Maintain Your Brain: A Free CHP Webinar on Preventing Cognitive Decline

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — CHP Berkshires physician Lisa Nelson, MD, hosts a free, 1-hour web talk on Thursday, Feb. 27, 2025, noon-1 p.m., to offer tips and strategies reflecting new research on preventing/delaying cognitive decline.
 
 
Nelson will also explain how Group Medical Visits can help improve chronic conditions and sustain brain health.
A recent study of older adults, published in Nature Medicine, showed that online intervention focusing on diet, exercise, 'brain training' and emotional self-regulation led to improved cognition and reduced the likelihood of developing dementia.  The 'Maintain Your Brain' study, which tracked more than 6,000 Australians aged 55 to 77 over three years, is the largest internet-based randomized controlled trial aimed at preventing cognitive decline.
 
In the study, half the participants received personalized online coaching to improve physical activity, nutrition, brain training and mental health. The other half of the participants received education alone. The good news is that at the end of three years, both groups had improvements in cognition, but the group that received coaching and made the largest degree of changes did the best.
 
What can you do to maintain your brain?
 
Get Moving!
Exercise improves blood flow to the brain, supports the growth of new neurons and enhances overall cognitive function. This study encouraged participants to complete 300 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise or 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity exercise per week, plus two days of strength training per week, and daily balance training. Other studies have shown that any increased exercise, especially in people who were previously sedentary, can improve cognitive health.
 
Tweak What You Eat
Vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains and healthy fats like olive oil can boost brain health and reduce your risk of developing diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. The Maintain Your Brain participants were advised to follow a Mediterranean diet including vegetables, fruits, legumes, grains, nuts/seeds and extra virgin olive oil, moderate amounts of fish and shellfish, and reduced red meat, dairy, and animal fats. Lowering the amount of processed sugar is particularly important in reducing your risk of Type 2 diabetes and improving cognitive health.
 
Engage Your Brain, Play a Game
Challenge your brain by reading, playing games that require brain power and learning new skills such as a language or craft, or learning a musical instrument. These 'brain workouts' can help sustain your cognition and help delay the onset of dementia.
 
Mind Your Mental Health
Improving emotional connection, and reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression, can help reduce the risk of dementia. The Maintain Your Brain participants were given cognitive behavioral therapy-based intervention in a supportive online format, to help better manage their emotional health.
 
CHP Berkshires Group Medical Visits offer online programs to address certain chronic conditions that can impact cognitive health. 'Mindful Movement & Meditation' group visits are offered Tuesdays or Wednesdays for one hour each, with tips and skill-building for reducing stress, improving emotional self-regulation, and strengthening the brain, all in a supportive, group environment. CHP patients can attend Group Medical Visits with a referral from a CHP primary care provider.

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Pryor & Peacock's Whimsical Furniture Environmentally Friendly

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff
 

The company uses digital printing to create the upholstery fabric, saving water and saving vintage furniture from ending up in landfills.

STOCKBRIDGE, Mass. — A unique furniture store has popped up on Elm Street this month.

Mom-and-daughter store Pryor & Peacock is hosting the pop-up storefront from Aug. 13 to Aug. 25 at 6 Elm. The New Marlborough business is co-founded by Rosalina Wright and Luca Shapiro, who is also the creative director. 

Their online shop was created in 2024 but they wanted people to see the pieces in person, so they're renting the space for a limited time before a long-term tenant moves in.

The store sources prints to create unique fabrics and reimagines vintage and antique furniture acquired at auctions, local shops, and online.

"We source prints from all over the world that date from the late 1600s up through mid-20th century, and Luca turns those prints into fabric by manipulating them, scanning them, oftentimes has to add or subtract things, and then we manufacture the fabric using only digital printing, which is very environmentally friendly, unlike traditional textile printing," Wright said.

Upholstering the furniture can take weeks of work. Shapiro looks for the perfect design for each piece and, if need be, uses Adobe Photoshop to extend the art work to fit or enhance the print.

"One of the most difficult parts comes in marrying the fabric to a piece of furniture because we only use antique and vintage frames also to be earth friendly, and they're also more beautiful and durable than new furniture," Wright said. "So the image has to go with the furniture, so that takes a lot of work."

One of Pryor & Peacock's missions is to be environmentally friendly. Digital printing doesn't use the same amount of water as traditional textile productions do nor does it contaminate water with ink according to their website.

Not only are they saving water, but they are saving furniture from going into the landfill while also using more durable furniture that doesn't break as easily as current pieces. They started their business to create something unique and to help the environment together.

"It's creating something nobody else is doing. People can't continue to buy throwaway furniture. Six percent of American landfills is furniture, and digital printing not only opens up the possibility of being able to put unique images on a piece of furniture, but it also is, as I said, environmentally friendly. So, for us, the excitement is to take an old East Lake settee that somebody's going to store in their barn and forget about, and make it something completely new and surprising," Wright said.

They hope their furniture helps bring a pop of fun to someone's home.

"We think our furniture is very whimsical and surprising, and most furniture today is oatmeal colored couches and gray neutral chairs, and it's boring," she said.

The two named their business after their mothers' maiden names to honor them and believe the name reflects their pieces.

Shapiro works in interior design outside of the business and the two liked working together and thought it would be great to start a business together. Shapiro says they can work well together and that her and her mother, Wright, has flipped houses before and have the same eye for design.

"So it's very easy for us to work together. When we see something, generally we agree on whether it works or doesn't work on a piece. We agree on the color schemes and that sort of thing. So it's very fun and fulfilling to work together," Shapiro said. 

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