========================================
T h e M e m o r y K e y
<http://www.memory-key.com>
Your resource for information about memory and memory
improvement
October 2009
<http://www.memory-key.com/newsletters/issue_152.htm>
========================================
THIS MONTH ON MEMORY-KEY.COM:
NEWS
First-time Internet users find boost in brain function after just 1 week
Alcoholism's effect on sleep persists
Too much licorice in pregnancy may affect child's IQ and behavior
Diabetic episodes affect memory
Amphetamine use in adolescence may impair adult working memory
Talking, walking and driving with cell phone users
Whole-brain radiation therapy for tumors results in worse cognitive function
Exercise can aid recovery after brain radiation
Why sleep deprivation causes cognitive impairment, and how to fix it
‘Memory gene’ impacts driving performance
Why smells can be so memorable
Babies' language learning starts from the womb
Two studies help explain the spacing effect
Smart gene helps brain cells communicate
Learning 'sculpts' the brain's connections
Recommended: Use of antipsychotic drugs for dementia patients should be curtailed
High protein diet shrinks brain in Alzheimer’s mice
Does diabetes speed up memory loss in Alzheimer's disease?
Declines in other thinking and learning skills may precede memory loss in Alzheimer's disease
Risk of abnormally slow heart rate twice as high in those taking Alzheimer's drugs
Benefit of memantine in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease not proven
Guide to diagnosing the visual variant of Alzheimer's
Protein identified that counterbalances Alzheimer's proteins
========================================
A revised print edition of
"The Memory Key" is now available as Perfect Memory Training
The original "The Memory Key" is still available as a
downloadable digital book.
Check it out at:
http://www.memory-key.com/shop/memkey_ebook.htm.
========================================
Check out the e-book on "Effective notetaking" at:
http://www.memory-key.com/shop/notetaking_workbook.htm.
and the e-book on "Remembering intentions" at:
http://www.memory-key.com/shop/intention_ebook.htm
========================================
Find out about my YA
novels at:
http://www.fmmcpherson.com/
========================================
NEWS
<http://www.memory-key.com/InfoCenter/news.htm>
October 2009
<http://www.memory-key.com/news/2009/news_2009Oct.htm>
First-time Internet users find boost in brain function after just 1 week
After 7 hours of searching the Internet (over two weeks), inexperienced older
adults showed changes in brain
activity that suggest searching online may be useful brain exercise for older adults.
Full report
Alcoholism's effect on sleep persists
Long-term alcoholics who had been abstinent for up to
719 days still had significantly poorer sleep quality, with estimated lifetime alcohol consumption
significantly related to sleep quality.
Full report
Too much licorice in pregnancy may affect child's IQ and behavior
Eight year old children
whose mothers ate more than 100g of licorice a week had significantly poorer verbal and visuospatial abilities and narrative memory,
and were more likely to have poor attention spans.
Full report
Diabetic episodes affect memory
Children who had
experienced diabetic ketoacidosis performed significantly worse on a memory test
that tested their ability to recall events in association with specific details.
Full report
Amphetamine use in adolescence may impair adult working memory
Rats exposed to high doses of amphetamines at an age that corresponds to the
later years of human adolescence showed significant declines in working memory
as adults, long after the exposure.
Full report
Walking with cell phone users
Another cellphone-multitasking study, once again showing how oblivious
cellphone users are of other activity. Even walking is hard for them!
Full report
Whole-brain radiation therapy for tumors results in worse cognitive function
Another study showing that whole-brain
radiotherapy for brain tumors is more likely to lead to cognitive impairment;
however recurrence and mortality are more likely with stereotactic radiosurgery.
Full report
Exercise can aid recovery after brain radiation
A mouse study has found that exercise can prevent a decline in memory after
whole-brain radiation treatment, and apparently also makes depression less
likely.
Full report
Why sleep deprivation causes cognitive impairment, and how to fix it
A mouse study has found a molecular pathway in the brain that is the cause of
cognitive impairment due to sleep deprivation, and points to a way of preventing
the cognitive deficits.
