How Dehydrated are You? The #Brain and World #Water Day

Did you know that we are losing water with each breath we take? When sweating or eliminating waste, it may be more obvious. We're constantly losing water, the essential fuel for our bodies but more importantly our brains run on. So if you notice that you usually feel afternoon fatigue, have sleep issues, focus issues, depressed...those are symptoms of dehydration (though see a doctor if you feel there is something else going on).

For World Water Day, I've done a drawing illustrating several important points between water and our brains:

• Our brain is 85% water and will begin to shrink when it becomes dehydrated. When we wake up after we sleep, our brains are already dehydrated. DEHYDRATION SHRINKS YOUR GREY MATTER! Breathing through the night is the longest stretch of time we don't replenish ourselves. One-percent of dehydration leads to 5% shortage of cognitive function. So drink a glass of water when you get up.
• In my drawing, I show that by the right side of the brain image looking rock like. It's dried up and needs water to bring it back to full capacity. The water being poured into the back party of the brain is being quickly absorbed.

• Drinking water on a regular basis helps to deliver nutrients and remove toxins that build up in the brain.
• That fact is represented in the above drawing where the black dots are toxins in the brain. The glass of water that is being poured on the brain is flushing out the toxins. The toxins end up in the puddle of water.

Learning about the brain and water has certainly convinced me to step up and be more conscious of the amount of water I drink each day. On average, an adult loses 80 ounces of water a day. That's a lot when you consider how much water you aren't drinking. Soda, coffee, tea, milk, juice doesn't count.

Why does your brain need to much water? It is the part of your body that uses up twice as much energy than anything else. The energy is needed to produce hormones and neurotransmitters for you to function optimally. Also our brains can't store water so it needs to be replenished regularly throughout the day.

I don't have as good a memory as I would like as I explain in this brain painting of mine. Chronic dehydration may be the cause! Something that is fortunately fixable!

I'll leave you with this quote from an article I read in my research:

"On average, the amount of shrinkage equated to 14 months of age-related wear and tear, or the withering away associated with two and a half months of Alzheimer's disease." [2]

Drink up!

Regards,
Michelle Hunter

Contemporary Artist
Tel: (646) 504-5034
www.hunterart.com
info@hunterart.com
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Get a FREE handwritten postcard from me! Join my mailing list here: http://bit.ly/HunterArtList
Contact me to commission a painting or drawing (info@hunterart.com / 646-504-5034)
The Brain Series of Paintings, so far: http://hunterart.blogspot.com/p/brain-paintings.html
Purchase prints to fit your space here: http://www.hunterart.imagekind.com
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Sources:
1. Hear, Merlin, "How to Improve Memory, Focus, and Concentration" www.waterbenefitshealth.com
2. Macrae, Fiona, "Water on the brain: Grey matter literally shrinks without hydration" www.dailymail.co.uk, May 20, 2010

Pi Day! How Does the #Brain process #Math? #piday

It is 3:14 on 3/14 :)

Happy Pi Day to all of you that either love or hate math.

It's interesting how Pi is becoming an increasingly precise number as it has been calculated to over trillion digits past its decimal point. Yet, we usually refer to it as an approximation of 3.141509. Pi is the calculation of the circumference of a circle divided by the diameter.

So in doing my research for Pi Day, it was cool to learn that math isn't processed using one section of our brain but it depended on the type of calculation we are doing. I represented that in my drawing as having the symbol of Pi grow from these distinctive regions of the brain colored in yellow and red within a circle, of course.

If seeking a precise number like what does 5 x 7 =, then it is our left frontal lobe (yellow area) takes charge as the equation requires verbal representation of numbers. Then 5 x 7 = becomes five times seven equals. As for something like learning the multiplication table, we just recite that to memory.

It's different when you're looking more for a range. For example, if I add 23 apples to this pile of 50 apples, would the number of apples be closer to 70 or 90. Parietal Lobe, colored in red (more specifically the inferior parietal cortex) has a role in understanding space and used for reasoning. So while the addition of apples will make a bigger pile, it wouldn't be as large as 90 apples and it would be closer to 70.

Now treat yourself to some pie! Just try to avoid cutting it into fractions.


Regards,
Michelle Hunter

Contemporary Artist
Tel: (646) 504-5034
www.hunterart.com
info@hunterart.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Get a FREE handwritten postcard from me! Join my mailing list here: http://eepurl.com/OUkJ
Contact me to commission a painting or drawing (info@hunterart.com / 646-504-5034)
The Brain Series of Paintings, so far: http://hunterart.blogspot.com/p/brain-paintings.html
Purchase prints to fit your space here: http://www.hunterart.imagekind.com
Like on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hunterart
Follow on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/artcoholic
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Sources:
Butterworth, Brian,"A Head for Figures," Science Magazine, May 7 1999
Peterson, Ivers,"MathTrek: Brainy Figuring," Science News

The Brain and Sleep for National Napping Day!

