Researchers working with the Alzheimer’s Center at Temple (ACT) recently investigated the effect of extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) on brain health and memory to determine if consumption of extra virgin olive oil, the main component of the Mediterranean diet, can delay cognitive decline in people with Down Syndrome (DS).
Tag: Memory
Encoding human experience: Study reveals how brain cells compute the flow of time
A landmark study led by UCLA Health has begun to unravel one of the fundamental mysteries in neuroscience – how the human brain encodes and makes sense of the flow of time and experiences.
How emotion boosts memory for context
Researchers at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology demonstrated that emotion enhances memory for contextual details, challenging the view that emotion impairs the ability to remember such information. The report was led by doctoral student Paul Bogdan, currently a postdoc…
Heavy Metal Cadmium May Be Tied to Memory Issues for Some
The heavy metal cadmium, which is found in the air, water, food and soil, is known to cause health problems. A new study published in the September 4, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, examined if thinking and memory skills were associated with cadmium exposure. They found no association when they looked at the group as a whole.
Living with Grief
Grief forever changes us. The journey that we walk through changes who we are and how we perceive the world around us. Those who are unfamiliar or uncomfortable with grief may prompt us to move on. When they try this, we often plant our heels into the ground and resist. This may come as a surprise to them.
Taking a trip down memory lane could be the key to drinking less alcohol
A new study led by the University of Portsmouth suggests recollecting a previous drinking episode could put women off drinking too much.
Singing from memory unlocks a surprisingly common musical superpower
UC Santa Cruz psychologists studied “earworms,” the types of songs that get stuck in your head and play automatically on a loop, to show that highly accurate pitch memory is much more common than might be expected.
Molecule restores cognition, memory in Alzheimer’s disease model mice
In a new study, a molecule identified and synthesized by UCLA Health researchers was shown to restore cognitive functions in mice with symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease by effectively jumpstarting the brain’s memory circuitry.
New research identifies biomarkers that link alcohol use disorder and Alzheimer disease
Researchers agree that alcohol use can produce global and regional tissue volume changes in the brain, and that excessive alcohol use is associated with dementia and cognitive decline. A new study has examined the relationship between Alzheimer disease – the most common type of dementia – and alcohol use disorder (AUD), discovering biomarkers that link the two.
People with Severe Alcohol Use Disorder May Form and Recall Social Memories Differently
People with severe alcohol use disorder tended to have greater difficulty forming new social memories. And, while they had better immediate recall of positive than negative social cues, for longer-term memories, they tended to remember more negative experiences than positive ones.
Alcohol-related blackouts during youth are markers of future neurocognitive risk
Alcohol-related blackouts (ARBs) are fairly common among younger, social drinkers – even considered a rite of passage by some. Yet new research has found that blacking out predicts unique, underlying brain changes involved with learning, memory, and the processing of visual information.
What Factors Predict When Older Adults Will Stop Driving?
What factors lead older adults to stop driving? A new study followed older adults who had no memory or thinking problems to examine this question. The study is published in the May 22, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
‘Mathematical microscope’ reveals novel, energy-efficient mechanism of working memory that works even during sleep
UCLA Health researchers have discovered a mechanism that creates memories while reducing metabolic cost, even during sleep. This efficient memory occurs in a part of the brain that is crucial for learning and memory, and where Alzheimer’s disease begins.
Does Using Your Brain More at Work Help Ward Off Thinking, Memory Problems?
The harder your brain works at your job, the less likely you may be to have memory and thinking problems later in life, according to a new study published in the April 17, 2024, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Making Long-Term Memories Requires Nerve-Cell Damage
Just as you can’t make an omelet without breaking eggs, scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine have found that you can’t make long-term memories without DNA damage and brain inflammation. Their surprising findings were published online today in the journal Nature.
Fatty food before surgery may impair memory in old, young adults
Eating fatty food in the days leading up to surgery may prompt a heightened inflammatory response in the brain that interferes for weeks with memory-related cognitive function in older adults – and, new research in animals suggests, even in young adults.
How we remember
In two experiments, Temple and Pitt researchers asked participants to repeatedly study pairs of items and scenes that were either identical on each repetition or in which the item stayed the same but the scene changed each time.
Brain Waves Travel in One Direction When Memories are Made and the Opposite When Recalled
These wide-ranging waves quickly link the specific constellations of brain regions that work in harmony to perform a task.
