memory tagged posts

MRI image of brain (stock image). Postdoctoral researcher Patrick Watson studied the relationship between individual brain differences and cognitive abilities. Credit: © highwaystarz / Fotolia

Everyone has a different mixture of personality traits: some are outgoing, some are tough and some are anxious. A new study suggests brains also have different traits that affect both anatomical and cognitive factors, such as intelligence and memory. “A major focus of research in cognitive neuroscience is understanding how intelligence is shaped by individual differences in brain structure and function,” said Prof. Aron K. Barbey.

Barbey and his team measured the size and shape of features all over the brain...

The Salk team expanded upon their previous development of a drug candidate J147, which takes a different tack by targeting Alzheimer’s major risk factor—old age. In the new work, the team showed that the drug candidate worked well in a mouse model of aging not typically used in Alzheimer’s research. When these mice were treated with J147, they had better memory and cognition, healthier blood vessels in the brain and other improved physiological features.

“Initially, the impetus was to test this drug in a novel animal model that was more similar to 99% of Alzheimer’s cases,” says Prof Antonio Currais. “We did not predict we’d see this sort of anti-aging effect, but J147 made old mice look like they were young, based upon a number of physiological parameters.”

Alzheimer’s is the 3rd ...

A new study suggests that receiving rewards as you learn can help cement new facts and skills in your memory, particularly when combined with a daytime nap. The findings from the University of Geneva reveal that memories associated with a reward are preferentially reinforced by sleep. Even a short nap after a period of learning is beneficial.

“Rewards may act as a kind of tag, sealing information in the brain during learning,” says lead researcher Dr Kinga Igloi from the University of Geneva. “During sleep, that information is favourably consolidated over information associated with a low reward and is transferred to areas of the brain associated with long-term memory.”

“Our findings are relevant for understanding the devastating effects that lack of sleep can have on achievement,” s...

RGFP966 is an HDAC3 inhibitor

Clues to keeping brain cells alive in those with Alzheimer’s. A drug now being used to treat cancer might make it easier to learn a language, sharpen memory and help those with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease by rewiring the brain and keeping neurons alive. New research found that a drug – RGFP966 – administered to rats made them more attuned to what they were hearing, able to retain and remember more information, and develop new connections that allowed these memories to be transmitted between brain cells.”This drug could rescue the ability to make new memories that are rich in detail and content, even in the worst case scenarios.”

What happens with dementias such as Alzheimer’s is that brain cells shrink and die because the synapses that transfer informatio...