Oh happy National Napping Day to all of you! Gotta love these unofficial holidays :)

For this blog post, featured below is a painting from my Brain Series on the Brain and Sleep.



Zzzzzzz (Sleep) (c) Michelle Hunter

http://hunterart.blogspot.com/2011/05/new-painting-nap-time.html

National Napping Day was started in 1999 by Boston University professor William Anthony, Ph.D. and his wife Camille Anthony. This holiday was started as a way for Americans to adjust to Daylight Savings Time where we lose an hour of sleep.

A good amount of research has been done on this subject. Results have proven that one can be more productive during their day when they take a mid-day nap. Try it, you'll see.

Benefits of napping include:

• Recharges you and Relives stress: Having a long day, feeling stressed out or feeling sluggish. Take a nap! You can awaken recharged and more alert to tackle what else lies ahead. An effective nap interval would be from 20-40 minutes.
• Better able to retain what you've learned: If you're able to get in an hour or hour and a half nap, you can sustain a high level of brain activity throughout the day versus a declining amount if you don't nap. A rested brain can more easily retain what had been learned.
• Do ideas tend to come to you when at rest? hint hint... Have something on your mind that you need to resolve and an answer isn't coming to you. Take a nap! The burst of energy that the brain receives after a nap can help get those creative juices flowing.
• Improve productivity: Who will get more work done during the day? Someone that works 8-hours straight or someone that works for 4 hours, takes a nap and works an additional 3 hours? Answer is the one that takes a nap! Work is done at a slower pace with more distractions if one works through the day. After a nap though, you can handle the rest of your days tasks with the same energy you walked in with. You'll get more done in that time and can work more efficiently.

Happy Napping!! zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Regards,

Michelle Hunter

Contemporary Artist
Tel: (646) 504-5034
www.hunterart.com
info@hunterart.com
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Get a FREE handwritten postcard from me! Join my mailing list here: http://eepurl.com/OUkJ
Contact me to commission a painting or drawing (info@hunterart.com / 646-504-5034)
The Brain Series of Paintings, so far: http://hunterart.blogspot.com/p/brain-paintings.html
Purchase prints to fit your space here: http://www.hunterart.imagekind.com
Like on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hunterart
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Celebrating the Female #Brain on International @womensday!

Hello there!

On this March 8th, the world celebrates the 102nd year of International Women's Day.

As the date approached, I started doing some research to learn about what difference have been discovered between the female and male brain. Of course with science, nothing is exact but much is learned and explored. In the area of gender differences in the brain, studies suggest that:

• The bond between the left and right hemispheres (Corpus Callosum) are stronger in women than it is for men. As such, we are more inclined to use both hemispheres of our brain when it comes to language like when we are reading or hearing something. Our language ability can be that much more exercised.
• Our brains also tend to have more white matter which is the substance that connects the different parts of our brain. However, males may have a larger percentage of grey matter which serves cognition and decision making.
• Our areas of the brain used for processing math may develop slower than males.
• Our brains tend to be slightly smaller than males (~10% smaller)
• When it comes to navigation, women are more inclined to use landmarks to get a sense of where we (turn right at the Barnes and Nobles) are while men are more directional (east at next light, then west).

Fun stuff! Enjoy your day ladies and as always, feedback is welcome :)

Regards,
Michelle Hunter

Contemporary Artist
Tel: (646) 504-5034
www.hunterart.com
info@hunterart.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact me to commission a painting or drawing (info@hunterart.com / 646-504-5034)
The Brain Series of Paintings, so far: http://hunterart.blogspot.com/p/brain-paintings.html
Purchase prints to fit your space here: http://www.hunterart.imagekind.com
Like on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hunterart
Follow on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/artcoholic
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What Dr. Seuss Book do these words come from?

I welcome you to read this blog post on ... National Reading Day! It's celebrated throughout the country the same day Dr. Seuss was born. It is commemorated in schools on the closest school day to March 2nd.

As you are reading this, lots of interesting things are going on in your head! That's how cool the brain is :)

I've done some research on reading and the brain. Apparently a key area in our brains for reading comprehension is the area between our left Temporal and Occipital Lobes. The Temporal Lobe plays an important part in language and speech pronunciation among other functions. The Occipital Lobe is where our primary Vision Cortex resides.

In the below drawing I've represented that region with a keyhole. Flowing into that keyhole are words from one of Dr. Seuss' popular books. From the drawing, do you know which book the words come from?

Regards,

Michelle Hunter

Contemporary Artist
Tel: (646) 504-5034
www.hunterart.com
info@hunterart.com
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact me if you would like to purchase original paintings or drawings (info@hunterart.com / 646-504-5034)
The Brain Series of Paintings, so far: http://hunterart.blogspot.com/p/brain-paintings.html
Purchase prints to fit your space here: http://www.hunterart.imagekind.com
Like on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hunterart
Follow on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/artcoholic
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