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Last Updated: Nov 18, 2006 - 12:32:53 PM |
Latest Research
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Neurosciences
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Memory
Memories: It's all in the packaging
Researchers at UC Irvine have found that how much detail one remembers of an event depends on whether a certain portion of the brain is activated to �package� the memory.
Nov 10, 2006 - 5:08:00 PM
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Memory
Atrial Fibrillation linked to Reduced Cognitive Performance
Researchers from Boston University have found a link between atrial fibrillation and low cognitive performance in men. Using a subset of participants from the Framingham Offspring Study, part of the long-running Framingham Heart Study, the team found an association between atrial fibrillation and poor mental functioning.
Oct 24, 2006 - 6:10:00 PM
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Memory
Human Memory Gene Identified
Researchers at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) today announced the discovery of a gene that plays a significant role in memory performance in humans. The findings, reported by TGen and research colleagues at the University of Zurich in Switzerland, Banner Alzheimer's Institute, and Mayo Clinic Scottsdale, appear in the October 20 issue of Science. The study details how researchers associated memory performance with a gene called Kibra in over 1,000 individuals --both young and old-- from Switzerland and Arizona. This study is the first to describe scanning the human genetic blueprint at over 500,000 positions to identify cognitive differences between humans.
Oct 20, 2006 - 11:37:00 PM
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Memory
How the Brain Loses Plasticity of Youth
A protein once thought to play a role only in the immune system could hold a clue to one of the great puzzles of neuroscience: how do the highly malleable and plastic brains of youth settle down into a relatively stable adult set of neuronal connections? Harvard Medical School researchers report in the August 17 Science Express that adult mice lacking the immune system protein paired-immunoglobulin like receptor-B (PirB) had brains that retained the plasticity of much younger brains, suggesting that PirB inhibits such plasticity.
Aug 18, 2006 - 6:51:00 PM
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Memory
Apple Juice Inproves Memory By Boosting Acetylcholine Production
For those who think that apple juice is a kid's drink, think again. Apples and apple juice may be among the best foods that baby boomers and senior citizens could add to their diet, according to new research that demonstrates how apple products can help boost brain function similar to medication. Animal research from the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UML) indicates that apple juice consumption may actually increase the production in the brain of the essential neurotransmitter acetylcholine, resulting in improved memory. Neurotransmitters such as acetylcholine are chemicals released from nerve cells that transmit messages to other nerve cells. Such communication between nerve cells is vital for good health, not just in the brain, but throughout the body.
Aug 2, 2006 - 12:01:00 PM
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Memory
Fresh Light on How we form New Memories
A study conducted by researchers at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh involving an amnesia-inducing drug has shed light on how we form new memories.
Jul 31, 2006 - 11:54:00 AM
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Memory
Multi-tasking affects the brain's learning systems
Multi-tasking affects the brain's learning systems, and as a result, we do not learn as well when we are distracted, UCLA psychologists report this week in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Jul 27, 2006 - 8:56:00 AM
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Memory
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Intelligence
Music thought to enhance intelligence
A recent volume of the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences takes a closer look at how music evolved and how we respond to it. Contributors to the volume believe that animals such as birds, dolphins and whales make sounds analogous to music out of a desire to imitate each other. This ability to learn and imitate sounds is a trait necessary to acquire language and scientists feel that many of the sounds animals make may be precursors to human music.
Jun 24, 2006 - 4:06:00 PM
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Memory
Our grip on reality is slim
The neurological basis for poor witness statements and hallucinations has been found by scientists at UCL (University College London). In over a fifth of cases, people wrongly remembered whether they actually witnessed an event or just imagined it, according to a paper published in NeuroImage this week.
Jun 24, 2006 - 3:10:00 AM
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Memory
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Short term synaptic plasticity play a widespread role in information processing
Animals' neurons, and the synapses that connect them, are constantly changing. This plasticity is thought to underlie learning and memory. Take the rat in the maze. As he learns to navigate a new environment, familiarity with the space is reflected in the neuronal activity of a small almond-shaped brain structure called the hippocampus. Neurons in the hippocampus are generally quiescent. But when the rat meanders into a spot that a specific neuron prefers, called its �place field,� the neuron responds with high-frequency bursts of spikes. As the rat's familiarity with the maze increases over only a few minutes, so does the reliability by which hippocampal neurons respond to their preferred place. This short-term experience modifies the neurons' responses, and very likely the synapses, although the synaptic mechanisms of short-term plasticity in this context have not been fully described.
