Memory News Digest

A study of 141 preschoolers from low-income homes has found that a child whose IQ and executive functioning were both above average was three times more likely to succeed in math than a child who simply had a high IQ. Inhibitory control was also important for reading ability. The finding offers the hope that training to improve executive function will improve academic performance.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Mar.htm#math

Right parietal lobe implicated in dyscalculia

By temporarily knocking out an area in the right parietal lobe (the right intraparietal sulcus), researchers have induced dyscalculia in normal subjects, providing strong evidence that dyscalculia is caused by malfunction in this area.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Mar.htm#dyscalculia

Early music training 'tunes' auditory system

A small study exposing differently pitched Mandarin words to native English speakers has found that those with at least six years of musical instrument training starting before the age of 12 were far better at tracking the different tones than the non-musicians. The study supports the view that experience with music at a young age can "fine-tune" the brain's auditory system.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Mar.htm#music

Omega-3 boosts grey matter

A study of 55 healthy adults has found that those who had high levels of long-chain omega-3 fatty acids had more gray matter in areas of the brain associated with emotional arousal and regulation — the bilateral anterior cingulate cortex, the right amygdala and the right hippocampus.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Mar.htm#Omega

Prefrontal cortex loses neurons during adolescence

A rat study has found that adolescents lose neurons in the ventral prefrontal cortex in adolescence, with females losing about 13% more neurons than males. The finding could have implications for understanding disorders that often arise in late adolescence, such as schizophrenia and depression, and why addictions that start in adolescence are harder to overcome than those that begin in adulthood.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Mar.htm#adolescence

Antidepressants improve thinking after a stroke

Executive dysfunction is common after stroke and may impair long-term outcome. A small study of people who had had a stroke during the previous six months has found that, although there was no difference in executive function between those given antidepressants and those given a placebo at the end of the 12-week treatment period, those treated with antidepressants had clear and significant improvement 21 months after the treatment ended.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Mar.htm#stroke

Obesity surgery can lead to memory loss

A review of the literature has found that weight loss surgery such as gastric bypass surgery, can lead to a vitamin deficiency that can cause memory loss and confusion, inability to coordinate movement, and other problems.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Mar.htm#Obesity

Kids learn words best by working out meaning

An undergraduate project involving 100 children aged 3 to 3 ½, provides evidence that children learn words better when they figure out the words' meaning for themselves, rather than when they are simply told their meaning.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Mar.htm#meaning

Selective amnesia — How a traumatic memory can be wiped out

A rat study has succeeded in erasing a single, specific, fearful memory, leaving other memories intact. Such an approach may eventually help sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Mar.htm#amnesia

Social memory localized

An imaging study has identified the medial prefrontal cortex as being the key structure in remembering social information (involving people and their interactions) from a picture. The finding may help us understand disorders which affect social and relational skills, such as schizophrenia and autism.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Mar.htm#Social

Disentangling attention

A new study provides more evidence that the ability to deliberately focus your attention is physically separate in the brain from the part that helps you filter out distraction. The findings may help us develop treatments for attention disorders.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Mar.htm#attention

New research shows why too much memory may be a bad thing

Neurogenesis has been thought of as a wholly good thing — having more neurons is surely a good thing — but now a mouse study has found that stopping neurogenesis in the hippocampus improved working memory. Working memory is highly sensitive to interference from information previously stored in memory, so it may be that having too much information may hinder performing everyday working memory tasks.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Mar.htm#why

Humans aren’t the only ones to think about what they know

As we get smarter about designing experiments and working out how to ask the right questions, the gap between human and non-human cognition keeps closing. Now a rat study has found evidence that rats can think about whether they know something or not.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Mar.htm#Humans

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ALZHEIMER'S NEWS
<http://www.memory-key.com/Seniors/Alzheimers%20news.htm>

March 2007
<http://www.memory-key.com/Seniors/Alzheimers_2007a.htm>

Survey reveals ethnic differences in knowledge about Alzheimer's

The Alzheimer's Foundation of America's (AFA) second Investigating Caregivers' Attitudes and Needs survey has revealed a number of differences between African-American and Hispanic caregivers of people with Alzheimer's disease and other races, in regards to: how likely they are to consider the disease a normal part of the aging process and to dismiss its symptoms as part of getting older, thus delaying diagnosis, knowledge about the disease, fears of stigma, how likely they are to consider placing their loved one in a facility, how likely they are to use a support group.

http://www.memory-key.com/Seniors/Alzheimers_2007a.htm#Survey

Study examines genetic risk factors for Alzheimer's disease

A Welsh study that tested more than 17,000 gene variants in 4,000 volunteers has found evidence for several genes contributing to Alzheimer’s disease.

http://www.memory-key.com/Seniors/Alzheimers_2007a.htm#genetic

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