We know sleep helps consolidate memories. Now a new study sheds light on how your sleeping brain decides what’s worth keeping. The study found that when the information that makes up a memory has a high value—associated with, for example, making more money—the memory is more likely to be rehearsed and consolidated during sleep.
Latest Research News
I’ve talked before about the evidence linking diabetes to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease, but now a new study suggests that elevated blood sugar levels increase Alzheimer’s risk even in those without diabetes, even in those without ‘pre-diabetes’.
Last year, a cancer drug, Bexarotene, was touted as a potential treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. However, four independent studies have now failed to replicate the most dramatic result of the original study: a claim that the drug could clear half the amyloid plaques in a mere 72 hours.
Still, two of the studies confirmed findings that the drug reduced levels of amyloid-beta, and one showed improved cognition in mice.
The inconsistencies suggest more research is needed. The drug is now being tested in humans.
Why do we find it so hard to stay on task for long? A recent study uses a new technique to show how the task control network and the default mode network interact (and fight each other for control).
The task control network (which includes the dorsal anterior cingulate and bilateral anterior insula) regulates attention to surroundings, controlling your concentration on tasks. The default mode network, on the other hand, becomes active when a person seems to be doing 'nothing', and becomes less active when a task is being performed.
We know that the E4 variant of the APOE gene greatly increases the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, but the reason is a little more mysterious. It has been thought that it makes it easier for amyloid plaques to form because it produces a protein that binds to amyloid beta. However, a new study shows that APOE and amyloid beta don’t bind together in cerebrospinal fluid and in fluids present outside cells grown in dishes, making it unlikely that they are binding together in the brain.
Family caregivers of dementia sufferers who are reluctant to use adult day care services might like to note the findings of a telephone survey. The study involved eight daily telephone interviews on consecutive days with 173 family caregivers who use an ADS on some days.
We talk about memory for ‘events’, but how does the brain decide what an event is? How does it decide what is part of an event and what isn’t? A new study suggests that our brain uses categories it creates based on temporal relationships between people, objects, and actions — i.e., items that tend to—or tend not to—pop up near one another at specific times.
Most of the (few) approved Alzheimer’s drugs are cholinesterase inhibitors — that is, they stop the breakdown of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. A new study explains why they help. It appears they allow signals to enter the brain with more precision and less background noise.
A new study adds to growing evidence of a link between sleep problems and Alzheimer’s. The interesting thing is that this association – between sleep apnea and Alzheimer’s biomarkers — wasn’t revealed until the data was separated out according to BMI.
Three classroom experiments have found that students who meditated before a psychology lecture scored better on a quiz that followed than students who did not meditate. Mood, relaxation, and class interest were not affected by the meditation training.
The noteworthy thing is that the meditation was very very basic — six minutes of written meditation exercises.
The effect was stronger in classes where more freshmen students were enrolled, suggesting that the greatest benefit is to those students who have most difficulty in concentrating (who are more likely to drop out).