People with Essential Tremor May Have Increased Risk of Dementia
Dementia may be three times more common among people with essential tremor, a movement disorder that causes involuntary shaking, than the general population, according to research released today, March 6, 2024. The study will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 76th Annual Meeting taking place April 13–18, 2024, in person in Denver and online.
Sleep Apnea Symptoms Linked to Memory and Thinking Problems
People who experience sleep apnea may be more likely to also have memory or thinking problems, according to a preliminary study released today, March 3, 2024, that will be presented at the American Academy of Neurology’s 76th Annual Meeting taking place April 13–18, 2024, in person in Denver and online. The study shows a positive association but did not determine whether sleep apnea causes cognitive decline.
Doctor discusses a recent study about dementia.
Tresa Mcneal, MD, at Baylor Scott & White Health, discusses a recent study about dementia. What You Need to Know: Dementia affects thinking, memory and social ability. Stroke can cause dementia. Dementia risks increase for those who are sedentary. Reduce…
Abdominal Fat Can Impact Brain Health and Cognition in High Alzheimer’s Risk Individuals
The impact of abdominal fat on brain health and cognition is generally more pronounced in middle-aged men at high risk of Alzheimer’s disease as opposed to women, according to researchers at Rutgers Health.
Yoga provides unique cognitive benefits to older women at risk of Alzheimer’s disease, study finds
A new UCLA Health study found Kundalini yoga provided several benefits to cognition and memory for older women at risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease including restoring neural pathways, preventing brain matter decline and reversing aging and inflammation-associated biomarkers – improvements not seen in a group who received standard memory training exercises.
Brain waves are part of memory
Neuroscientists from Bonn, New York, and Freiburg discover interactions between so-called “ripples” and nerve cells during human memory processes.
Neuromorphic computing will be great… if hardware can handle the workload
A scientific team, including Purdue University, propose hardware that mimics the human brain
Sets of neurons work in sync to track ‘time’ and ‘place,’ giving humans context for past, present and future
Two studies led by UCLA researchers offer new insights into the way neurons in the human brain represent time and space – the most basic ingredients of consciousness of human existence and the primary dimensions of experience that allow us to reconstruct the past and envision the future.
An unexpected link between 2 schizophrenia risk proteins
The discovery of a physical interaction between two proteins in brain cells that can be traced in mice to control of movement, anxiety and memory could one day open the door to development of new schizophrenia treatment strategies, researchers say.
Medicine on the base of vitamin B6 improves memory and decreases fatigue after COVID
Scientists have showed that medicine on the base of vitamin B6 can be used for treatment of post-COVID asthenia – condition when patients complain of rapid fatigability, problems with memory and sleep. Taking of this product enabled 35% patients to improve memory, 40% patients began to sleep well, 42% of people began to get tired more slowly. Besides this taking this medicine enabled patients to experience physical activity easier. Results of the research are published in Magazine of Infectology.
Protein p53 regulates learning, memory, sociability in mice
Researchers at the Beckman Institute for Advanced Science and Technology have established the protein p53 as critical for regulating sociability, repetitive behavior, and hippocampus-related learning and memory in mice, illuminating the relationship between the protein-coding gene TP53 and neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders.
Concussions Early in Life Tied to Late Life Cognitive Decline
A study of twins shows that having a concussion early in life is tied to having lower scores on tests of thinking and memory skills decades later as well as having more rapid decline in those scores than twins who did not have a concussion, or traumatic brain injury (TBI). The study is published in the September 6, 2023, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Penn Medicine Researchers Identify the Link Between Memory and Appetite in the Human Brain to Explain Obesity
Disrupted connections between memory and appetite regulating brain circuits are directly proportional to BMI, notably in patients who suffer from disordered or overeating that can lead to obesity, such as binge eating disorder, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.
Intermittent Fasting Improves Alzheimer’s Pathology
New results from researchers at UC San Diego School of Medicine suggest that intermittent fasting could be an effective treatment approach for Alzheimer’s disease.
Mount Sinai Fellow Salman E. Qasim, PhD, Awarded Prestigious Essay Prize From Lasker Foundation
The Lasker Foundation announced today that Salman E. Qasim, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, is among five winners of its 10th annual Lasker Essay Contest.
Addressing disparities in Alzheimer’s disease research
Age-related cognitive decline and the escalating prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease are pressing social challenges as the population of those 65 and older continues to expand. Age is the primary risk factor, but research has shown that social and structural determinants of health play significant roles in the higher incidence of Alzheimer’s among marginalized communities.
