Information intelligence - Sleep, Exercise and Nutrition
Intelligence Mixer - Sleep and Information Processing
So far, we’ve explored how information flows in this chapter. From attention to priming, bias, and learning, we examined how information moves from perception to understanding. We now turn to consider how other pillars of intelligence—sleep, exercise, and nutrition—can support information processing. Although later chapters (chapter 7 for sleep, chapter 6 for exercise, and chapter 5 for nutrition) will discuss these pillars more fully, here we focus on how they intersect with information processing.
Sleep can enhance information processing in at least three ways: it improves memory, decision making, and insight formation. We’ve all experienced or seen moments like, “after a good sleep, I can recall what I couldn’t yesterday,” “I made a good decision that morning after a good sleep,” and “an answer to this tricky problem suddenly popped into my head when I woke up.” Let us examine these phenomena more closely at the physiological level to understand exactly how they occur.
Sleep benefits both memory recall and formation. With enough sleep, brain noise—such as recent low-value information from the previous day—is reduced and filtered, making memory cues more noticeable [1]. When more prominent memory cues are available, it becomes easier to recall information. Regarding memory formation, at least two well-supported theories explain how sleep facilitates this process. First, during sleep—especially slow-wave sleep—the hippocampus replays recent activity patterns (new knowledge and skills) to the cortex, enabling long-term, internalised memories to be stored in the cortex. This is similar to a computer storing data: information in the hippocampus is temporary, like in computer memory. It is only during sleep that this information is transferred to long-term storage, similar to a hard disk. Essentially, sleep is like clicking the “save” button when editing a file, transferring information to long-term storage. Second, sleep triggers synaptic downscaling, which is a reduction in synaptic strength for unimportant connections. To be more precise, when we are awake, we form many synaptic connections; many among them are unimportant (such as memories about trivial events). During sleep, synapses are renormalised: important ones are strengthened, and unimportant ones are weakened, thereby creating room for memories to persist [2].
In addition to memory, sleep supports decision-making. Decision-making is a primary function of the PFC (prefrontal cortex), similar to a CEO’s role in a company. During sleep, the PFC replenishes its cognitive reserves, thereby reducing its susceptibility to limbic influences and improving its ability to manage emotional biases [3]. That’s why, after a restful sleep, we are more inclined to base decisions on logic and facts rather than feelings and biases. Additionally, sleep helps suppress the brain’s reward system; therefore, a well-rested person is less likely to focus on short-term rewards such as sugar or TikTok videos. This explains why the saying “make important decisions in the morning” holds some truth, as we are not sleep-deprived at that time.
Lastly, sleep enhances insight formation. More often than not, when we have a good sleep, new ideas emerge, novel solutions to tricky problems develop, and links between issues become clearer. These are all examples of insights forming. After all, insights are the connection of initially separate cognitive elements. During sleep, our brain creates remote associations, linking two things that seem unrelated when we’re awake. These remote associations arise from brain activity during sleep, free from the constraints of goal-directed attention. In other words, while sleeping, there are no limitations from consciousness, allowing the brain to wander and explore wild connections of concepts, some of which become insights and come to us when we’re awake[4]. For those of us who wake up with answers, let us appreciate this remarkable sleep-induced production of insight.
We will discuss how to get a good sleep in Chapter 7.
Intelligence Mixer - Exercise and Information Processing
If sleep acts as the passive booster for information processing, then exercise functions as the active booster. On one hand, exercising increases the brain’s plasticity. Plasticity (sometimes called neuroplasticity) is the brain’s ability to change its structure, thereby forming new functions in response to experience and physiological conditions. Brain plasticity essentially reflects how alive we are. When we learn, we depend on plasticity to create new neural pathways; as we age, we lose plasticity, making it harder to form new neuron connections. During and after exercise, muscles release BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) and myokines (e.g., irisin, cathepsin B) into the bloodstream. These chemicals can cross the blood-brain barrier and bind to receptors in the brain, thereby promoting synapse formation and dendritic growth. In essence, when we exercise, muscles send signals to the brain to prepare it to form new structures that store information and skills. This exercise-induced enhancement of information processing has an evolutionary purpose: as organisms, when we move (exercise), there are usually things we need to learn or remember. When we run from danger, we want to store the situation in long-term memory so we can avoid similar threats in future encounters. Many studies on how BDNF triggers brain plasticity [4][5][6] all suggest that the brain becomes structurally and chemically primed to process information after exercise.
