechler as their leader. The anger and resentment toward Bo got displaced and they took it out on each other during practice and especially game time. In fact, in their next 25 regular-season games, they won 24 of them.

Tom Curtis holds the Michigan record for most interceptions; was All-American; and has two Super Bowl rings. Mike Keller holds the Michigan record for outstanding gameplay for three seasons; played in the college All-Star game against the Dallas Cowboys [The team that drafted him] and has  been connected to  football ever since. These men conquered their anxiety, and are simply good guys. Hopefully, Jim Harbaugh can recruit players that have a similar personality structure as both Curtis and Keller. Don’t forget Jim, that’s a mighty important variable [Fear of failure] to consider. Then, you probably won’t have to worry about suspensions, dismissals or other breaking of the rules.

Meet Mike,  Tom and others from that 1969 team at Sesi Motors  in Ann Arbor from 6 to 8 PM on September 17, for a Bo's  Warriors book signing. Join us.

Go Blue!

We Are Our Memory

The human brain, through its development, reaches its maximum size during the teen years. That brain size stays steady until about 28 years of age. And in healthy people, brain volume declines slightly, but continually over the years. The keyword here is “healthy.” Some neurons are lost over time, while some neurons lose their connections with other neurons. There is also reduced blood flow to the brain. However, the human brain continues to learn and make connections throughout life. The good news is that individuals who exercise regularly and get good mental workouts are affected less

.

As we age, changes in memory occur. Acquisition, storage and retrieval of information takes place in the memory process. Although many individuals focus on past memory, our memory really includes not only the past, but the present, and especially the future. So one definition of memory is related to a past experience that has an effect on current or future behavior. Our memory is about our brain storing selected events so we can better figure out how to handle what is going to happen, rather than just remembering what did happen in the past- the  brain’s concern is essentially  the past and  about coping with the future. In other words, remembering is a st of mental processes that allow us to 1. Remember and share past events 2. Function efficiently and intelligently in the present and 3. Predict and prepare for the future. In essence, memory affects nearly everything we think, plan, or do. Or, another way of putting it-we are our memories.

They’re different stages of memory, such as sensory memory; working memory and long-term memory.  Sensory memory is often information that’s not attended to. While in both working and long-term memory, forgetting takes place. It is believed that forgetting is caused by decay and interference. But it is not clear if we actually forget anything or just more difficult to access certain items from memory due to interference. In essence, having forgotten something may simply be being unable to retrieve it.

As we age, memory decline or the ability to encode information efficiently takes place. Other significant issues or causes of a declining memory include: 1. Visual impairment. 2. Medical condition such as cardiac, thyroid, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, and respiratory infections. 3. Fatigue and sleep disturbance. 4. Physical and mental inactivity and 5.  Medications like sedatives, tranquilizers, antihistamines, sleep medications and some antidepressants.

A recent study at the Massachusetts General Hospital found that heavier people have smaller brains; and most of the atrophy found were in areas involved in cognitive functions such as memory, attention, planning and decision-making. In fact, obese subjects had brains that were 8% smaller than average, and looked 16 years older. Overweight subject’s brains were 6% smaller and looked eight years older. Midsection obesity, promotes insulin resistance and diabetes that robs the neurons of glucose, leading to cell injury and death.  The hormone leptin is also reduced, which is associated with a four times higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Obesity is also associated with vascular damage to the brain from high blood pressure, and elevated LDL cholesterol, which impedes oxygen and nutrients to neurons.

Now for the good news. Strenuous exercise has been shown to protect areas related to memory loss. Despite being overweight, a group of 120 sedentary adults in their 60s found that one year of moderate exercise [walking on a track for 40 minutes at three times a week] was associated with a 2% growth in their hippocampus. The hippocampus encodes factual declarative long-term memories and typically declines about 1% a year after age 45 -this was equivalent to reversing two years of age-related brain atrophy.  Another study found that 638 older results who participated in regular physical activity showed less brain atrophy, than those who exercised minimally.

So for those who can still remember, it’s time to begin and stay with some form of aerobic exercise. Remembering to do it is the first step and actually doing it is the second step. For a start, or a new beginning participate in steps one and two. Simply getting up from your chair and going to the kitchen is not aerobic exercise nor is driving and parking very close to a particular store for shopping. Hopefully your brain is still large enough to figure out what needs to be accomplished in order to protect your brain and your memory.

This information, hopefully remembered, was found in INR seminars.

College Grading

   According to Professor Mark Bauerlein [The New York Times, May 10, 2015], in 1960, only 15% of college student grades were in the A range. That number has currently increased to about 43%, making the A, a most common grade today. This significant statistic got me thinking. Does that mean if I went to college today, would I have had more A’s? Or, does it mean that today’s professors simply hand out more A’s? Are we smarter today or are the professors too lenient?

Looking at other variables regarding individuals we have more statistics. For instance, on the negative side: 1. Emotionally, we have more suicide completions; more drug use; more alcohol abuse; more sleep deprivation; more depression and more prescription medication treating emotional problems. This data suggests that likely more emotional or mental health issues exist today than in 1960. 2. The physical health issues in this country are more pronounced today than in 1960. We have more obesity; heart conditions; diabetes, etc. than 1960. There is greater emphasis today on technological games, sporting events and other diversionary opportunities to deal with anxiety, insignificance and powerlessness. 3. It takes more years for today’s students to complete college; today’s students have incurred more tremendous college debt; and more of today’s college students are still living at home than in 1960. 4. Compared with other countries, today’s students are further and further behind on standardized math and science scores.

