A new MRI technique has revealed that it is the structural integrity of the hippocampus more than its size that reflects fitness and correlates with cognitive performance.
Latest Research News
A pilot study involving 22 breast cancer patients currently receiving chemotherapy (mean age 54), has found that those with higher levels of inflammatory biomarkers did significantly worse on tests for short-term visual memory. One particular biomarker — tumor necrosis factor-alpha (as reflected through its two soluble receptors, TNFRI and TNFRII) — was the strongest indicator of cognitive problems.
Link found between chronic inflammation and Alzheimer's gene risk
Data from the Framingham Heart Study has found carriers of the ApoE4 gene were much more likely to develop Alzheimer’s if they also had chronic low-grade inflammation. Indeed, the researchers suggest that, in the absence of inflammation, there might be no difference of Alzheimer's risk between ApoE4 and non-ApoE4 carriers.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/buso-lfb101818.php
Data from over 5,000 individuals found that a measure of belly fat (waist:hip ratio) was associated with reduced cognitive function in older Irish adults (60+). Body mass index (BMI), however, was found to protect cognitive function.
BMI is a crude measure of body fat and cannot differentiate between fat and muscle — the muscle component is likely to be the protective factor.
A study looking at how 51 women performed on a test of their attention after they ate either a meal high in saturated fat or the same meal made with sunflower oil (high in unsaturated fat), found their performance was worse after eating the high-saturated-fat meal than after they ate the meal containing a healthier fat.
This is particularly remarkable when you consider that both meals with high in fat, being designed to resemble fast-food meals that you might get at McDonald’s or Burger King. So this is showing that even this slight improvement can have a noticeable effect.
In other words, what's important is the time of day you hear/see/read something, not when you try and remember it.
- information learned in the morning shows better immediate retention, but worse long-term retention
- short-term memory appears to improve as arousal levels fall
Three experiments investigated whether the time of day had an effect on short-term or long-term memory.
A finding that free radicals promote longevity in the roundworm challenges the theory that free radicals (oxidants) are damaging and cause aging.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-05/mu-wdk050714.php
A study involving 44 middle-aged overweight men who consumed 70 grams of dark chocolate per day over two periods of four weeks, has found that dark chocolate helps restore flexibility to arteries while also preventing white blood cells from sticking to the walls of blood vessels. Both arterial stiffness and white blood cell adhesion are known factors that play a significant role in atherosclerosis.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-02/foas-wdc022714.php
Data from 70 older adults (average age 76) in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging has found that those who reported poorer sleep (shorter sleep duration and lower sleep quality) showed a greater buildup of amyloid-beta plaques.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-10/tjnj-lsa101813.php
A pilot study involving 94 older adults, of whom 18 had Alzheimer’s, 24 had MCI, 26 other dementias, and 26 were healthy controls, has found those with Alzheimer’s were significantly less able to detect the smell of peanut butter. Peanut butter was chosen because of its purity and accessibility (not because there's something special about its smell!).