========================================
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
November 2009
<http://www.memory-key.com/newsletters/issue_154.htm>
========================================
THIS MONTH ON MEMORY-KEY.COM:
NEWS
More on how meditation can improve attention
Polyphenols and polyunsaturated fatty acids protect the aging brain
Aerobic fitness boosts IQ in teenage boys
How long does it take to form a habit?
Literate Arabic speakers have bilingual brains
Remedial reading program improves brain wiring in children
Helping memory consolidation while you sleep
Sleep apnea therapy improves golf game
Surgery not linked to memory problems in older patients
Stem cells restore cognitive abilities impaired by brain tumor treatment
Childhood brain tumors permanently impact cognition & lifestyle
Cognitive dysfunction reversed in mouse model of Down syndrome
Therapy program has significant effect on autistic toddlers
Where math takes place normally and in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
Heavy use of ketamine impairs memory
The problem of destination memory
More light shed on distinction between long and short-term memory
Fat around the middle increases the risk of dementia
Reduced muscle strength associated with Alzheimer's risk
Better prediction of MCI & Alzheimer’s
Impact of Alzheimer's gene on healthy brains
Amyloid beta protein not all bad
Mixed pathology of dementia indicates combination therapies needed
More on the genetic component of frontotemporal dementia
WEBSITE CHANGES & SOCIAL MEDIA
========================================
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>
November 2009
<http://www.memory-key.com/news/2009/news_2009Nov.htm>
More on how meditation can improve attention
Another study adds to research showing meditation training helps people
improve their ability to focus and ignore distraction.
Full report
Polyphenols and polyunsaturated fatty acids protect the aging brain
A mouse study provides more evidence that a diet rich in polyphenols and
polyunsaturated fatty acids helps boost
neurogenesis, supporting the hypothesis
that the right diet could protect
against age-related cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s.
Full report
Aerobic fitness boosts IQ in teenage boys
Data from the 1.2 million Swedish men at age 18 has revealed that on every
measure of cognitive performance, average test scores increased according to
aerobic fitness — but not muscle strength.
Full report
How long does it take to form a habit?
A study involving people who were interested in forming a new habit has
revealed the importance of getting off to a good start, and given insight into
how long it takes to make a new habit automatic.
Full report
Imagining is as good as doing
A series of experiments reveals that mental imagery is sufficient to achieve perceptual learning. The finding adds to a growing number of studies suggesting that
thinking about something can be almost as good as doing it.
Full report
Literate Arabic speakers have bilingual brains
A new imaging study explains why
learning to read is more difficult for Arabic speakers, and suggests that
the most effective way of teaching reading is by using second-language
techniques.
Full report
Remedial reading program improves brain wiring in children
An imaging study has provided the first evidence that intensive instruction
to improve reading skills in young children causes the brain to physically
rewire itself.
Full report
Helping memory consolidation while you sleep
A study intriguingly reveals that memory consolidation during sleep can be
directed to specific memories through use of auditory cues.
Full report
Sleep apnea therapy improves golf game
A study involving 24 golfers with diagnosed moderate to severe obstructive
sleep apnea (OSA) has found that therapy lowered their golf handicap by as much
as three strokes.
Full report
Surgery not linked to memory problems in older patients
A large study finds no evidence that long-term cognitive
declines (beyond 6 months to a year) are attributable to (noncardiac) surgery.
Full report
Stem cells restore cognitive abilities impaired by brain tumor treatment
A rat study has found that transplanted stem cells restored learning and
memory to normal levels four months after radiotherapy.
Full report
Childhood brain tumors permanently impact cognition & lifestyle
A large survey involving childhood cancer survivors and siblings
has found significantly greater neurocognitive dysfunction, linked to lower
achievement in education and income, in brain cancer survivors.
Full report
Cognitive dysfunction reversed in mouse model of Down syndrome
Down syndrome is characterized by degeneration of the
locus coeruleus, which sends
norepinephrine
to neurons in the hippocampus. Now a mouse study has found immediate, if
temporary, improvement using norepinephrine precursor drugs. The findings may
also have implications for Alzheimer's.
Full report
Therapy program has significant effect on autistic toddlers
A randomized controlled trial involving autistic toddlers has found
significant cognitive & behavioral improvement in those who participated for two years in an intensive
program of behavioral therapy.
Full report
Where math takes place normally and in children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
An imaging study involving 21 children with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder
confirms the importance of the left
parietal area for mathematical tasks
and points to specific differences in those with FASD.
Full report
Heavy use of ketamine impairs memory
A large-scale, year-long study following users of the illegal drug ketamine (K, Special K) has found that heavy ketamine users were
impaired in verbal memory, working memory,
and visual memory.
