脳科学者に聞く「脳にいい6つの習慣」後編／努力次第で脳は変わる／脳疲労を回復するには？【47歳からのキャリア】

Explore six brain-healthy habits including balanced diet, sleep, exercise, curiosity, conversation, and well-being to improve brain function and reduce stress.

Key Takeaways

Balanced diet and diverse nutrition are vital for brain and gut health.
Consistent, sufficient sleep (6+ hours) is essential for memory, emotional regulation, and brain detoxification.
Exercise and social engagement (curiosity and conversation) significantly benefit brain function.
Traditional healthy habits remain validated by current neuroscience evidence.
Maintaining subjective well-being reduces stress and lowers risks of chronic diseases and dementia.

What the video covers

Sleep is crucial for memory consolidation, emotional regulation, anxiety and stress reduction, and clearing brain waste like amyloid-beta.
Six key habits for brain health are exercise, hobbies, curiosity, conversation, diet, sleep, and a sense of well-being.
A balanced diet is essential; focusing on diverse foods like those in Japanese or Mediterranean diets supports gut-brain axis health.
Eating only specific 'brain foods' can reduce gut microbiota diversity and negatively impact cognitive functions.
Traditional common-sense habits such as sleeping well, eating properly, and staying physically active are strongly supported by scientific evidence.
At least six hours of sleep is recommended for optimal brain function, including memory retention and emotional balance.
Exercise boosts hippocampal function and suppresses anxiety-related amygdala activity, similar to the effects of good sleep.
Subjective well-being lowers stress and reduces risks for lifestyle diseases and dementia linked to arteriosclerosis.
Power naps can help refresh the brain during the day, especially as people age.
Modern lifestyle changes, like reduced physical activity and Westernized diets, may negatively affect brain and overall health.

Chapters

How much sleep is recommended for optimal brain function?

At least six hours of sleep is recommended to support memory consolidation, emotional regulation, and brain waste clearance.

Why is a balanced diet important for brain health?

A balanced diet maintains gut microbiota diversity, which is crucial for cognitive functions through the gut-brain axis, rather than focusing on single 'brain foods.'

What role does exercise play in brain health?

Exercise boosts hippocampal function and suppresses anxiety-related amygdala activity, improving mood and cognitive performance similar to the effects of good sleep.

Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

Speaker A

Sleep is essential for consolidating memories, regulating emotions, reducing anxiety and stress, and we know it even flushes out waste products from the brain. That is why getting enough sleep is so incredibly important. People with a high sense of subjective well-being

Speaker A

have lower stress levels. The risks for lifestyle-related diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia are also reduced. And actually, dementia is also significantly linked to those factors involving arteriosclerosis. Finding little joys in your daily life actually has a huge impact on our health.

Speaker A

You’ve put together a summary for us, haven't you, Doctor? Six habits important for the brain.

Speaker A

Starting with this. Is this something you propose, Doctor? That's right. Yes. Well, it's not so much just me, but rather if you gather evidence from around the world, it tends to converge here: curiosity and conversation. So far we have exercise,

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hobbies, curiosity, and conversation, leaving three more. Diet, sleep, and a sense of well-being. Yes.

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I'd like to touch briefly on diet and sleep. Now, regarding diet, you hear it all the time, right? "Eat this, it's good for your brain." Yes. People do say that.

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Yes. So, is that true? Well, the conclusion is yes, it is good. It really is. Yes.

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Certainly, various studies on animals and humans show that consuming these nutrients has some beneficial effects.

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That is certain. There is a lot of evidence for that. However, what's being said recently is...

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Just because something is good, eating only that is the worst thing you can do.

Speaker A

I see. Makes sense. Well, why is that bad? It’s because our bodies function through organ-to-organ correlation. For example, the gut-brain axis is often discussed now. If you only eat specific things, the diversity of your gut microbiota decreases, which impacts our

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cognitive functions—how we think, judge, and remember. Are they connected? Exactly, that's right. The gut and the brain.

