memory tagged posts

Mediterranean-style Diet linked to better Thinking Skills in later life

People who eat a Mediterranean-style diet — particularly one rich in green leafy vegetables and low in red meat — are more likely to stay mentally sharp in later life, a study shows.

Closely adhering to a Mediterranean diet was associated with higher scores on a range of memory and thinking tests among adults in their late 70s, the research found.

The study found no link, however, between the Mediterranean-style diet and better brain health. Markers of healthy brain ageing — such as greater grey or white matter volume, or fewer white matter lesions — did not differ between those regularly eating a Mediterranean diet and those who did not.

These latest findings suggest that this primarily plant-based diet may have benefits for cognitive functioning as we get older, researchers...

Read More

How does the Brain Link Events to form a Memory? Study reveals unexpected Mental Processes

How does the brain link events to form a memory? Study reveals ...
2-photon calcium imaging (5x speed) of the activity responses of neurons in hippocampal area CA1 of a mouse as it learns to associate a neutral tone (conditioned stimulus) with airpuffs (unconditioned stimulus) across a 15 second time delay.
CREDIT
Mohsin Ahmed / Losonczy Lab / Columbia University’s Zuckerman Institute

The brain has a powerful ability to remember and connect events separated in time. And now, in a new study in mice, scientists have shed light on how the brain can form such enduring links.

A woman walking down the street hears a bang. Several moments later she discovers her boyfriend, who had been walking ahead of her, has been shot. A month later, the woman checks into the emergency room. The noises made by garbage trucks, she says, are causing panic attacks...

Read More

More Vitamin D may improve Memory but too much may Slow Reaction Time

Vitamin D capsules.
Photo: Sue Shapses/Rutgers University-New Brunswick

Potential risks and benefits. A unique Rutgers-led study found that overweight and obese older women who took more than 3x the recommended daily dose of vitamin D showed improvements in memory and learning – but also had slower reaction times. The researchers hypothesize that slower reaction times may increase the risk of falling among older people.

The researchers, whose work is in the Journals of Gerontology: Series A, used computers to assess the impact of vitamin D on cognitive function. The researchers evaluated three groups of women between 50 and 70 years old in a randomized controlled trial.

One group took the recommended daily dose of 600 international units (IU), equivalent to 15 micrograms, of vitamin D ...

Read More

Study opens route to Ultra-low-power Microchips

Illustration shows how hydrogen ions (red dots), controlled by an electric voltage, migrate through an intermediate material to change the magnetic properties of an adjacent magnetic layer(shown in green). Credit: Courtesy of the researchers, edited by MIT News

Illustration shows how hydrogen ions (red dots), controlled by an electric voltage, migrate through an intermediate material to change the magnetic properties of an adjacent magnetic layer(shown in green).
Credit: Courtesy of the researchers, edited by MIT News

A new approach to controlling magnetism in a microchip could open the doors to memory, computing, and sensing devices that consume drastically less power than existing versions. The approach could also overcome some of the inherent physical limitations that have been slowing progress in this area until now.

Researchers at MIT and at Brookhaven National Laboratory have demonstrated that they can control the magnetic properties of a thin-film material simply by applying a small voltage...

Read More