A pilot study involving 106 participants of the Rush Memory and Aging Project who had experienced a stroke followed participants for an average of 5.9 years, testing their cognitive function and monitoring their eating habits using food journals. It was found that those whose diets scored highest on the MIND (Mediterranean-DASH Diet Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay) diet score had substantially slower rates of cognitive decline than those who scored lowest.
Latest Research News
Ten minutes of light exercise boosts memory
Following rat studies, a study involving 36 healthy young adults has found that 10 minutes of light exercise (such as tai chi, yoga, or walking) significantly improved highly detailed memory processing and resulted in increased activity in the hippocampus.
Can computer use, crafts and games slow or prevent age-related memory loss?
A study involving 2,000 healthy older adults (average age 78) found that mentally stimulating activities were linked to a lower risk or delay of MCI, and that the timing and number of these activities may also play a role.
During the study, 532 participants developed MCI.
Research using human cell cultures and mice suggests that those with an uncommon variation of the aldehyde dehydrogenase 2 gene (ALDH2) may be more at risk of Alzheimer's if they consume alcohol. This gene variation is associated with facial redness following alcohol consumption, reflecting reduced activity of an enzyme that protects against a toxin produced by alcohol consumption (acetaldehyde). Flushing, and inflammation, is a response to the toxin.
It has long been known that spacing practice (reviewing learning or practicing a skill at spaced intervals) is far more effective than massed practice (in one heavy session). It is also well-known that people commonly over-estimate the value of massed practice, and tend not to give due recognition to the value of spacing practice, despite the fact that most memory improvement and study programs advise it.
Autobiographical memory is an interesting memory domain, given its inextricable association with identity. One particularly fascinating aspect of it is its unevenness - why do we remember so little from the first years of life ('childhood amnesia'), why do we remember some periods of our life so much more vividly than others? There are obvious answers (well, nothing interesting happened in those other times), but the obvious is not always correct. Intriguing, then, to read about a new study that links those memorable periods to self-identity.
A review of 19 studies involving over 162,000 people has found that adherence to the Mediterranean diet was associated with a 21% reduced risk of diabetes, with a greater effect (27%) for those at high risk for cardiovascular disease. The association was found in both European and non-European groups.
The research was presented at the American College of Cardiology's 63rd Annual Scientific Session.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-03/acoc-mdm032614.php
A Finnish study involving moderately obese adult patients with mild obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has found that even a modest weight loss (5%) can improve OSA, if occurring in the early stages of OSA.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2014-02/uoef-emw021114.php
Cognitive testing for dementia has a problem in that low scores on some tests may simply reflect a person's weakness in some cognitive areas, or the presence of a relatively benign form of mild cognitive impairment (one that is not going to progress to dementia). A 2008 study found that one of every six healthy adults scored poorly on two or more of 10 tests in a brief cognitive battery. Following this up, the same researchers now show that a more holistic view might separate those who are on the path to dementia from those who are not.
In 2013 I reported briefly on a pilot study showing that “super-agers” — those over 80 years old who have the brains and cognitive powers more typical of people decades younger — had an unusually large anterior cingulate cortex, with four times as many von Economo neurons.