On the other hand, exercise helps reduce stress, which in turn restores the brain’s PFC’s control, allowing for better information processing. During and after exercise, cortisol (the stress hormone) rises temporarily, whereas baseline cortisol levels decrease with regular exercise. It also offers a manageable way to handle stress, making the body feel that stress is within control and will pass after recovery. This reduces the likelihood of falling into the “stressed about stress” spiral. Furthermore, exercise enhances HPA axis (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) feedback sensitivity, thereby helping regulate cortisol more effectively. Simply put, after regular exercise, the body, mind, and physiology better regulate stress production, giving the brain space to process information. Exercise trains the stress system to activate under controlled conditions and to recover efficiently.
Just do exercise. Whether it’s cardio or strength training, two hours a day or just five minutes, morning or evening, alone or with others, outdoors or indoors, in the water or on the ground, in heart rate zone 1 or zone 5—do it. Among the many profound benefits of exercise—such as anti-ageing, stress reduction, mood improvement, socialising, confidence boosting, strengthening relationships, injury prevention, and more—enhancing information processing is just one.
We will discuss exercise in Chapter 6.
Intelligence Mixer - Nutrition and Information Processing
In addition to sleep and exercise, the third information processing enhancer is nutrition. There are old sayings linking nutrition and sharp minds (“A sound mind is a sound body”, “feed the brain and the mind will follow”, “When the digestion is pure, the mind is clear”). These sayings are surprisingly backed up by modern science. Let’s see a few examples of how food links with the brain.
Adequate and balanced protein intake supports synaptic transmission, thereby improving sustained attention and information recall. Neurons rely on neurotransmitters to communicate with each other (or more precisely, convert electrical signals to chemical signals and back to electrical signals). Many neurotransmitters (e.g., dopamine, serotonin, GABA) are amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. With adequate (but not excess) and balanced (meaning good variety from different sources) intake, the supply of amino acids is abundant, and the brain requires less effort to facilitate neurotransmitter functions. To use a metaphor, good protein is like a good toolbox with all the cables a telecommunications electrician might need. With all possible cables in the toolbox, the electrician can easily wire the required devices. If the supply of cables is limited, the electrician must first handcraft some cables by dismantling old devices (the equivalent of the body breaking down its own proteins to release amino acids) before connecting new devices.
Another example of how good food aids with information processing is how slow carbohydrates can improve energy supply efficiency. The brain uses about 5 × 10^20 ATP every second, which accounts for 20% of the total body’s energy consumption at rest. Our body considers the brain’s energy needs a top priority, so food intake directly affects how energy is supplied to the brain. Relying on high-GI carbohydrates (fast carbs) as the primary energy source can cause fluctuations in blood glucose levels, even if the pancreas works hard to regulate them with insulin. These fluctuations impair information processing, analogous to a computer that cannot operate reliably with an unstable power supply. When we consume low GI carbohydrates (slow carbs, or complex carbs, meaning the release of sugar occurs slowly due to more complex metabolic processes), there will be a steady energy supply to the brain, supporting better functioning.
