December 19, 2023 - Five+, Memories, Trivial Pursuits, Congestion

At trivia night, I can't remember the fifth way to get rid of congestion.

Nuggets of Information: Researchers Discover 5 Is More Than 4 

Most of my knowledge came from Schoolhouse Rock, where the one mathematical truth is that Three is a Magic Number. And we all know why 6 is afraid of 7 - because 7 8 9. (Kind of has to be said out loud.) But there is something very interesting going on between 4 and 5. 

Back in 1871, economist & philosopher William Stanley Jevons published results from a self-experiment he conducted that focused on how the mind conceives of numbers. He threw different amounts of black beans into a cardboard box, and after a quick glance, guessed how many beans were in the box. Then he counted them and recorded the actual value. After doing this over 1,000 times, he saw a pattern. When there were four or fewer beans, he got it right 100% of the time. But at five or more, his flash guesses were often incorrect. For over 150 years, smart people have debated why there may be a limit on the number of items we can correctly judge in a set.  

Recently, a study published in Nature Human Behaviour looked closely at how different neurons in the brain are tuned in to different numbers. Some neurons are tuned to the number three – when they are presented with three objects, they fire more. Same goes for other numbers. This was originally observed in experiments with monkeys in the early 2000’s, then again with crows in 2015. Conducting similar research with humans is a bit trickier, due to pesky ethical restraints around experimenting on people’s brains while they are alive. Folks don’t often sign up to have electrodes implanted into their brains. But Andreas Nieder, the chair of animal physiology at the University of Tübingen in Germany, and co-leader of the study, connected with Florian Mormann, head of cognitive and clinical neurophysiology at the University of Bonn. Mormann does single-cell recordings in his human epilepsy patients, who have electrodes implanted in their brains as part of their medical care. Bingo!

The results confirmed Jevons’ findings – specific neurons fire for their preferred numbers. From that study, they went on to see how neurons represent odd and even numbers. They flashed a series of dots on a computer screen, and participants indicated if they saw an odd or even number. A clear pattern emerged right around the number 4. Two distinct neural signatures were observed – one for small numbers and one for large numbers. This finding has parallels to the limitations of working memory, which says people can hold a certain number of objects in their working memory – and that number is 4. 

Number representation is humans’ second-biggest symbol system after language, and math has been used to describe our world for thousands of years. If you were wondering why Boo’s N.E.W.S. always has 4 articles, it is based on biology. Your mind can only take so much incredibly useful and entertaining information, and each week we take you right to the very limit. When we tested a fifth article with our focus group participants, they all momentarily gained enlightenment, then immediately descended into perpetual madness. Four it is!

Enrichment: Thanks for the ... What Was It Again?  

What do wasabi, laser beams and high-intensity exercise have in common? They all have been shown to improve memory.  

Researchers at Tohoku University found that wasabi improves both short- and long-term memory. The active component in wasabi is 6-MSITC, an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory. In a double-blind, randomized study involving 72 healthy subjects ranging in age from 60 to 80, half took 100 milligrams of wasabi extract at bedtime, with the other half took a placebo. After three months, the wasabi group registered “significant” boosts in both short-term working memory and longer-lasting episodic memory. Researchers theorize that 6-MSITC reduces inflammation and oxidant levels in the hippocampus, which is responsible for memory function, and boosts neural plasticity. The tricky part here is that wasabi is very difficult to cultivate. That green spicy paste served around the world at sushi restaurants is almost always fake – ordinary white horseradish, dyed green. I love wasabi at sushi restaurants so I’m going to go ahead and not remember that last part about it being fake.  

A study published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience reports that after 20 minutes of high-intensity exercise, participants saw increases in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein that supports the function, growth and survival of brain cells. Dr Jennifer Heisz, the study’s first author, said: 

“Improvements in this type of memory from exercise might help to explain the previously established link between aerobic exercise and better academic performance. 

At the other end of our lifespan, as we reach our senior years, we might expect to see even greater benefits in individuals with memory impairment brought on by conditions such as dementia.” 

If you can’t score the primo wasabi, and doing Tae Bo for 20 minutes seems like a pain, and you have access to lasers, and are adept at transcranial photobiomodulation (tPBM), then the solution to improving working memory is a snap. Scientists at the University of Birmingham and the Beijing Normal University applied tPBM to the left prefrontal cortex in some participants, the right prefrontal cortex of another group, and a placebo to a control group. Using data from EEG monitoring, researchers observed clear improvements in the right prefrontal cortex group. Professor Ole Jensen, from the Centre for Human Brain Health, said:  

"We need further research to understand exactly why the tPBM is having this positive effect, but it's possible that the light is stimulating the astrocytes -- the powerplants -- in the nerve cells within the prefrontal cortex, and this has a positive effect on the cells' efficiency. We will also be investigating how long the effects might last.” 