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That's right. They call it the gut-brain axis, including the heart as well. So, while it's fine to say one thing is good, if you only eat that, your gut diversity drops and brain function declines. Ultimately, the most important thing is a balanced diet.

Speaker A

It's an obvious conclusion, but yes. A balanced diet. Exactly. Even within a balanced diet, are there still specific things you would recommend? I suppose so. As you say, what's often recommended is Japanese food or the Mediterranean diet.

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Mediterranean. Yes. To explain what those are—it's not that meat is bad, but it's more about focusing on seafood, vegetables, and fruits. For the Mediterranean diet, it's olive oil, and for Japanese food, for example, soy.

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And a little red wine or tea; eating a balanced diet with slightly fewer calories is very good. I hear that often, but what exactly is the Mediterranean? Like Italy and that area? That's right. Exactly. Just as you

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said, yes. They say that the types of things they eat there—like pasta, salad, and a bit of fruit—are good for you.

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Indeed, people in Italy are very energetic and... Yes. Yes. Cheerful. That's also cultural, but I think their eating habits and lifestyle are very important. We have that in Japan as well, don't we?

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That's right. Japanese food is said to be very good, isn't it? So, the fact that diets are becoming Westernized is something to... yes, exactly.

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We should be careful. That's right. Inevitably, calories... can become excessive, or fat and sugar intake can get too high. So, like with Japanese food or the Mediterranean diet, it's about keeping those in check while eating a balanced diet. But, it's

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not that meat is bad. Not at all, that's also important. As a source of protein. So, while meat is fine, it's said that making Japanese food the center of your daily routine is good.

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It seems like things that are said to be good for your body change from era to era, don't they? As new evidence emerges.

Speaker A

Recently, things like food that the brain enjoys, Yes. or the timing of meals, those things have been changing too.

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Yes. Well, from my perspective, the things that have been said for a long time actually have a higher level of evidence. Outlandish things come up from time to time, but I get the impression they rarely hold up as

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evidence. Oh. Like the things we've been told for ages, such as sleeping well, going to bed and waking up early, and eating proper meals. That's right. Exactly.

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Things like that, and also staying physically active. Ah. So, common sense things are actually being backed by even stronger evidence now.

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Things we’ve conceptually assumed were obvious Yes. have now been confirmed by evidence. Confirmed as being good for us, that is.

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Exactly. Yes. So, there really isn't much that has been discovered recently that overturns traditional common sense. Or rather, I can't really think of any off the top of my head. Oh, is that so?

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It's just that the things we've been told for a long time are truly good for our bodies.

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What about sleep? Yes. For sleep, it's actually quite simple. Roughly speaking, and though there are individual differences, it's important to get at least six hours of sleep. Six hours or more.

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Is that on average? That's right. Because if you only get a short amount of sleep... Well, sleep has several roles to begin with. For example, it fixes memories and helps them take root. We can't learn things if we don't sleep. Wait, really?

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Yes. Pulling an all-nighter to study and then taking a test the next day usually leads to poor results; that’s why you’re better off sleeping. You remember things when you sleep.

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You’re better off doing a little less and getting some sleep. Ah, so you have to sleep?

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Exactly. Sleeping allows memories to become fixed. That’s one of the reasons. I think many people pull all-nighters.

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That’s true. Well, many people are busy so I know it's difficult, but if you can, you should sleep. There are TV stations that edit all night long.

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Right, well, that's how it is. I know you're busy, so it's not easy, but if possible, you should be mindful of it.

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Yes, I understand. It's not just for cementing memories. It's also to regulate your emotions.

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By sleeping, the brain region called the hippocampus increases its function, and we have an area called the amygdala that activates due to anxiety, stress, or worrying. It's located right in front of the hippocampus, and it's what activates when we feel anxious or

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stressed. The hippocampus acts as a brake, calming down the amygdala's activity. Sleeping well boosts hippocampal function. And that suppresses the activity of the amygdala.

