Memory Key News for January 2008

In a study in which older and younger adults were asked to think of past and future events, older adults were found to generate fewer details about past events — and this correlated with an impaired ability to imagine future events.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2008/news_2008Jan.htm#imagination

Older surgical patients at greater risk for developing cognitive problems

There’s been quite a lot of research on the effects of cardiac surgery on cognitive function, but less is known about the effects of any surgery. Now a study of more than 1000 adult patients of different ages has tested memory and cognitive function before undergoing elective non-cardiac surgery, at the time of hospital discharge, and three months after surgery. It was found that many patients, regardless of age, experienced postoperative cognitive dysfunction at the time they left the hospital, but three months later, those aged 60 and older were more than twice as likely to exhibit POCD.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2008/news_2008Jan.htm#problems

Brain connections strengthen during waking hours, weaken during sleep

New research provides support for a much-debated theory that we need sleep to give our synapses time to rest and recover. The rodent study has revealed by several measures that synapses are very active when the animal is awake and very quiet during sleep. This theory is of course opposite to the currently dominant hypothesis, that during sleep synapses are hard at work replaying the information acquired during the previous waking hours, consolidating that information by becoming even stronger.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2008/news_2008Jan.htm#sleep

Review supports mild memory impairment in pregnancy

A review of 14 studies testing the memory performances of more than 1,000 pregnant women, mothers and non-pregnant women, has found that pregnant women performed worse on some memory tasks — mainly those that involved new or demanding tasks. The impairment, though modest, was sometimes still evident a year after birth.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2008/news_2008Jan.htm#pregnancy

Kids learn more when mother is listening

A new study shows that even when the mother says nothing, explaining their solution to a problem to their moms improved the ability of 4- and 5-year-olds to solve similar and more difficult problems — presumably because explaining to mom made a difference in the quality of the child's explanations.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2008/news_2008Jan.htm#listen

Culture influences brain function

In a follow-up to research showing that cultural differences can influence memory and even perception, an imaging study has revealed that these differences are reflected in brain activity patterns, even when the difference wasn’t measurable at a behavioral level. The effect was greatest for those who identified more closely with their culture.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2008/news_2008Jan.htm#Culture

Insight into insight

A study investigating brain rhythms and their dynamics while volunteers solved verbal problems has shed light on insightful problem-solving. The findings indicate that focusing or attending too much on a topic can have a detrimental effect, and that a strong Aha! sensation involves minimal metacognitive processes.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2008/news_2008Jan.htm#insight

Getting better at reading minds

Previous imaging studies have enabled researchers to distinguish when people were thinking about different classes of objects: a hammer versus a house, for example. New pattern recognition software has now successfully distinguished which of ten similar objects the person was thinking of.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2008/news_2008Jan.htm#reading

Deep brain stimulation may improve memory

In a truly serendipitous and surprising development, experimental brain surgery intended to suppress an obese man's appetite using the increasingly successful technique of deep-brain stimulation, induced an intense recollection of an event from his distant past. More tests showed his ability to learn was dramatically improved when the current was switched on and his brain stimulated. Scientists are now applying the technique in the first trial of the treatment in 6 patients with Alzheimer's disease.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2008/news_2008Jan.htm#Deep

Hypnosis study sheds insight on amnesia

An intriguing study investigating brain activity of hypnotically induced forgetting may shed light on amnesia. The findings suggest that suppression was exerted at early stages of the retrieval process, specifically, an executive pre-retrieval monitoring process that produces an early decision on whether to proceed or not on retrieval. The researchers suggest that some forms of amnesia may be a consequence of this ‘preretrieval memory abort’ mechanism.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2008/news_2008Jan.htm#amnesia

Novel mechanism for long-term learning identified

There has always been a paradox at the heart of learning: repetition is vital, yet at the level of individual synapses, repetitive stimulation might actually reverse early gains in synaptic strength. Now the mechanism that resolves this apparent paradox has been uncovered.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2008/news_2008Jan.htm#mechanism

New genetic link to autism identified

Three new studies, using different methods, have all implicated the same gene in the development of autism. The research not only points to this gene predisposing an individual to autism, it also may explain the association with late language onset, a characteristic of most autistic children.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2008/news_2008Jan.htm#autism

Study raises questions about diagnosis, treatment of ADHD

The first large, longitudinal study of adolescents and ADHD has revealed that only about half of children diagnosed with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder exhibit the cognitive defects commonly associated with the condition. Researchers also found surprising results regarding the effectiveness of medicine in treating ADHD. The study also confirmed that hyperactivity and impulsivity decrease with age, while inattention increasingly predominates; and that ADHD is associated with increased rates of other psychiatric problems, especially depression, anxiety, oppositional behaviors, conduct disorders, and post-traumatic stress disorder.

http://www.memory-key.com/news/2008/news_2008Jan.htm#ADHD

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ALZHEIMER'S NEWS

<http://www.memory-key.com/Seniors/Alzheimers/Alzheimers_news.htm>

January 2008

<http://www.memory-key.com/Seniors/Alzheimers/Alzheimers_2008a.htm>

Mental and physical exercise delays dementia

A study using genetically engineered mice has found providing the mice with an enriched environment that enhanced their mental and physical stimulation improved performance on memory tests at an early stage of Huntington’s disease. The finding offers hope for slowing the progression of the disease, as well as other dementias.

http://www.memory-key.com/Seniors/Alzheimers/Alzheimers_2008a.htm#exercise

Driving proves potentially hazardous for people with early Alzheimer's

A study of 128 older drivers, including 84 with early Alzheimer’s and 44 age-matched controls, has confirmed previous reports of potentially hazardous driving in persons with early Alzheimer’s, but also indicates that some individuals with very mild dementia can continue to drive safety for extended periods of time.

http://www.memory-key.com/Seniors/Alzheimers/Alzheimers_2008a.htm#Driving

Portable device quickly detects early Alzheimer's

A new device may allow patients to take a brief, inexpensive test that could be administered as part of a routine yearly checkup at a doctor’s office to detect mild cognitive impairment (MCI) — often the earliest stage of Alzheimer’s.

http://www.memory-key.com/Seniors/Alzheimers/Alzheimers_2008a.htm#detects

Memantine works differently than thought

New research shows that the drug memantine, praised as "the first and only representative of a new class of Alzheimer drugs", in fact works similar to other existing compounds, and has a complex profile that requires careful considerations concerning suitable doses and suitable patient groups.

http://www.memory-key.com/Seniors/Alzheimers/Alzheimers_2008a.htm#Memantine

Cholesterol-lowering drugs may not prevent Alzheimer's disease

Research on the protective benefit or otherwise of taking statins has been contradictory to date. Now new results from the long-running Religious Orders Study has come down on the side of no benefit.

http://www.memory-key.com/Seniors/Alzheimers/Alzheimers_2008a.htm#Cholesterol

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genuine, long-lasting memory improvement.

http://www.memory-key.com/AboutTheSite/about_book.htm

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