Powerful science to understand and optimize your brain
By Austin Perlmutter, MD
To think, act, and feel any way, your brain must integrate an incredible amount of data in an astonishingly short amount of time. How this network functions influences your risk for mental health conditions, dementia, changes your behavior, and even affects how long you live. Most of our brain function occurs below our conscious awareness. Yet by better understanding the cells within our brains we can gain powerful insights into who we are and how to promote better brain health. In this article, we’re exploring the four most common brain cells and how your choices affect them for the better and the worse.
Neurons
Of all the cells in your brain, one type of cell gets almost all the limelight. Making up around 50% of your brain cells, the neuron first rose to prominence as a standalone brain cell through the discoveries of the anatomist Santiago Ramón y Cajal in the 1800s. The average human may have between 65 and 90 billion neurons, and the majority are in the cerebellum. When it comes to conditions like dementia and depression as well as decision making and behavior, much research has focused on the 15 or so billion neurons in our cerebral cortex. Compare that with the 250 million that cats have, 530 million in dogs, or over 20 billion in Orcas!
What do your neurons do?
As you likely have heard, neurons are tasked with an incredible amount of work. The best-known task of the neuron is to carry signals across the brain using electricity and chemicals messengers called neurotransmitters. This process underlies memory, mood, cognition, desire and affection, allowing us to respond to the diversity of experiences in our lives. In addition, recent research shows that neurons participate in immune and metabolic signaling. Issues with neuronal health are believed to underlie every major brain health concern from the effects of stroke to dementia to mood disorders.
How can you look after your neurons?
The great news about your neurons is that they are constantly rewiring and refreshing themselves as you go about your daily routine. There are even certain parts of the brain where we can grow new neurons as we age. With this in mind, we absolutely benefit from taking active steps to protect the neurons we have. Some of the best ways to care for your neuronal health include:
Reduce head trauma risk: Protect your brain against head trauma (wear a helmet/seatbelt, minimize contact sports with head-to-heat contact, take fall precautions if you have poor balance.
Eat a diet that is rich in the omega-3 fatty acids EPA and DHA (these may help support long-term neuronal health) and low in processed foods
Get 30 minutes of movement in each day (bonus points for moderate intensity activities)
Work on stress mitigation techniques
Commit to lifelong learning
Avoid excess air pollution, alcohol and illicit drug use
Microglia
Since half of the cells in your brain are neurons, the other half has to be something else! That something is glial cells, a name that comes from the Greek word for “glue” because initially these cells were thought to only serve to hold the nervous system together. We now know that glial cells are vital to healthy brain function. Among the glial cells, a group called “microglia” have emerged as central to mood, memory, cognition and far more.
What do your microglia do?
The best-known attribute of the up to 15% of our brain cells that are microglia is their role in brain immunity. For many years, it was believed that the brain was separate from the immune system. We now know that the brain’s microglial cells are immune cells that are key to memory consolidation, progression of Alzheimer’s disease, risk for depression and response to brain damage in addition to protection against infectious organisms like bacteria and viruses.
How can you care for your microglia?
As immune cells, microglia are tasked with listening for any evidence of damage or danger in the brain. When they get these types of signals, they change their shape and function and set off a cascade of signals that gears our brain up for a fight. Our goal is to keep these cells from perpetually ringing the alarm bells and revving up chronic inflammation in the brain. To this end, some strategies to consider include:
Look after your gut: Caring for your gut health by eating a diversity of fiber-rich colorful plant foods (the gut and especially the microbiome seems to have an outsized influence on microglial cell health)
Prioritize quality sleep each night: a host of research shows that sleep issues can damage healthy immunity. This may be even more of an issue in the brain.
Care for your immune system: Taking steps to prioritize overall immune health like minimizing excess alcohol use, not smoking and eating a diet rich in real, minimally processed foods (microglial cells get signals from your body’s immune system)
Keep your blood pressure and blood sugar under control. Both high blood sugar and high blood pressure may promote poor microglial health.
Astrocytes
Astrocytes are another glial cell, named because of their star-shaped cells. They are the second most common type of glial cell in our brains. Initially, it was assumed that astrocytes all served the same purpose. Recent research reveals that these cells are quite diverse, with multiple populations of astrocytes performing very different functions.
What do astrocytes do?
Astrocytes are fundamental to brain metabolism and after neurons, are the highest utilizers of brain energy. Astrocytes are key to brain structural support and play a vital role in data transfer between neurons by regulating chemicals in the synapse between neurons. Beyond this, they make up an essential part of the blood brain barrier. With all this in mind, it’s no surprise that astrocyte health is implicated in neurodegenerative diseases and mental health conditions.
How can you care for your astrocytes?
When it comes to understanding the impact of our choices on glial cell health, our knowledge around astrocytes is more limited than for microglia and neurons. However, recent scientific publications have shed light on the idea that certain lifestyle modifications may have an outsized impact on astrocyte function. For example:
Avoid processed foods rich in saturated fat: A diet rich in saturated fat may increase conversion of astrocytes into a state that promotes obesity based on preclinical data
Mitigate stress: Psychological stress may alter astrocyte shape and function to contribute to stress-related anxiety and depression in animal studies
Get regular exercise: Physical exercise may help promote astrocyte health
Avoid excess alcohol: Excess alcohol may lead to issues with healthy astrocyte function
Oligodendrocytes
Best known for their role in supporting and insulating neurons, oligodendrocytes are a form of glial cell that physically connect with up to 50 neurons at a time. Among the glial cells, they are the most common.
What do oligodendrocytes do?
In “white matter” within the central nervous system (brain and spinal cord) neurons are coated in a fatty material called myelin. Oligodendrocytes produce and maintain this sheath which allows data to move up to 100 times faster. Interestingly, most myelination in humans by oligodendrocytes isn’t complete until around 30 years of age. Myelination is key to brain health and by extension our overall health, which is why diseases like multiple sclerosis, where the immune system attacks the myelin sheath, can be so disabling.
Beyond their role in myelination, oligodendrocytes produce and respond to immune signals called cytokines. Oligodendrocytes also produce the brain-boosting molecule brain-derived neurotrophic factor which helps promote healthy brain connectivity and the generation of new neurons. Finally, like astrocytes, it’s now known that oligodendrocytes aid neurons by providing them with metabolic support by giving them extra fuel.
How can you care for your oligodendrocytes?
Eat healthy fats and a Mediterranean diet: Eating a diet rich in healthy fats and in line with the Mediterranean diet may help protect and promote oligodendrocyte health. Additionally, adequate consumption of the omega-3 fatty acids DHA and EPA may be helpful.
Avoid smoke: Stopping smoking and decreasing exposure to second-hand smoke may protect myelination.
Exercise: In preclinical data, aerobic exercise has shown benefit in fighting myelination issues.
Always interested in brain health, especially due to PPMS, Hashi's, and what the IV Steroids caused. Later learned that the Pfizer information contained all the dangers of which the doctors knew not, nor did I. Surgery recovery has been ongoing for over six years. (Titanium rods and hardware, curved spine forever.)