News reports of research into memory November 2007

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November 2007

Long-term beta carotene supplementation may help prevent cognitive decline

A large, long-running study has found that men who took beta carotene supplements for 15 years or longer had significantly higher scores on several cognitive tests compared with men who took placebo. There was no such effect in those men who took the supplements for a year. The researchers suggest that although the benefits were modest in themselves, they may predict substantial differences in eventual risk of dementia. However, it should be noted that beta carotene is not without risks—for example, it may increase the risk of lung cancer in smokers — and that it would be premature to advise use of such supplements.
The report appeared in the November 12 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine. Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/jaaj-lbc110807.php

Relationship between statins and cognitive decline more complex than thought

Previous studies of a link between statins (which protect against cardiovascular disease) and cognitive decline have produced inconsistent results. A three year epidemiological study of older African Americans has now found cognitive decline in statin users was less than those who did not take statins, but those who continued to take statins from 2001 to 2004 had greater cognitive decline than those who were taking statins in 2001 but were no longer taking them in 2004. The finding that the benefit is stronger for those who had discontinued use than for continuous users points to a complex association between statins and cognitive decline.
The findings were published in the November 6 issue of Neurology. Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/iu-rbs110207.php

Not enough 'good' cholesterol makes it harder to recover from stroke

A large study involving men and women over age 35 in the United States, Canada, and Scotland who had suffered a mild to moderate stroke within the past three months, found several factors predicted memory and disability problems after stroke: increased age, non-Caucasian race, recurrent stroke, diabetes, stroke in the left hemisphere of the brain, higher levels of homocysteine and lower levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDL), otherwise known as “good” cholesterol. “People with low levels of HDL, high levels of homocysteine, and diabetes are twice as likely as those without such problems to have poorer cognitive function and greater disability after stroke … (and) stroke recovery was the most difficult for people over the age of 57 with high levels of homocysteine ...”
The findings were published in the November 27 issue of Neurology. Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/aaon-ne112007.php

Children with gene show reduced cognitive function

A new study has found that children aged 7 to 10 who possess the ‘Alzheimer's’ gene apoE4 already show signs of reduced cognitive function. The gene has previously been shown to increase the risk of age-related cognitive decline and brain injury, as well as increasing the risk of dementia, but this finding suggests there already are cognitive differences very early on in life. It may also mean therapeutic interventions that delay the effects of cognitive decline may be possible at a much younger age.
Results of the study were presented at the 37th annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience in San Diego.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/ohs-cwg110507.php

Early math skills best predict school success

A review of data from six studies of close to 36,000 preschoolers has revealed that the single most important factor in predicting later academic achievement is that children begin school with a mastery of early math and literacy concepts. This was true even if they have various social and emotional problems. Children's attention-related skills also mattered. The very strongest predictor of future academic success was beginning school with a knowledge of numbers, number order and other rudimentary math concepts. The study controlled for IQ, family income, gender, temperament, type of previous educational experience, and whether children came from single or two parent families. Mastery of early math skills predicted future reading achievement as well as future math achievement. The opposite was not true.
The review appeared in the November issue of Developmental Psychology. Full reference
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/11/071112182442.htm

Gesturing helps grade-schoolers solve math problems

Two studies of children in late third and early fourth grade, who made mistakes in solving math problems, have found that children told to move their hands when explaining how they’d solve a problem were four times as likely as kids given no instructions to manually express correct new ways to solve problems. Even though they didn’t give the right answer, their gestures revealed an implicit knowledge of mathematical ideas, and the second study showed that gesturing set them up to benefit from subsequent instruction. The findings extend previous research that body movement not only helps people to express things they may not be able to verbally articulate, but actually to think better.
Full text available at http://www.apa.org/journals/releases/xge1364539.pdf
The findings appeared in the November issue of Journal of Experimental Psychology: General. Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/apa-ghg102907.php

Gene governs IQ boost from breastfeeding

In two studies of breast-fed infants involving more than 3,000 children in Britain and New Zealand, breastfeeding was found to raise intelligence an average of nearly 7 IQ points if the children had a particular version of a gene called FADS2. The gene variant is the common one — 90% of the children had at least one copy of it. The gene produces an enzyme that helps convert dietary fatty acids into the polyunsaturated fatty acids DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) and AA (arachidonic acid) that have been shown to accumulate in the human brain during the first months after birth. Since the first findings about breastfeeding and IQ appeared a decade ago, many formula makers have added DHA and AA fatty acids to their products. The children in these studies however were born before fatty acid supplementation in formula began.
The report appeared online November 5 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/du-ggi110107.php

Nicotine may enhance attention and working memory in recovering alcoholics

New findings show that nicotine patches may enhance cognitive functioning among newly recovering alcoholics with a history of smoking. Nicotine (but not tobacco) has been shown to have a cognitive benefit, particularly on attention processes. The study also found that alcoholics who smoked were more sensitive to the drug dose of nicotine than were community controls who also smoked.
Results were published in the December issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research. Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/ace-nme111907.php

Club drugs inflict damage similar to traumatic brain injury

A series of rat studies over the past five years has shown using the popular club drug Ecstasy, also called MDMA, and other forms of methamphetamine lead to the same type of brain injury that occur after a person endures a sharp blow to the head.
The findings were presented at the Society for Neuroscience annual conference held in San Diego.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/uof-cdi112907.php

How stress affects memory

We know stress affects memory. Now a rat study tells us one of the ways it does that. Cell recordings in the hippocampus revealed that, when a mouse moves from one location to another, particular cells fired at each location. When the mouse returned to an earlier location, the same cells fire. However, following stress, the cells that fired in a particular location still fired at the same location, but tended to fire at a different frequency. Stress also reduce the level of LTP at the synapses.
This research was published in the November 13 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Full reference
http://www.sciencentral.com/articles/view.php3?article_id=218393035

Brain protein that's a personal trainer for your memory

A brain protein called kalirin has been shown to be critical for helping you learn and remember what you learned. When you learn something new, kalirin makes the synaptic spines on your neurons grow bigger and stronger the more you repeat the lesson. This may help explain why continued intellectual activity and learning delays cognitive decline as people grow older. "It's important to keep learning so your synapses stay healthy." Previous studies have found that kalirin levels are reduced in brains of people with diseases like Alzheimer's and schizophrenia. This latest finding suggests it may be a useful target for future drug therapy for these diseases.
The study was published in the November 21 issue of Neuron. Full reference
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/nu-wyr112107.php
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-11/cp-md111407.php