Memory Key News for December 2007

I was delighted to see this report, since it supports an important piece of advice I offer about learning: that labeling your clusters is really helpful. A series of experiments has revealed that learning names for unfamiliar items really does make it easier to learn to categorize them — even though the labels were nonsense words and added no information to what was already known.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Dec.htm#Labeling

Songbirds offer clues to highly practiced motor skills in humans

Songbirds have revealed information about motor skills that may benefit human performers and people needing motor rehabilitation. This study found that providing disruptive auditory feedback to a subset of the vocalizations almost immediately produced an appropriately targeted change in the bird's song. The study also found that really big changes could also be produced, but it had to be done incrementally, in small steps.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Dec.htm#motor

Early lead exposure impedes later recovery from brain injury

We know that lead exposure in early years can affect the brain. We also know that it increases the risk of various disorders later in life. Now a rat study reveals that animals exposed to lead earlier in life were significantly less able to recover from an induced stroke than those not so exposed.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Dec.htm#lead

Young chimps top adult humans in numerical memory

A new study shows that young chimpanzees have an extraordinary working memory capability for numerical recollection—better than that of human adults tested in the same apparatus, following the same procedure. The young chimps’ memory ability may reflect eidetic imagery — an ability seen in some human children before it declines with the age.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Dec.htm#chimps

Fragile X retardation syndrome corrected in mice

In the second recent study targeting the glutamate receptor mGluR5, researchers have fixed multiple defects in fragile X mice by reducing these receptors by 50%. Fragile X is the most common form of inherited mental retardation and a leading identified genetic cause of autism.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Dec.htm#Fragile

High blood pressure associated with risk for mild cognitive impairment

In a large study of older adults, high blood pressure was associated with an increased risk of non-amnestic mild cognitive impairment, but not with amnestic mild cognitive impairment.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Dec.htm#High

Brain systems become less coordinated with age, even in the absence of disease

An imaging study of the brain function of 93 healthy individuals from 18 to 93 years old has revealed that normal aging disrupts communication between different regions of the brain. The finding is consistent with previous research showing that normal aging slowly degrades white matter. The study also revealed that some systems were more severely disrupted than others.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Dec.htm#systems

Cognitive therapy useful in treating post-traumatic stress disorder in early stages

A study of 248 adults with early symptoms of PTSD found that symptoms were significantly less severe in those who received cognitive therapy or cognitive behavioral therapy compared to those treated with medication, placebo, or no treatment at all.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Dec.htm#therapy

Some brain injuries may reduce the likelihood of PTSD

A study of combat-exposed Vietnam War veterans shows that those who suffered injuries to the amygdala or the ventromedial prefrontal cortex were much less likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder than those who suffered damage in other areas or had no head injuries.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Dec.htm#injuries

Brain-injured war veterans show a faster decline in cognitive functioning as they age

A study of Vietnam war veterans who suffered brain injuries during the conflict has found that the men show a faster decline in their cognitive functioning as they grow older than veterans without such injuries. Greater intelligence and a higher level of education were associated with a smaller decline in cognitive functioning.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Dec.htm#veterans

Orphaned children fare better in foster care than in institutions

A study of abandoned children in Romania has found that by age 4 1/2, youngsters in foster care were scoring almost 10 points higher on IQ tests than children left in orphanages. Children who left the orphanages before age 2 saw an almost 15-point increase. Every extra month spent in the orphanage, up to almost age 3, meant roughly a half-point lower score on those later IQ tests. Children raised in their biological homes still fared the best, with average test scores 10-20 points higher than the foster-care kids.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Dec.htm#foster

Neural substrate of congenital amusia

Research has shown that musicians have more grey matter in certain regions of the brain involved in language and auditory processing. Now a study of tone-deaf people reveals that congenital amusia, thought to be due to a severe deficit in the processing of pitch information, is also associated with differences in gray matter distribution.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2007/news_2007Dec.htm#amusia

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

December 2007
<http://www.memory-key.com/Seniors/Alzheimers/Alzheimers_2007b.htm>

Walking and moderate exercise help prevent dementia

A study of older adults has found that those who exerted the most energy in moderate physical activities were significantly less likely to develop vascular dementia. But no such association was found with Alzheimer’s disease.

http://www.memory-key.com/Seniors/Alzheimers/Alzheimers_2007b.htm#Walking

Why fish oil is good for you

Confirming previous research indicating that fish oil helps delay or prevent Alzheimer’s, a new study shows why.

http://www.memory-key.com/Seniors/Alzheimers/Alzheimers_2007b.htm#fish

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