News reports of research into memory December 2006

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December 2006

Mental training helps maintain some seniors' cognitive skills

The Advanced Cognitive Training for Independent and Vital Elderly (ACTIVE) Study involved 2,832 adults aged 65 and older (average age 73.6 years). Participants were randomly assigned to four groups, three of which took part in training that targeted a specific cognitive ability (memory, reasoning or speed of processing). The fourth group was a control group and received no cognitive training. People in the three intervention groups attended up to 10 training sessions lasting 60 to 75 minutes each, over a five- to six-week time period. The memory group learned strategies for remembering word lists and sequences of items, text, and story ideas and details. The reasoning group learned strategies for finding the pattern in a letter or word series and identifying the next item in a series. The speed-of-processing group learned ways to identify an object on a computer screen at increasingly brief exposures, while quickly noting where another object was located on the screen. After the initial training, some also took part in 4 75-minute "booster" sessions at 11 and 35 months after training.

Immediately after the initial training, 87% of the speed-training group, 74% of the reasoning group and 26% of the memory group showed improvement in the skills taught. After five years, people in each group performed better on tests in their respective areas of training than did people in the control group. The reasoning-training and speed-training groups who received booster training had the greatest benefit. After five years, all three intervention groups still retained improvement in the cognitive abilities targeted by the intervention. They also reported less difficulty than the control group in tasks such as preparing meals, managing money and doing housework, but only the effect of reasoning training was statistically significant. Those who received speed-of-processing training and follow-up booster training scored better on how quickly and accurately they could find items on a pantry shelf, make change, read medicine dosing instructions, place telephone calls and react to road traffic signs, but booster training for the other two groups did not have a significant effect on this ability. Booster training did however produce additional improvement in reasoning for the reasoning group.
The research was published in the December 20 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-12/nioa-meh121806.htm
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-12/jaaj-ctf121406.htm
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-12/wfub-ntf121906.htm

Memory improves after sleep apnea therapy

Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) often complain of forgetfulness. A study of 58 memory-impaired patients with clinically diagnosed OSA has found that 68% of those who used continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines for an average of more than 6 hours a night regained normal memory after three months. Memory improvement varied based on CPAP adherence: 21% of poor users (fewer than 2 hours/night of CPAP use), 44% of moderate users (2 to 6 hours/night) demonstrated normal memory performance after three months. However, evidence suggests this optimal level of CPAP adherence is uncommon following 3 months of treatment.
The study was published in the December issue of CHEST. Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-12/acoc-mia120606.htm

Numbers, sequences pose problems for Fetal Alcohol Syndrome children

An assessment of 50 Canadian children aged six to 15 years, who had been diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, has revealed that they had specific deficits in memory for numbers and sequences, which may contribute to common math difficulties faced by these children. The study also found differences between Aboriginal children and Caucasian children with FASD.
The findings were published in the December issue of Child Neuropsychology. Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-12/uoa-nsp122006.htm

Pros and cons of therapy for lead exposure

Lead chelation therapy is widely used to treat lead-exposed children, and is increasingly being used for the treatment of autism in children. However, a rat study has now found that, although the treatment can indeed significantly reduce learning and behavioral problems that result from lead exposure, when rats with no lead in their systems were treated, they showed declines in their learning and behavior that were similar to the rats that were exposed to lead. The findings suggest that lead chelation therapy should only be used, as recommended, for children with at least moderate lead exposure.
The findings were reported online 30 October in Environmental Health Perspectives. Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-12/cuns-csr121306.htm

Virtual reality can improve memory, perhaps too much

A study of virtual marketing strategies has found that people who learned about a camera’s functions through an interactive virtual rendition remembered its functions better than those who learned through text and static pictures. However, they also were more likely to believe it could do things that it couldn't do.
The study appeared in the December issue of the Journal of Consumer Research. Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-12/uocp-vrc120506.htm

Watching with intent to repeat ignites key learning area of brain

Observing an activity engaged the same brain regions involved in actually performing the motor sequence, but observing with the intention of later replicating the activity increased the degree of activity in those regions and the greater the activity in one of these regions, the better the actions were subsequently reproduced.
The study appeared in the December issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. Full reference
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061222093112.htm
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-12/uoo-wwi122006.php
http://www.geron.org/press/specialexercise.htm

