Feeling moody? Don't blame your SO, it could be your cell health. Our cells play a huge role in brain function, including mood, memory, focus, and cognition. Today, I want to share some information on how cellular function can impact the way we think, our ability to focus, and even the emotions we feel. Let's get to it.
Like all our organs, our brains are made from tissues powered by cells. Most of the cells in the brain are neurons and glial cells, which work together to send electrical and biochemical signals responsible for the processing and storage of information, aka your mems and surroundings.
You probably know about neurons, but glial cells also play a pivotal role in brain function. Glial cells make up 60% of all brain matter and function to regulate, maintain and protect our neurons and neural pathways. These cells are crucial for information relay from the senses to the neurons.
Some of these cells, called microglia, also act as our brain's immune system, surveilling and detecting damage, disease, and waste and clearing it from the brain. Microglial cells help maintain a clear head, literally. By cleaning junk from the extracellular space around neurons, these brain cells help neural signals travel more effectively, making our cognition faster and keeping us more alert and adaptable to the world around us.
So the next time you feel down, could it be your cells? Factors like poor diet, lack of sleep, or chronic stress can overstimulate our microglial cells resulting in inflammatory signals that slow our cognition, create brain fog, and dampen our mood. Research has even linked overactive microglia to mood disorders like anxiety and depression.
That's biology, baby, but some interventions can help balance our body's inflammatory signaling. Fasting or Mimio can promote and maintain our microglial function, keeping our neurons firing on all cylinders while activating our cellular clean-up and recycling pathways to clear damage as well as stimulating the release of compounds like palmitoylethanolamide (PEA) that help regulate neuroinflammation, keeping us alert, focused, and happy.
Now, armed with that knowledge, go forth and have a great day!
