News reports of research into memory November 2004

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November 2004

What happens in the brain when we remember our own past?

A new imaging study has managed to distinguish between two types of autobiographical memory — the “facts” of our lives (e.g., knowing that you attended your cousin’s wedding last year), and the experiences of our lives (e.g., remembering traveling to the wedding, the events and people). As with much autobiographical memory research, the study used a diary-type procedure, whereby volunteers spent several months recording the events of their lives on a micro cassette recorder, as well as personal facts of their lives. These recordings were then played back to the volunteers while their brains were being scanned with fMRI. The results showed that the two types of autobiographical memory engaged different parts of the brain, even when the memories concerned the same contents. Recall of personal episodic memories more strongly engaged parts of the frontal lobes involved in self-awareness, as well as areas involved in visual memory.
The study was published in the November issue of the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience. Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-11/bcfg-whi111604.php

Alcoholics can have deficits in visuoperception and frontal executive function despite sobriety

Detoxified alcoholics often have visuospatial and visuoperceptual deficits, characterized by difficulties completing tasks such as putting pieces of a puzzle together or map reading. A new study has found that, even with prolonged sobriety, alcoholics show deficits in visuoperception and frontal executive functioning of the brain. Furthermore, alcoholics utilize a more complex higher-order cognitive system (frontal executive functions) to perform the same tasks as individuals without a history of alcoholism. The potential problem with this is that if that same system is needed for a competing task, alcoholics may be at a disadvantage because that system would otherwise be engaged. The study involved 51 recently detoxified nonamnesic alcoholic men (ages 29 to 66 years) compared with 63 "normal," control men (ages 21 to 70 years).
Results are published in the November issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-11/ace-ach110804.php

Prenatal alcohol exposure has effects far beyond fetal alcohol syndrome

Numerous studies have documented IQ deficits in children with fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS). Little research, however, has found IQ deficits in children with alcohol-related neurodevelopmental disorder (ARND), who generally exhibit less severe neurobehavioral deficits than children with FAS. A new study demonstrates that what was interpreted in prior studies as a lack of any IQ effects in nonsyndromal, alcohol-exposed children was really due to a differential effect of exposure related to several risk/protective factors. Specifically, children whose mothers are older than 30 years, those whose mothers have alcohol dependence, those whose parents provide a less stimulating environment, and those whose mothers reported drinking during the time of conception, are at greater risk from pre-natal alcohol exposure.
The study appeared in the November issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-11/ace-pae110804.php

New brain cells develop during alcohol abstinence

A rat study has found that the detrimental effect of alcohol on the formation of new neurons in the adult rat hippocampus is followed by a pronounced increase in new neuron formation in the hippocampus within four-to-five weeks of abstinence. This included a twofold burst in brain cell proliferation at day seven of abstinence. The findings may have significant implications for treatment of alcoholism during recovery. The discovery of regeneration of neurons in recovery opens up new avenues of therapies aimed at regeneration of brain cells.
The study appeared in the Oct. 27 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-11/uonc-nbc110504.php

Chronic back pain shrinks 'thinking parts' of the brain

A new study has found chronic back pain shrinks the brain by as much as 11% — equivalent to the amount of gray matter lost in 10 to 20 years of normal aging. Loss in brain density is related to pain duration, indicating that 1.3 cubic centimeters of gray matter are lost for every year of chronic pain. The study compared 26 participants with chronic back pain for more than a year with matched normal subjects.
The study was published in the November 17 issue of The Journal of Neuroscience. Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-11/nu-cbp111504.php

Impaired neuromotor function following cancer treatment can improve

A study of 142 patients who had blood disorders and who underwent hematopoietic cell transplant (preceded by high-dose chemotherapy) found that, at three months after transplant, patients experienced a significant decline in all cognitive and motor functions tested. By one year, however, the neuromotor functions for most patients had come back to the level experienced before the transplant, with the exception of two capabilities: grip strength and motor dexterity. Patients who had no chemotherapy or chemotherapy with only hydroxyurea prior to the transplant and those who did not receive certain immune suppressants were better off.
The study appeared in the November 15 issue of Blood. Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-11/asoh-inf110804.php

Finding supports theory that autism results from failure of brain areas to work together

An imaging study indicates people with autism remember letters as geometric shapes, compared to the more usual remembering by their names. Moreover, compared to the control group, the activated brain areas of the people with autism were less likely to work in synchrony (at the same time) while recalling the letters. This supports a theory that autism results from a failure of the various parts of the brain to work together. This theory suggests that therapies emphasizing problem solving skills and other tasks that activate multiple brain areas at the same time might benefit people with autism.
The study was published on-line on November 29 in Neuroimage. Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-11/nioc-bop112904.php

Some people are 'immune' to exercise

In view of the apparent benefits of exercise for cognitive function suggested by recent research, it is worth noting that a study involving 742 people from 213 families has found that "There is astounding variation in the response to exercise. The vast majority will benefit in some way, but there will be a minority who will not benefit at all."
The results were reported at the Australian Health and Medical Research Congress in Sydney, Australia.
http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996735

Tone language translates to perfect pitch

The first large-scale, direct-test study to be conducted on perfect pitch has found that native tone language speakers are almost nine times more likely to have the ability. The study involved two populations of music students: a group of 88 first-year students enrolled at the Central Conservatory of Music in Beijing, China, all of whom spoke Mandarin, and a group of 115 first-years at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, none of whom spoke a tone language. In both groups, the earlier an individual began music lessons, the more likely he or she was to have perfect pitch. For students who had begun musical training between ages 4 and 5, approximately 60% of the Chinese speakers tested as having perfect pitch, while only about 14% of the U.S. nontone language speakers did. For those who had begun training between 6 and 7, approximately 55% of the Chinese and 6% of the U.S. met the criterion. And for those beginning between 8 and 9, the figures were 42% of the Chinese and zero of the U.S. group. Perfect pitch is extremely rare in the U.S. and Europe, with an estimated prevalence in the general population of less than one in 10,000.
Results were presented November 17 at the meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in San Diego.
The study, with graphic figures of the results and sound files of the test, is available at http://www.aip.org/148th/deutsch.html.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2004-11/uoc--tlt110804.php

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