A very large study of older women has found that although there was a small downward trend in cognitive function (as measured by the MMSE) with increasing obesity, this trend was almost entirely driven by those with a waist-hip ratio below 0.78 — that is, for women who carry excess weight around their hips, known as pear shapes (as opposed to carrying it around the waist, called apple shapes).
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A pilot study involving 21 institutionalized individuals with moderate-to-severe Alzheimer’s found that, although drinking two 4-oz glasses of apple juice daily for a month produced no change in the Dementia Rating Scale or in the Activities of Daily Living measure, there was a significant (27%) improvement in behavioral and psychotic symptoms. The largest changes occurred in anxiety, agitation, and delusion.
Another study has come out showing that older adults with low levels of vitamin D are more likely to have cognitive problems. The six-year study followed 858 adults who were age 65 or older at the beginning of the study. Those who were severely deficient in vitamin D were 60% more likely to have substantial cognitive decline, and 31% more likely to have specific declines in executive function, although there was no association with attention.
I’ve talked about the importance of labels for memory, so I was interested to see that a recent series of experiments has found that hearing the name of an object improved people’s ability to see it, even when the object was flashed onscreen in conditions and speeds (50 milliseconds) that would render it invisible. The effect was specific to language; a visual preview didn’t help.
Data from the same long-running study (the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development), this time involving 1,364 youth (followed since birth), found that teens who had spent the most hours in non-relative child care in their first 4½ years reported a slightly greater tendency toward impulsiveness and risk-taking at 15 than did peers who spent less time in child care (21% were in care for more than 30 hours a week; 24% had had more than one year of care by 4 ½).
Three experiments involving students who had lived abroad and those who hadn't found that those who had experienced a different culture demonstrated greater creativity — but only when they first recalled a multicultural learning experience from their life abroad. Specifically, doing so (a) improved idea flexibility (e.g., the ability to solve problems in multiple ways), (b) increased awareness of underlying connections and associations, and (c) helped overcome functional fixedness.
Memory and learning problems often occur in multiple sclerosis, but bewilderingly, are only weakly associated with the severity of the disease. A study involving 44 people around the age of 45 who had MS for an average of 11 years has found that those with a mentally active lifestyle had good scores on the tests of learning and memory even if they had higher amounts of brain damage. The findings suggest that, as with Alzheimer’s disease, 'cognitive reserve' protects against cognitive impairment.
Data from North Carolina's mandated End-of-Grade tests (2000-2005), which includes student reports on how frequently they use a home computer for schoolwork, watch TV or read for pleasure, reveals that students in grades five through eight (c.10-13), particularly those from disadvantaged families, tended to have lower reading and math scores after they got a home computer. The researchers suggest that the greater negative effect in disadvantaged households may reflect less parental monitoring.
A special supplement in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease focuses on the effects of caffeine on dementia and age-related cognitive decline. Here are the highlights:
A mouse study has found memory restoration and lower levels of amyloid-beta in Alzheimer’s mice following only 1-2 months of caffeine treatment. The researchers talk of “ a surprising ability of moderate caffeine intake to protect against or treat AD”, and define moderate intake as around 5 cups of coffee a day(!).
A national study involving some 8,000 children, has revealed receptive and expressive language, phonological awareness, literacy and early math abilities were all better in 4-year-old children whose parents reported having rules about what time their child goes to bed. Having an earlier bedtime also was predictive of higher scores for most developmental measures. Recommendations are that preschool children get a minimum of 11 hours of sleep each night.