From a fatty acid profile perspective (discussed further in Chapter 5), adequate fat intake can enhance neuroplasticity, which we already know can enhance learning. The fatty acid profile refers to the types and ratios of fatty acids in the body. Two main types of fatty acids significantly influence health, including brain function, among other effects. Omega-6 fatty acids tend to be rigid, while Omega-3 fatty acids are more flexible. When food sources contain plenty of Omega-3s (such as fish, avocado, olive oil, green vegetables, and meat from grass-fed animals), the lipids that incorporate fatty acids to build structures become more flexible, thereby increasing plasticity. Among various forms of lipids (triglycerides, phospholipids, glycolipids, and steroids), the brain’s neuron cell membranes, which use phospholipids, benefit most from a high Omega-3 to Omega-6 ratio because the more flexible the neuron cells are, the more plastic they become, which improves our ability to learn and process information.
We will discuss nutrition in Chapter 5.
[1] Rasch, B., & Born, J. (2013). About sleep’s role in memory. Physiological Reviews, 93(2), 681–766.
https://doi.org/10.1152/physrev.00032.2012
[2] Tononi, G., & Cirelli, C. (2014). Sleep and the price of plasticity: From synaptic and cellular homeostasis to memory consolidation and integration. Neuron, 81(1), 12–34.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2013.12.025
[3] Yoo, S. S., Hu, P. T., Gujar, N., Jolesz, F. A., & Walker, M. P. (2007). A deficit in the ability to form new human memories without sleep. Nature Neuroscience, 10, 385–392.
https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1851
[4] Lewis, P. A., & Durrant, S. J. (2011). Overlapping memory replay during sleep builds cognitive schemata. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(8), 343–351.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2011.06.004
[5] Cotman, C. W., Berchtold, N. C., & Christie, L. A. (2007). Exercise builds brain health: Key roles of growth factor cascades and inflammation. Trends in Neurosciences, 30(9), 464–472.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2007.06.011
[6] Wrann, C. D., White, J. P., Salogiannnis, J., Laznik-Bogoslavski, D., Wu, J., Ma, D., … Spiegelman, B. M. (2013). Exercise induces hippocampal BDNF through a PGC-1α/FNDC5 pathway. Cell Metabolism, 18(5), 649–659.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2013.09.008
So far, we’ve explored how information flows in this chapter. From attention to priming, bias, and learning, we examined how information moves from perception to understanding. We now turn to consider how other pillars of intelligence—sleep, exercise, and nutrition—can support information processing. Although later chapters (chapter 7 for sleep, chapter 6 for exercise, and chapter 5 for nutrition) will discuss these pillars more fully, here we focus on how they intersect with information processing.
Sleep can enhance information processing in at least three ways: it improves memory, decision making, and insight formation. We’ve all experienced or seen moments like, “after a good sleep, I can recall what I couldn’t yesterday,” “I made a good decision that morning after a good sleep,” and “an answer to this tricky problem suddenly popped into my head when I woke up.” Let us examine these phenomena more closely at the physiological level to understand exactly how they occur.
Sleep benefits both memory recall and formation. With enough sleep, brain noise—such as recent low-value information from the previous day—is reduced and filtered, making memory cues more noticeable [1]. When more prominent memory cues are available, it becomes easier to recall information. Regarding memory formation, at least two well-supported theories explain how sleep facilitates this process. First, during sleep—especially slow-wave sleep—the hippocampus replays recent activity patterns (new knowledge and skills) to the cortex, enabling long-term, internalised memories to be stored in the cortex. This is similar to a computer storing data: information in the hippocampus is temporary, like in computer memory. It is only during sleep that this information is transferred to long-term storage, similar to a hard disk. Essentially, sleep is like clicking the “save” button when editing a file, transferring information to long-term storage. Second, sleep triggers synaptic downscaling, which is a reduction in synaptic strength for unimportant connections. To be more precise, when we are awake, we form many synaptic connections; many among them are unimportant (such as memories about trivial events). During sleep, synapses are renormalised: important ones are strengthened, and unimportant ones are weakened, thereby creating room for memories to persist [2].
