Some Things That Increase Blood Flow to the Brain

post by romeostevensit · 2024-03-27T21:48:46.244Z · LW · GW · 15 comments

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Epistemic status: very shallow google scholar dive. Intended mostly as trailheads for people to follow up on on their own.

previously: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/h6kChrecznGD4ikqv/increasing-iq-is-trivial [LW · GW]

I don't know to what degree this will wind up being a constraint. But given that many of the things that help in this domain have independent lines of evidence for benefit it seems worth collecting.

Food: 

dark chocolate, beets, blueberries, fish, eggs. I've had good effects with strong hibiscus and mint tea (both vasodilators).

Exercise: 

Regular cardio, stretching/yoga, going for daily walks.

Learning: 

Meditation, math, music, enjoyable hobbies with a learning component.

Light therapy: 

Unknown effect size, but increasingly cheap to test over the last few years. I was able to get Too Many lumens for under $50. Sun exposure has a larger effect size here, so exercising outside is helpful.

Cold exposure: 

this might mostly just be exercise for the circulation system, but cold showers might also have some unique effects.

Chewing on things: 

Increasing blood flow to the large masseter muscles seems to have a broadly stimulating effect on blood flow to the head in general. You can buy unflavored gum for cheap, or xylitol gum which has a positive side effect on decreasing cavity formation.

Things to avoid: 

vasoconstrictors, notably cigarettes, alcohol, stimulants. Caffeine seems to cause acute vasoconstriction followed by supranormal vasodilation? Not clear on the research here.

Conjecture/supplements: 

I consider the evidence on these a bit weak.

Bacopa is the only nootropic I've taken besides stimulants that has a seemingly noticeable effect (most notably on recall).

Vinpocetine has supposedly shown increased blood oxygenation in the brain.

Pyrroloquinoline Quinone (PQQ) has shown working memory effects with increased blood flow to the prefrontal cortex...in the elderly.

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