Index for 2000-1

December 2001

Rhythm rather than strength of neural activity may be crucial for memory formation

Age-related changes in brain dopamine may underpin the normal cognitive problems of aging

Support for "general intelligence" factor

Moderate alcohol consumption may help prevent dementia

Autistic preschoolers don't recognize emotions from facial photographs

Methamphetamine abuse may permanently impair cognitive function

New study contradicts earlier finding of new brain cell growth in the adult primate neocortex

Cognitive impairment high among older people

November 2001

Energy consumption improves memory performance in the elderly

Pictures show how nerve cells form connections to store memories

The neural bases of effective encoding

Competition between memory systems

The positive effects of estrogen on memory

Separate brain regions for living vs nonliving categories

The neural basis for motor learning

Gender differences in frontal lobe neuron density

Physical brain changes with advancing age

Role of cholesterol in memory

Pollutants affect babies' brains

Imaging studies don't support a categorical organisation of semantic memory at the neural level

Differential effects of encoding strategy on brain activity patterns

Children's recognition of faces

Controversy over sleep's role in memory

Gesturing reduces cognitive load

Imaging study confirms role of medial temporal lobe in memory consolidation

October 2001

Ecstasy may cause permanent memory damage

Gender differences in neural networks underlying beginning reading

Learning without desire or awareness

Dendrites implicated in storage of memories

Left-handers may be better at remembering events

New motor skills consolidated during sleep

Different brain regions implicated in the representation of the structure and meaning of pictured objects

Specific brain region implicated in rule induction

Role of prefrontal cortical regions in goal-directed behaviour

Differences in face perception processing between autistic and normal adults

September 2001

Suppressing your expression of emotion affects your memory for the event

Crucial enzyme for consolidating long-term memories

Debate over how the brain deals with visual information

Specific brain region responds specifically to images of the human body

Brain scan patterns identify objects being viewed

Calculation difficulties in children of very low birthweight

Hypnosis may give false confidence in inaccurate memories

Miniature microscope could monitor activity in individual brain cells

Brain study shows how surprises help us learn

Source-memory problems not an inevitable consequence of aging, but a function of frontal-lobe efficiency

Manipulating a signaling protein in a developing mouse brain caused radical changes in the cortex and may provide a clue about how the cerebral cortex changes in evolution

Children who concentrate and switch attention better are more likely to cross streets safely

Researchers have isolated Ecstasy by-product believed to cause some of the brain damage associated with the drug

August 2001

How aging brains compensate for cognitive decline

Memory different depending on whether information received via eyes or ears

Practicing skills in concentrated blocks not the most efficient way

Memory starts to decline in our mid-twenties

Another interesting facet to expert memory: how professional musicians process music

Chess experts and chess amateurs use different parts of their brain when they play

Doing two things at once

The costs of multitasking

Brain's halves compete for attention

July 2001

Why recognizing a face is easier when the race matches our own

Boys' and girls' brains process faces differently

Visual memory better than previously thought

June 2001

Cultural differences in autobiographical memory

New evidence shows how easily false memories can be created

The chunking of our lives: the brain "sees" life in segments

Estrogen critical to a woman's mental functioning

More women than men do well on memory tests in old age

Iron deficiency may affect maths achievement in children and teens

Anxiety over maths blocks learning

PCB-laden fish may affect adult verbal memory

A study is testing a drug to help cognitive impairment in patients with multiple sclerosis

May 2001

Repeated, frequent episodes of jet lag without sufficient recovery time may reduce cognitive function

Amygdala may be critical for allowing perception of emotionally significant events despite inattention

Protein that allows information to be converted from short-term into lifelong memories identified

Significant brain differences between professional musicians trained at an early age and non-musicians

Use of ecstasy during pregnancy may produce learning and memory impairments in child

Sense of identity located in the right frontal lobe

Magnetic resonance imaging reveals difference between true and false memories

Walking reduces cognitive decline in older women

Gray matter may decline from adolescence, but white matter keeps growing until our late forties

April 2001

The estrogen drug raloxifene may help prevent cognitive decline in women over 70

Multiple Sclerosis sufferers who have related cognitive difficulties may have a slower driving reaction time and increased risk of accidents

Autistic 3- and 4-year-olds react to a picture of a familiar toy but not to a picture of their mother

Skill-specific exercises better for people who suffer from attention problems following stroke or brain injury

Long-term use of ecstacy may result in memory impairment in specific areas

March 2001

Severe memory problems in older adults have become more rare

Dealing with memory failures in which you feel the information you want is "on the tip of my tongue"

Rats on a high-fat diet showed severe impairment on a wide range of learning and memory tasks

February 2001

Frequency of cognitive decline after bypass surgery

January 2001

Aerobic exercise improves some mental processes in older adults

December 2000

Mental faculties unchanged until the mid-40s

Specific molecule that helps brain reorganize in the face of new experiences targeted

November 2000

Deep "slow wave" sleep necessary to consolidate memories

A good breakfast improves memory function in older adults