Fluctuating Levels of Cholesterol and Triglycerides Linked to Increased Risk of Dementia
Older people who have fluctuating levels of cholesterol and triglycerides may have a higher risk of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias compared to people who have steady levels, according to new research published in the July 5, 2023, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. While the study found a link, it does not prove that fluctuating levels of cholesterol and triglycerides cause dementia.
Taking Good Care of Your Teeth May Be Good for Your Brain
Taking good care of your teeth may be linked to better brain health, according to a study published in the July 5, 2023, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The study found that gum disease and tooth loss were linked to brain shrinkage in the hippocampus, which plays a role in memory and Alzheimer’s disease. The study does not prove that gum disease or tooth loss causes Alzheimer’s disease; it only shows an association.
Potential Improvement of Learning and Memory in Down Syndrome
A new approach could enhance memory and learning in individuals with Down syndrome by stabilizing a key component in the body’s protein sorting system called the retromer complex.
Deep-brain stimulation during sleep strengthens memory
This study provides provides the first physiological evidence from inside the human brain supporting the dominant scientific theory on how the brain consolidates memory during sleep. Further, deep-brain stimulation during a critical time in the sleep cycle appeared to improve memory consolidation.
Running Throughout Middle Age Keeps ‘Old’ Adult-born Neurons ‘Wired’
A new study provides novel insight into the benefits of exercise, which should motivate adults to keep moving throughout their lifetime, especially during middle age. Long-term exercise profoundly benefits the aging brain and may prevent aging-related memory function decline by increasing the survival and modifying the network of the adult-born neurons born during early adulthood, and thereby facilitating their participation in cognitive processes.
Long-term use of steroids could impair memory, study finds
Memory impairment associated with steroid use has been identified in a new study. The University of Bristol-led findings, published in PNAS, show great potential for the identification of drugs that could be adapted to treat certain memory disorders.
This is your brain on everyday life
A new study from a Washington University researcher offers fresh insights into how the brain goes to great lengths to processes and remember everyday events.
New mouse study reveals a key process in how the brain forms memories
A study from the UC Davis School of Medicine has identified a gene-enzyme interaction that appears to play a key role in how the brain forms memories. The findings provide insights into how PDE inhibitor medications may help diseases like Alzheimer’s. The research was published in Science Signaling.
High Blood Pressure During Pregnancy Linked to Thinking Problems Later
High blood pressure disorders during pregnancy are associated with an increased risk of thinking problems later in life, according to a study published in the March 1, 2023, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Identifying the inflammatory cells behind chemo brain
Immune cells that keep the brain free of debris but also contribute to inflammation are the likely culprits behind the concentration and memory problems that sometimes follow one type of chemotherapy, a new study in mice suggests.
How the Mongolian Gerbil May Help Speed Recovery of a Rare Inner Ear Problem
Rutgers scientists develop testing model to enhance understanding of a condition known as “third window syndrome”
UC Irvine School of Medicine associate professor awarded 19th Japan Academy Medal
Kei Igarashi, associate professor of anatomy & neurobiology at the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine, has been named one of six scholars to win the 19th Japan Academy Medal. Widely considered the academy’s most prestigious award for Japanese researchers under the age of 45 in all fields of science and humanities, it was bestowed on Igarashi in recognition of his discoveries on the neural circuit mechanisms of associative memory and how they are affected by Alzheimer’s disease.
Events Serve as “Stepping Stones” en Route to Retrieved Memories
Lost your keys again? One way to retrace your steps involves scanning your memory to find them, such as reaching back to the last moment you clearly remember having them—say, as you walked in the door—before skipping ahead to a “phone call” event and then a “watching TV” event, at which point you might recall placing the keys next to the remote.
Early Cardiovascular Disease Linked to Worse Brain Health in Middle Age
People with early cardiovascular disease may be more likely to have memory and thinking problems and worse brain health in middle age, according to new research published in the January 25, 2023, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
Multimodal Sequencing Achieves High-Quality Results from Small Volumes of Frozen Tumor Specimens
Columbia researchers invent a multimodal sequencing technique that achieves high-quality results from small volumes of frozen tumor specimens–the ability to study cancer tissues archived in biobanks should increase the number and variety of tumor samples available for scientific analysis and advance the discovery of biomarkers and drug targets.
New research shows dynamics of memory-encoding synapses in the brains of live mice
A University of Minnesota Twin Cities researcher is part of an international team that has used two-photon imaging technology to show, for the first time, the creation and elimination of synapses between neurons in the brains of live mice.