Full report
‘Memory gene’ impacts driving performance
People with a particular variant (“met”) of the
COMT gene performed more than 20% worse
on a driving test than people without it. About 30% of Americans have the
variant, which limits the availability of the vital protein
BDNF during activity.
Full report
Why smells can be so memorable
An imaging study has confirmed that there is something special about smells
-- the first time you smell something it forms a unique signature in the
hippocampus.
Full report
Babies' language learning starts from the womb
Consistent with characteristic differences between the two languages, French and German newborns show different melodic contours in their cries, supporting the idea that cry melody is the beginning of language development.
Another study finds evidence of an innate recognition of human speech and
monkey cries, but not duck vocalizations.
Full report
Two studies help explain the spacing effect
I talked about the spacing effect in my
last newsletter. Now two studies
point to the neurology that produces it (and perhaps, a way of improving it).
Full report
Smart gene helps brain cells communicate
For the second time, scientists have created a smarter rat by modifying a gene
that lets brain cells communicate a fraction of a second longer, validating the
gene a drug target for improving memory in healthy individuals
as well as those struggling with Alzheimer's.
Full report
Learning 'sculpts' the brain's connections
A study
has found that learning a new task causes measurable changes in the spontaneous
brain activity called the 'resting state', and the degree of change reflects how
well subjects have learned to perform the task.
Full report
========================================
ALZHEIMER'S NEWS
<http://www.memory-key.com/Seniors/Alzheimers/Alzheimers_news.htm>
October 2009
<http://www.memory-key.com/Seniors/Alzheimers/Alzheimers_2009b.htm>
Recommended: Use of antipsychotic drugs for dementia patients should be curtailed
A report from the U.K. Department of Health claims many dementia patients are being given anti-psychotic drugs
unnecessarily, with sometimes fatal results.
Full report
High protein diet shrinks brain in Alzheimer’s mice
A study using genetically engineered mice has tested the effects of four
diets for their effects on Alzheimer’s pathology, and found the high
carbohydrate/low fat diet resulted in significantly smaller brains.
Full report
Does diabetes speed up memory loss in Alzheimer's disease?
A four-year study has unexpectedly found that
memory loss in Alzheimer's patients without diabetes declined faster than those
with diabetes.
Full report
Declines in other thinking and learning skills may precede memory loss in Alzheimer's disease
A long-running study investigating early signs of dementia has found that visuospatial abilities
declined first, followed by overall cognitive abilities, and only then by verbal and working memory.
Full report
Risk of abnormally slow heart rate twice as high in those taking Alzheimer's drugs
Data from 1.4 million Canadians has revealed that older
patients hospitalized with bradycardia were more than twice as likely to have
recently started on a
cholinesterase inhibitor such as
donepezil
for Alzheimer's disease.
Full report
Benefit of memantine in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease not proven
A review of the use of
memantine
for patients with moderate or severe Alzheimer's disease has concluded there is
no scientific evidence of any benefit to this group, either to patients or
caregivers.
Full report
Guide to diagnosing the visual variant of Alzheimer's
In a small number of Alzheimer's patients the disease shows up first as
problems with vision rather than memory or other cognitive functions. Neuro-ophthalmologists
recently gave some guidelines for diagnosis.
Full report
Protein identified that counterbalances Alzheimer's proteins
A mouse study has revealed that a
protein called Reelin may provide a new
approach to tackling Alzheimer’s, and also helps explain why the
ApoE4 gene is
important.
Full report
========================================
If you have missed any issue of the newsletter (those
people who use hotmail
in particular sometimes have their mail bounced back "overquota"),
you can
read back issues at:
http://www.memory-key.com/newsletters/newsletters.htm
========================================
The Memory Key website is named after my book "The
Memory Key", a
practical user-friendly handbook designed to help people
achieve
genuine, long-lasting memory improvement.
http://www.memory-key.com/AboutTheSite/about_book.htm
www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/1564144704/thememorykey-20
========================================
Copyright © 2009 Capital Research Limited.
All Rights Reserved
========================================
This issue may be FREELY distributed as long as the
entire issue is included.
more
issues