More on how memories are consolidated during sleep

A new study sheds more light on how memory is consolidated during sleep. Using a new technique, the research confirms that new information is transferred between the hippocampus and the cerebral cortex, and, unexpectedly, provides evidence suggesting that the cerebral cortex actively controls this transfer.
The study appeared in the November issue of Nature Neuroscience. Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-12/m-lds120506.htm

Still more on how memories are consolidated during sleep

In research following up an earlier study in which rats were shown to form complex memories for sequences of events experienced while they were awake, and that these memories were replayed while they slept, it has been shown that these replayed memories do contain the visual images that were present during the running experience. By showing that the brain is replaying memory events in the visual cortex and in the hippocampus at the same time, the finding suggests that this process may contribute to or reflect the result of the memory consolidation process.
The report appeared December 17 in the advance online edition of Nature Neuroscience. Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-12/miot-mtr121806.htm

More insight into why we forget

Increasingly researchers have come to believe interference is far more important for forgetting than the traditional notion of decay over time. A technique called "transcranial magnetic stimulation" (TMS) has now revealed that an area within the prefrontal cortex called the left inferior frontal gyrus, known to be active when volunteers take memory tests while confronting interference, is essential for blocking interference.
The study was published online before print December 6 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-12/uow-ccr120406.htm

Why neurogenesis is so much less in older brains

A rat study has revealed that the aging brain produces progressively fewer new nerve cells in the hippocampus (neurogenesis) not because there are fewer of the immature cells (neural stem cells) that can give rise to new neurons, but because they divide much less often. In young rats, around a quarter of the neural stem cells were actively dividing, but only 8% of cells in middle-aged rats and 4% in old rats were. This suggests a new approach to improving learning and memory function in the elderly.
Results of the study appeared online ahead of print November 7 in Neurobiology of Aging. Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-12/dumc-sca121806.htm

Longevity gene also helps retain cognitive function

The Longevity Genes Project has studied 158 people of Ashkenazi, or Eastern European Jewish, descent who were 95 years of age or older. Those who passed a common test of mental function were two to three times more likely to have a common variant of a gene associated with longevity (the CETP gene) than those who did not. When the researchers studied another 124 Ashkenazi Jews between 75 and 85 years of age, those subjects who passed the test of mental function were five times more likely to have this gene variant than their counterparts. The gene variant makes cholesterol particles in the blood larger than normal.
The findings were reported in the December 26 issue of Neurology. Full reference
http://tinyurl.com/yrf5s4
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-12/aaon-lga121906.htm

New brain region associated with face recognition

Using a new technique, researchers have found evidence for neurons that are selectively tuned for gender, ethnicity and identity cues in the cingulate gyrus, a brain area not previously associated with face processing.
The study was published online before print December 19 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Full reference
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061212091823.htm

Neurons targeted by dementing illness may have evolved for complex social cognition

Special elongated nerve cells called spindle neurons, also known as Von Economo neurons (VENs), are found in two parts of the cerebral cortex known to be associated with social behavior, consciousness, and emotion (the anterior cingulate and fronto-insular cortex). They have only been found in humans and great apes, and, recently, whales. Because of this link with social behaviour, and because these brain regions are targeted by frontotemporal dementia, a recent study investigated whether VENs play a role in this type of dementia that causes people to lose inhibition in social situations. Autopsies revealed that among FTD sufferers, the anterior cingulate cortex had a dramatic reduction in the number of VENs compared to controls. In contrast, Alzheimer's patients had only a small and statistically insignificant reduction.
The finding is reported in the December 22 on-line issue of Annals of Neurology. Full reference
http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2006/1222/1?etoc
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061222090935.htm
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-12/uoc--wih122106.htm

Oxytocin may help treat two core autism symptoms

In a pilot study, researchers have found administration of oxytocin has beneficial effects on repetitive behaviors and aspects of social cognition in high-functioning autistic adults.
The research was presented at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology's Annual Meeting.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-12/g-nrs120106.php

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