If you are interested in memory, I highly recommend an entertaining and informative book - Moonwalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything by Joshau Foer. I really enjoyed this book, and applied the techniques described within to remember a series of 20 random objects, using the “Memory Palace” approach. It worked! From Amazon:  

“On average, people squander forty days annually compensating for things they've forgotten. Joshua Foer used to be one of those people. But after a year of memory training, he found himself in the finals of the U.S. Memory Championship. Even more important, Foer found a vital truth we too often forget: In every way that matters, we are the sum of our memories. 
 
Moonwalking with Einstein draws on cutting-edge research, a surprising cultural history of memory, and venerable tricks of the mentalist's trade to transform our understanding of human remembering. Under the tutelage of top "mental athletes," he learns ancient techniques once employed by Cicero to memorize his speeches and by Medieval scholars to memorize entire books. Using methods that have been largely forgotten, Foer discovers that we can all dramatically improve our memories.” 

Workshop: Family Time Is So Trivial 

With Samantha home from college for winter break, and Alex done with the fall semester of high school, Lisa and I have been trying to coordinate time together as a family. On Saturday, we thought a nice family lunch would be nice. At one point, Alex was 100% on-board, and tried to help us convince Samantha to go. Within a five-minute span, Alex was no longer interested, but Samantha was. Our negotiations ended with an agreement that the four of us would have brunch/lunch together Sunday. Alex went to meet up with friends, and Samantha suggested we go to Gu’s Kitchen – a hometown fave serving up incredible dumplings and noodle dishes. But even after she picked where we would eat, it took ten more minutes to get her out of OUR OWN BED – where she had come to take her first nap of the day. Ah the joy of having teenagers! The three of us made it to Gu’s and had a lovely time.  

Sunday rolled around, and after only ten minutes of parental cajoling, we all headed out to lunch at Los Bravos, our favorite local Mexican restaurant. We’ve been going there since before the girls were born. In fact, the first time we decided to leave the house after Samantha was born, when she was only 3-weeks old, we went to Los Bravos! Samantha sat peacefully in her little bucket seat at the end of the table, Lisa and I had chips & salsa, and for the first time we said “We can do this! We can be out in the world with this baby!” Immediately after those words were uttered, a server carrying a sizzling hot fajita walked right past our table – the molten-hot dinner scant inches from our precious baby! We were not ready!! But we recovered and have been to Los Bravos countless times since.  

Last night, we had another chance at family togetherness – trivia night at the Mad Italian, a local restaurant featuring cheese-steaks, pizza, salads, pasta dishes and more. No fajitas! Samantha invited us to go, but not to actually join her and her friends. God forbid! We teamed up with our good friends Tracey Cabrey and Kathy & Kevin Parker, picked our Trivia Team Name - “Yule Lagers” - and proceeded to strain our brains enough to win first place. Well - we tied for first place, and in the sudden-death Thunderdome round, the other team shouted out the correct answer to the tiebreaker question before we did. (Cassius Clay was born in Louisville.) We were thrilled to beat the college kids! Take that Gen Z!

I’ve been informed that the important point isn’t how we so spectacularly dominated in trivia, but how meaningful it is spending time together - even if it is at separate tables in a restaurant, locked in trivial combat. We’ll take what we can get!

We look forward to more family time together over the next few weeks. Up next, we are going to see Wonka, the origin story of candy maker Willy Wonka. I’m hoping they explain how Charlie Bucket’s grandparents all started sharing a big bed together. The mid-60’s were a crazy time filled with free love, chocolate factories and Oompa Loompas.

Selected Content: Remove the Stuffing, Apply the Rub 

In the September 26, 2023 Boo’s N.E.W.S., I wrote about nose breathing, and why it is better than mouth breathing. But what if your nose is congested? Until recently, the answer may have been to take over-the-counter medications containing phenylephrine – the most popular oral decongestant in the United States - found in drugs including Sudafed PE, Benadryl Allergy Plus Congestion and Vicks Nyquil Sinex Nighttime Sinus Relief. The problem is a Food & Drug Administration advisory panel recently announced that phenylephrine doesn’t work. When taken orally, only a tiny amount of the drug reaches the nose, and any relief of congestion is negligible. In five studies held over the past two decades, the effectiveness of oral phenylephrine was no better than a placebo. They also looked back at the original findings used to support the over-the-counter use and found them inconsistent, not meeting modern standards for study design.  

You could opt for decongestants containing pseudoephedrine, which are now found behind the pharmacy counter as they can be used to make methamphetamine. While I am a big Breaking Bad fan, and the thought of Heisenberging my congestion is appealing, my favorite decongestant is 1 small spoonful of hot chili sauce added to the hand-pulled noodle soup at LanZhou Ramen in Atlanta. Clears you right up! Be sure to try the dumplings!! 

If you are looking for some no-medicine, no-meth, no-ramen solutions, check out this video from Prevention. In this video, two methods are shared: The “Tongue Tap Trick” and the “Hold Your Breath Method.” The same group also has a video with natural headache cures. Do you have any novel cures for congestion, headaches or any other ailments? Share them in the comments!