Full report
The problem of destination memory
While we
have a good memory for whether we’ve said something, we are much poorer at
knowing who we’ve said it to. A new study explains why destination memory
is so poor, and suggests ways of improving it.
Full report
More light shed on distinction between long and short-term memory
A new study involving patients
with a specific form of epilepsy has recast the distinction between long- and
short-term memory in terms of visual detail.
Full report
========================================
ALZHEIMER'S NEWS
<http://www.memory-key.com/Seniors/Alzheimers/Alzheimers_news.htm>
November 2009
<http://www.memory-key.com/Seniors/Alzheimers/Alzheimers_2009b.htm>
Fat around the middle increases the risk of dementia
Data from a large, very long-running study of women has revealed that
women with a higher waist-to-hip ratio in middle age were twice as likely to develop dementia when they got old.
But no link was found to BMI.
Full report
Reduced muscle strength associated with Alzheimer's risk
A large, four-year study of older adults has found that those with weaker muscles had a higher risk
of developing Alzheimer’s or MCI.
Full report
Better prediction of MCI & Alzheimer’s
New techniques for analyzing imaging data are improving prediction of MCI
and Alzheimer’s.
Full report
Impact of Alzheimer's gene on healthy brains
Another new imaging analysis technique has revealed the ways in which the
brains of healthy carriers of
the Alzheimer’s gene ApoE4
differ from non-carriers.
Full report
Amyloid beta protein not all bad
Two studies have just come out with the news that
amyloid beta, the scourge
of Alzheimer’s, has a vital role to play in memory. The findings suggest that efforts
to reduce amyloid beta need to take care not to reduce it too much.
Full report
Mixed pathology of dementia indicates combination therapies needed
Post-mortem study of the brains of 456 dementia sufferers has enabled
researchers to estimate the contribution of each type of pathology to dementia
in the population as a whole. The findings point to the need for combination
therapies, tailored to the particular needs of the patient.
Full report
More on the genetic component of frontotemporal dementia
A new study confirms earlier findings about the large genetic component in
frontotemporal dementia,
and point to more genes still to be discovered.
Full report
========================================
NEW DOCUMENTS FOR DOWNLOAD
I have put together in one easy, downloadable pdf document, all the newsletter articles and news reports relevant to Learning, and to Seniors, for the last year. The documents have been organized somewhat, and also have a table of contents, so I hope you will find these a useful resource.
You can download them here:
Learning collection October 2008 — November 2009
Senior collection October 2008 — November 2009
As part of a recent upgrade of the Mempowered Store, I have also added two free e-booklets there, from the pdf collections. One of these, Mnemonics at a glance, is substantially revised from the earlier pdf collection. Part of my reason for doing this was so that people who were perhaps nervous of buying online could go through part of the process without any financial commitment. I do assure you that the financial part of the transactions is dealt with entirely by Paypal, and I have been totally satisfied with all my dealings with them. Any problems with purchases (such as downloading problems) do get my personal and prompt attention.
========================================
WEBSITE CHANGES & SOCIAL MEDIA
You may have noticed the website has changed its name. This is part of some changes I am planning, to make the material on the site that directly offers advice on learning and memory easier to find. There's a lot of partly-digested information on the site (nine years of research reports!), and while I don't want to bury that information, I do want to make it easier for people to find help. So, when I've finished the changes, the new http://www.mempowered.com address will go directly to a new homepage, portal to a new subsite. However, the www.memory-key.com address will still point to the old homepage, and I certainly won't be giving up the research reports. In the meantime, both the old address and the new point to the same place.
I am also trying to pick up my blog again, having let that fall by the wayside this past year as well. But the best place to keep up with me is now Twitter! I've just started twittering, and I'm a big fan, because it allows me to quickly shout-out about interesting articles and reports I come across -- some of which I'll write a bit about in my blog (Twitter doesn't replace blogging, but I do see it as a very useful adjunct). So I hope you'll encourage me by following me, at http://twitter.com/mempower (NOT mempowered, because that was already taken).
As mentioned, I have also just signed up on Facebook, and have created a page for the Mempowered website. I'm still working out how it all works, but I hope many of you will join me there, and open up the way for some productive discussions.
========================================
If you have
missed any issue of the newsletter,
you can
read back issues at:
http://www.memory-key.com/newsletters/newsletters.htm
========================================
The Mempowered website was previously known as The
Memory Key website, named after my book "The Memory Key",
a
practical user-friendly handbook designed to help people achieve
genuine, long-lasting memory improvement. The book has now been
reissued as Perfect Memory Training
For more about the book go to http://www.memory-key.com/AboutTheSite/about_book.htm, or check out the e-books Dr McPherson has written, available for immediate download from this site.
========================================
Copyright © 2009 Capital Research Limited.
All Rights Reserved
========================================
This issue may be FREELY distributed as long as the
entire issue is included.
more
issues