On the other hand, the athletes of today are certainly stronger, faster and more talented than in 1960. Certainly, in professional sports, superstars like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Adrian Peterson, and Charles Woodson in football, come to mind; Stephan Curry, Lebron James, Anthony Davis and James Harden  in  basketball; and Madison Bumgardner , Clayton Kershaw, Mike Trout and Miguel Cabrera in baseball would certainly have no difficulty playing their sport In 1960. On the non- professional level, Tom Johnson a three-time winner In the Western States 100 mile one day endurance run broke the course record in 1991.  Johnson’s winning record time in 1991 was under 16 hours. If he ran in 2014, that winning time would have placed him 8th.

It seems to me that we have progressed physically, especially in sports, but not emotionally since 1960. Of course, today’s college students, according to The American Freshman Survey said in 1967 that 86% of them wanted to develop a more meaningful philosophy of life. However, that 86% has plummeted to 45% and has been replaced by making money. Has the idea of making money, increased the motivation for receiving an A in college? Has the idea that developing a meaningful philosophy of life is no longer as important and that has resulted in receiving more A’s in college?

Perhaps if we had compared CT’s, MRI’ s, PET’s, SPECT’s, EEG’s QEEGs, ERP’s and MEG’s  to evaluate the structure and functioning of the left and right side of our  brain in the 1960s and some 50 years later, we might have more clues as to the cerebral dominance of brain functioning. If we only had the computer sophistication back then we might be able to settle this question. However, it’s my guess that college grading has changed over the last 50 years. After all, many of today’s helicopter parents tell their kids how wonderful and special they are. Just because a parent tells the kids that they love them and overindulge them does not necessarily result in greater cerebral dominance. 

The Human Brain

The human brain, which weighs about 2% of our body weight, is the most complex biological structure in natur

e. It is very important to take care of this precious structure, especially during the aging process. My mother passed away at the age of 93 and was still singing and playing the piano while Tony’s mother at the age of 96, was playing word puzzles, working in her garden and helping out at old folks facilities until she passed away. I’m not sure exactly what my mother did to keep her cognitive processes at a high-level, other than continuing to play the piano, sing songs, work crossword puzzles, play bridge and beat me at Scrabble. I am unable to play the piano, sing songs, work crossword puzzles and dislike Scrabble. So this means I have to develop other strategies, in order to keep my brain healthy.




I do know that epigenetic changes [inherited genes, mutational genes and the environment] affect our brain from in utero and remain active throughout our lifespan. Body weight is associated with the major causes of death [heart disease, cancer, COPD, stroke, accidents, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, kidney disease, pneumonia, flu, and suicide], and about 40% of premature mortality is due to behavioral causes. What we eat is likely what we become. Some nutritional facts include: 1. As we age our metabolism began to slow down and we require less caloric intake. About 20 years ago, the average American consumed about 1850 calories per day, while today the number of calories has increased by 148. 365 days later, an individual would be 15 pounds heavier. 2. Items that make terrific brain food include-antioxidant rich foods [broccoli, cauliflower, onions, garlic, tomatoes, melons, potatoes, oranges blueberries, strawberries and red grapes; omega-3 fatty acids-found in tuna, salmon, and sardines or fish oil; and B vitamins found in beans, peas, enriched breads, leafy vegetables such as spinach and kale, bananas and melons.




For me, my nutritional intake includes a morning smoothie. I make enough to have it throughout the day. I use a professional blender with fruits and vegetables. I either peel my fruit like an orange, and/or wash my other fruits and vegetables using non-scented ivory soap. I want to remove those surface pesticides. I’ll also have a salad for dinner. One reason for the smoothie is to make sure I receive many fruits and vegetables.

Further, as the brain begins to atrophy or loose tissue, beginning in the third decade of life, this loss of brain tissue leads to a decline in cognitive functioning. And, research is beginning to reveal more and more how improvement in cardiovascular health also benefits cognitive functioning. Cardiovascular fitness is associated with the sparing of brain tissue, maintaining and enhancing central nervous system health and cognitive functioning-especially aerobic fitness training. As a result, I incorporate cardiovascular aerobic fitness as another strategy.




My aerobic fitness training is relatively simple. I trail run either alone or with Tony and others or use an elliptical machine. For the past 15 years or so, I have totaled roughly 50 miles per week. Currently, that’s a six-day week of running. If I miss that 50 mile mark, I miss it and so be it. On weeks that I’m entering a competition, or have an overuse injury, I reduce my daily and/or weekly miles. This past week I got up to 100% of VO 2 [145 pulse rate] on a tapering run. Tony and I are soon headed to the Bay Area for a 30 K trail run.




As my mother aged, she consumed less and less calories and became more and more slender. At the moment I’m not becoming slender. She incorporated more brain fitness exercises and I’m incorporating more cardiovascular brain exercise for my brain. Time will tell whether or not there were any differences between my strategy and hers. Hopefully, when I reach the age 93, I will know the answer.