memory decline tagged posts

A new study published in the journal Psychological Science found that people who feel enthusiastic and cheerful — what psychologists call “positive affect” — are less likely to experience memory decline as they age. This result adds to a growing body of research on positive affect’s role in healthy aging.

A team of researchers analyzed data from 991 middle-aged and older U.S...

Electron micrographs revealed the alignment of the plasma membrane, with evident increase in extracellular spacing between cellular elements, to be affected in 30d w1118 flies, when compared to 3d or 30dSpd w1118 flies. Credit: Gupta VK, Pech U, Bhukel A, Fulterer A, Ender A, Mauermann SF, et al.; Creative Commons Attribution License

Synapses, connecting the neurons in our brains, continuously encode new memories, but the ability to form new memories (“learning”) diminishes drastically for many of us as we get older. Specific changes at the level of synapses directly provoke age-related dementia. However, administering a simple substance already found in our bodies, spermidine, can help to avoid such age-related synaptic changes and thereby protect from age-induced memory impairment.

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