Speaker discusses link between diet and brain health

Author and University of California professor emeritus Art DeVany spoke about his four decades of brain-health research and personal brain- and body-health practices on Thursday at the Institute for Human and Machine Cognition (IHMC) Evening Lecture Series in downtown Ocala.

A packed house heard DeVany's talk, "The Youthful Brian — A Revolutionary Program to Protect the Brain, Extend Youthfulness and Prevent Alzheimer's Disease," which was the November installment of the fall IHMC series.

DeVany, 82, author and professor emeritus of economics and mathematical behavioral sciences, has written a book titled "The New Evolutionary Diet — What Our Paleolithic Ancestors Can Teach Us About Weight Loss, Fitness and Aging," in addition to about 4,000 articles related to his brain-health research.

DeVany's research concerns the brain and its response to diet and aging as well as how electrical signals travel within the brain. He started his research in 1979 when his son, then 2, was diagnosed with Type I diabetes. He set out to learn everything about the disease.

DeVany, who has been called the "Grandfather of Paleo," discussed the likely diet of a "hunter gather" of prehistoric times.

DeVany espouses exercise and a diet including fruits, vegetables and seafood. He himself has followed a diet informed by that model for over 40 years, according to a handout on the talk supplied by IHMC. He estimates his body fat at "about 8%."

The IHMC handout states DeVany's research "makes it clear that Alzheimer's disease and many other diseases of natural degeneration and cognitive decline are largely metabolic diseases compounded by loss of muscle mass and stem cell exhaustion."

DeVany said the brain is like a "Swiss Army knife" with different compartments to be opened. But the neutrons in the brain must fire, and those neutrons must be synchronized. He said proper diet and exercise are key to proper brain function.

DeVany said using the hippocampus, which helps a person with map and sense of direction details, is important to maintaining brain health. A GPS unit removes or reduces the use of the hippocampus; on the other hand, a New York City cab driver probably would have a strong hippocampus.

A lecture attendee who preferred to not give to his name said he traveled from Satellite Beach to hear DeVany's lecture.

The attendee, who is 32 years old and has Type I diabetes, has followed the regime outlined in the book since about 2012 and said it "changed his life."

"(My diabetes) was out of control at first. I noticed a difference after about four or five months. (Now I ) use less insulin and have better blood sugar," he said.

The lecture was the latest in the ongoing Evening Lecture Series hosted by IHMC, a nonprofit research institute of the Florida University System, according to the ihmc.us

The IHMC website states that its current active research areas include artificial intelligence, cognitive science, knowledge modeling and sharing, human interactions with autonomy, humanoid robotics, exoskeletons, advanced interfaces and displays, cybersecurity, communication and collaboration, and linguistics and natural language processing.

The next and final talk in the Fall Evening Lecture will be held on Dec. 10. Philosopher Andrew Taggart will speak on "living wisdom" and the "Psychotechnologies of Self Transformation."

IHMC is located at 15 SE Osceola Ave., Ocala. A reception will be held at 5:30 p.m. and the talk begins at 6, For seats, visit ihmc.us.