In addition to memory, sleep supports decision-making. Decision-making is a primary function of the PFC (prefrontal cortex), similar to a CEO’s role in a company. During sleep, the PFC replenishes its cognitive reserves, thereby reducing its susceptibility to limbic influences and improving its ability to manage emotional biases [3]. That’s why, after a restful sleep, we are more inclined to base decisions on logic and facts rather than feelings and biases. Additionally, sleep helps suppress the brain’s reward system; therefore, a well-rested person is less likely to focus on short-term rewards such as sugar or TikTok videos. This explains why the saying “make important decisions in the morning” holds some truth, as we are not sleep-deprived at that time.
Lastly, sleep enhances insight formation. More often than not, when we have a good sleep, new ideas emerge, novel solutions to tricky problems develop, and links between issues become clearer. These are all examples of insights forming. After all, insights are the connection of initially separate cognitive elements. During sleep, our brain creates remote associations, linking two things that seem unrelated when we’re awake. These remote associations arise from brain activity during sleep, free from the constraints of goal-directed attention. In other words, while sleeping, there are no limitations from consciousness, allowing the brain to wander and explore wild connections of concepts, some of which become insights and come to us when we’re awake[4]. For those of us who wake up with answers, let us appreciate this remarkable sleep-induced production of insight.
We will discuss how to get a good sleep in Chapter 7.
Intelligence Mixer - Exercise and Information Processing
If sleep acts as the passive booster for information processing, then exercise functions as the active booster. On one hand, exercising increases the brain’s plasticity. Plasticity (sometimes called neuroplasticity) is the brain’s ability to change its structure, thereby forming new functions in response to experience and physiological conditions. Brain plasticity essentially reflects how alive we are. When we learn, we depend on plasticity to create new neural pathways; as we age, we lose plasticity, making it harder to form new neuron connections. During and after exercise, muscles release BDNF (brain-derived neurotrophic factor) and myokines (e.g., irisin, cathepsin B) into the bloodstream. These chemicals can cross the blood-brain barrier and bind to receptors in the brain, thereby promoting synapse formation and dendritic growth. In essence, when we exercise, muscles send signals to the brain to prepare it to form new structures that store information and skills. This exercise-induced enhancement of information processing has an evolutionary purpose: as organisms, when we move (exercise), there are usually things we need to learn or remember. When we run from danger, we want to store the situation in long-term memory so we can avoid similar threats in future encounters. Many studies on how BDNF triggers brain plasticity [4][5][6] all suggest that the brain becomes structurally and chemically primed to process information after exercise.
On the other hand, exercise helps reduce stress, which in turn restores the brain’s PFC’s control, allowing for better information processing. During and after exercise, cortisol (the stress hormone) rises temporarily, whereas baseline cortisol levels decrease with regular exercise. It also offers a manageable way to handle stress, making the body feel that stress is within control and will pass after recovery. This reduces the likelihood of falling into the “stressed about stress” spiral. Furthermore, exercise enhances HPA axis (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal) feedback sensitivity, thereby helping regulate cortisol more effectively. Simply put, after regular exercise, the body, mind, and physiology better regulate stress production, giving the brain space to process information. Exercise trains the stress system to activate under controlled conditions and to recover efficiently.
Just do exercise. Whether it’s cardio or strength training, two hours a day or just five minutes, morning or evening, alone or with others, outdoors or indoors, in the water or on the ground, in heart rate zone 1 or zone 5—do it. Among the many profound benefits of exercise—such as anti-ageing, stress reduction, mood improvement, socialising, confidence boosting, strengthening relationships, injury prevention, and more—enhancing information processing is just one.
We will discuss exercise in Chapter 6.
Intelligence Mixer - Nutrition and Information Processing
In addition to sleep and exercise, the third information processing enhancer is nutrition. There are old sayings linking nutrition and sharp minds (“A sound mind is a sound body”, “feed the brain and the mind will follow”, “When the digestion is pure, the mind is clear”). These sayings are surprisingly backed up by modern science. Let’s see a few examples of how food links with the brain.
