About memory

‘Face-blindness’ — prosopagnosia — is a condition I find fascinating, perhaps because I myself have a touch of it (it’s now recognized that this condition represents the end of a continuum rather than being an either/or proposition).

Analysis of the brain sizes of 197 marsupial and 457 placental mammals has found that marsupial mammals (e.g. kangaroos, possums), had relative brain sizes that are at least as big as placental mammals.

A couple of years ago I reported on a finding that walking in the park, and (most surprisingly) simply looking at photos of natural scenes, could improve memory and concentration (see below). Now a new study helps explain why.

Over the years I’ve reported on a number of studies investigating the effect of chemotherapy on the brain. A new study uses brain imaging, before and after treatment for breast cancer, to show that there is an anatomic basis for “chemobrain” complaints.

Because male superiority in mental rotation appears to be evident at a very young age, it has been suggested that testosterone may be a factor.

Following a monkey study that found training in spatial memory could raise females to the level of males, and human studies suggesting the video games might help reduce gender differences in spatial processing (see below for these), a new study shows that training in spatial skills can eliminate

A study involving 120 toddlers, tested at 14, 24, and 36 months, has assessed language skills (spoken vocabulary and talkativeness) and the development of self-regulation. Self-regulation is an important skill that predicts later academic and social success.

Findings from the long-running Religious Orders Study, from 354 Catholic nuns and priests who were given annual cognitive tests for up to 13 years before having their brains examined post-mortem, has revealed that even the very early cognitive impairments we regard as normal in aging are associa

Metamemory or metacognition — your ability to monitor your own cognitive processes — is central to efficient and effective learning.

Brain imaging of 49 children aged 9-10 has found that those who were physically fit had a

Manganese exposure in the workplace is known to have neurotoxic effects, but manganese occurs naturally in soil and sometimes in groundwater. One region where the groundwater contains naturally high levels of manganese is Quebec.

Type 2 diabetes is known to increase the risk of cognitive impairment in old age.

An intriguing new study has found that people are more likely to remember specific information if the pattern of activity in their brain is similar each time they study that information.

A study involving 134 cannabis users aged 16-23 has found that when they were smoking cannabis containing a low percentage of cannabidiol they performed much worse on the memory tests.

A study involving 2,050 people aged 70 to 89 has found that mild cognitive impairment was 1.5 times more common in men than women.

Many survivors of childhood cancer experience cognitive problems as a result of their treatment. The drug methylphenidate (marketed under several names, the best known of which is Ritalin) has previously been shown to help attention problems in such survivors in the short term.

I’m not at all sure why the researcher says they were “stunned” by these findings, since it doesn’t surprise me in the least, but a series of experiments into the role of imagination in creating false memories has revealed that people who had watched a video of someone else doing a simple action

Reports on cognitive decline with age have, over the years, come out with two general findings: older adults do significantly worse than younger adults; older adults are just as good as younger adults.