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That's why anxiety and stress decrease. Wait, those processes happen while we sleep? Yes, that's exactly right. That's why when you get a good night's sleep, you feel refreshed, don't you? Actually, it's the same with exercise. Exercise also boosts hippocampal function and

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suppresses the amygdala, which is why you feel good after exercising or getting plenty of sleep.

Speaker A

This feeling of well-being actually has that reason behind it. So, the amygdala is prone to reacting to anxiety and...

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Yes. ...those kinds of psychological factors? Exactly. Yes. It is said that it activates due to anxiety and such. Oh, I see.

Speaker A

So, sleeping is for fixing memories, for regulating emotions—to reduce anxiety and stress—and there is one more thing: we now know that sleeping washes away waste products in the brain.

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Waste products? Waste products. Yes. Specifically, we've recently discovered that amyloid-beta, an abnormal protein that causes Alzheimer's-type dementia, is washed out of the brain while we sleep. That's why sleeping is incredibly important.

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Memory consolidation, cleaning... Yes. That's right. And regulating emotions. Regulating emotions. And six hours was needed for that.

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Yes, exactly. If possible, about six hours. There are people known as "short sleepers," aren't there? Who say they are perfectly fine with just three hours. But even for those people, for example, when they do cognitive tasks, their performance te

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if possible—of course, business people are very busy and it's not like everyone can do it perfectly—but it's better to sleep as much as you can.

Speaker A

Even so? So, should we sleep when we feel sleepy ? For example, during the day too?

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Yes. Oh, napping is actually very good. However, if you take too long of a nap, it's said to lower the quality of your sleep at night, so, well, it's better to take a catnap on a sofa in a bright

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place rather than making the room pitch black and... They say it's much better to just take a light nap than to fall into a deep sleep.

Speaker A

That’s often called a "power nap," right? Like, sleeping a little bit makes you feel really refreshed.

Speaker A

Yes. Yeah. Yeah. But doctor, they say that as we age, we can't sleep as well, right? Like losing the stamina to sleep .

Speaker A

Yes. So, you need stamina, or energy, to sleep, don't you? You do. Yes. That's just unavoidable, isn't it?

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So, as you get older... That's right. Yes. Indeed. And there are some tricks for that, right?

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So, if you ask what is the best way to improve sleep quality, it comes back to the beginning: exercise.

Speaker A

Oh, is that so? Yes. Increasing your activity level during the day naturally makes you sleepy at night. I exercise daily not just for the sake of exercise, but also to help me sleep. One of the toughest things during the pandemic must have

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been the increase in people who couldn't sleep. I was one of them. Why? It's not just about anxiety or stress, but because we weren't moving our bodies, we didn't get tired. Staying home.

Speaker A

That's right. You really do sleep better when you move your body. In that sense, it feels like everything is linked, doesn't it?

Speaker A

And the last thing you mentioned, doctor, was subjective well-being. Yes. Yes. Actually, I think not many people think about this normally, but it is said that those small feelings of happiness or joy we have each day are incredibly important for us.

Speaker A

For the brain? Yes. It’s not just for the brain; it’s actually important for the body too. The reason for this is that people with higher subjective well-being have lower stress levels. And when stress levels are low, the risk of

Speaker A

lifestyle-related diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes, and arteriosclerosis also decreases. This improves your overall health. In fact, there are quite a few factors related to arteriosclerosis that also contribute to dementia.

Speaker A

I see. So, as a result, it also lowers the risk of dementia. Ah. That’s why it’s said that feeling a little bit happy or enjoying your daily life, even just a little, actually has a huge impact on our health. You often

Speaker A

hear about "well-being" lately, don't you? It really is all about well-being. Yes. It's about how to find it. Like you were just saying.

Speaker A

Yes. That's right. So, of course, the best way is to think a little each day and find what makes you happy, but if you can't find it, there are a few ways to do so. Oh.

Speaker A

So, the first one is...

Topics:brain healthsleepbalanced dietgut-brain axisexercisememory consolidationemotional regulationwell-beingMediterranean dietJapanese diet

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