Adequate and balanced protein intake supports synaptic transmission, thereby improving sustained attention and information recall. Neurons rely on neurotransmitters to communicate with each other (or more precisely, convert electrical signals to chemical signals and back to electrical signals). Many neurotransmitters (e.g., dopamine, serotonin, GABA) are amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. With adequate (but not excess) and balanced (meaning good variety from different sources) intake, the supply of amino acids is abundant, and the brain requires less effort to facilitate neurotransmitter functions. To use a metaphor, good protein is like a good toolbox with all the cables a telecommunications electrician might need. With all possible cables in the toolbox, the electrician can easily wire the required devices. If the supply of cables is limited, the electrician must first handcraft some cables by dismantling old devices (the equivalent of the body breaking down its own proteins to release amino acids) before connecting new devices.
Another example of how good food aids with information processing is how slow carbohydrates can improve energy supply efficiency. The brain uses about 5 × 10^20 ATP every second, which accounts for 20% of the total body’s energy consumption at rest. Our body considers the brain’s energy needs a top priority, so food intake directly affects how energy is supplied to the brain. Relying on high-GI carbohydrates (fast carbs) as the primary energy source can cause fluctuations in blood glucose levels, even if the pancreas works hard to regulate them with insulin. These fluctuations impair information processing, analogous to a computer that cannot operate reliably with an unstable power supply. When we consume low GI carbohydrates (slow carbs, or complex carbs, meaning the release of sugar occurs slowly due to more complex metabolic processes), there will be a steady energy supply to the brain, supporting better functioning.
From a fatty acid profile perspective (discussed further in Chapter 5), adequate fat intake can enhance neuroplasticity, which we already know can enhance learning. The fatty acid profile refers to the types and ratios of fatty acids in the body. Two main types of fatty acids significantly influence health, including brain function, among other effects. Omega-6 fatty acids tend to be rigid, while Omega-3 fatty acids are more flexible. When food sources contain plenty of Omega-3s (such as fish, avocado, olive oil, green vegetables, and meat from grass-fed animals), the lipids that incorporate fatty acids to build structures become more flexible, thereby increasing plasticity. Among various forms of lipids (triglycerides, phospholipids, glycolipids, and steroids), the brain’s neuron cell membranes, which use phospholipids, benefit most from a high Omega-3 to Omega-6 ratio because the more flexible the neuron cells are, the more plastic they become, which improves our ability to learn and process information.
We will discuss nutrition in Chapter 5.
[1] Rasch, B., & Born, J. (2013). About sleep’s role in memory. Physiological Reviews, 93(2), 681–766.
https://doi.org/10.1152/physrev.00032.2012
[2] Tononi, G., & Cirelli, C. (2014). Sleep and the price of plasticity: From synaptic and cellular homeostasis to memory consolidation and integration. Neuron, 81(1), 12–34.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuron.2013.12.025
[3] Yoo, S. S., Hu, P. T., Gujar, N., Jolesz, F. A., & Walker, M. P. (2007). A deficit in the ability to form new human memories without sleep. Nature Neuroscience, 10, 385–392.
https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1851
[4] Lewis, P. A., & Durrant, S. J. (2011). Overlapping memory replay during sleep builds cognitive schemata. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 15(8), 343–351.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tics.2011.06.004
[5] Cotman, C. W., Berchtold, N. C., & Christie, L. A. (2007). Exercise builds brain health: Key roles of growth factor cascades and inflammation. Trends in Neurosciences, 30(9), 464–472.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tins.2007.06.011
[6] Wrann, C. D., White, J. P., Salogiannnis, J., Laznik-Bogoslavski, D., Wu, J., Ma, D., … Spiegelman, B. M. (2013). Exercise induces hippocampal BDNF through a PGC-1α/FNDC5 pathway. Cell Metabolism, 18(5), 649–659.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmet.2013.09.008
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