Jun 23, 2006 - 12:33:00 AM
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Memory
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Brain Rewards Curiosity with Shot of Natural Opiates
Neuroscientists have proposed a simple explanation for the pleasure of grasping a new concept: The brain is getting its fix. The "click" of comprehension triggers a biochemical cascade that rewards the brain with a shot of natural opium-like substances, said Irving Biederman of the University of Southern California. He presents his theory in an invited article in the latest issue of American Scientist.
Jun 21, 2006 - 12:06:00 AM
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Neurosciences
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Memory
Sleepy fruit flies provide clues to learning and memory
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have discovered that a brain region previously known for its role in learning and memory also serves as the location of sleep regulation in fruit flies. Through further examination of this brain structure, researchers hope to shed light on sleep regulation and its role in memory. Despite its importance in everyday human function, very little is known about the regulation of sleep. In search of the underlying brain region responsible for sleep regulation, senior author Amita Sehgal, PhD, Professor of Neuroscience and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Investigator, and colleagues turned their attention to the fruit fly.
Jun 16, 2006 - 12:54:00 AM
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Neurosciences
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Memory
New Insights into Working Memory Mechanism
Memory tests performed with amnesiacs have enabled researchers to refute a long-held belief in an essential difference between long-and short-term memories. In the study, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania determined that the hippocampus -- a seahorse shaped structure in the middle of the brain -- was just as important for retrieving certain types of short-term memories as it is for long-term memories.
Jun 1, 2006 - 1:15:00 PM
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Memory
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Intelligence
Dysbindin-1 gene (DTNBP1) - The Intelligence Gene
Psychiatric researchers at The Zucker Hillside Hospital campus of The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research have uncovered evidence of a gene that appears to influence intelligence. Working in conjunction with researchers at Harvard Partners Center for Genetics and Genomics in Boston, the Zucker Hillside team examined the genetic blueprints of individuals with schizophrenia, a neuropsychiatric disorder characterized by cognitive impairment, and compared them with healthy volunteers.
Apr 30, 2006 - 11:10:00 PM
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Memory
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Intelligence
Brains of the smarter kids tend to change more dramatically
Brains of the smarter kids tend to change more dramatically as they grow up, say scientists who claim to have discovered why some children have higher IQ levels.
Mar 30, 2006 - 3:03:00 PM
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Memory
Memory - Retention Begins While You're Still Awake
There's some unwritten law of stadium parking that says after any event some fraction of hapless souls must perform an embarrassing reenactment of Dude, Where's My Car? It might seem like a simple thing to remember until you consider that the brain must often process and retain new memories while simultaneously tending to several unrelated cognitive tasks. Though it's not exactly clear how the brain processes a recent memory, evidence suggests that a good nap during an event might prevent parking mishaps. Many studies have shown that brain regions activated while learning a task are reactivated during sleep, suggesting that this �offline� processing facilitates memory retention. But when does the memory consolidation process begin?
Mar 29, 2006 - 6:33:00 AM
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Memory
Strategies help keep memory fit - Research
Believing that you can retain a good memory even in your twilight years is the first step to achieving that goal. Those who believe they can control their memory are more likely to employ mnemonic strategies that help keep memory fit despite the march of time. These are the conclusions of a new Brandeis study published in the Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences.
Mar 8, 2006 - 9:50:00 PM
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Memory
Learning and memory stimulated by gut hormone
Researchers at Yale School of Medicine have found evidence that a hormone produced in the stomach directly stimulates the higher brain functions of spatial learning and memory development, and further suggests that we may learn best on an empty stomach. Published in the February 19 online issue of Nature Neuroscience by investigators at Yale and other institutes, the study showed that the hormone ghrelin, produced in the stomach and previously associated with growth hormone release and appetite, has a direct, rapid and powerful influence on the hippocampus, a higher brain region critical for learning and memory.
Feb 23, 2006 - 12:13:00 PM
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Neurosciences
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Memory
How memory is stored at the level of neurons
Researchers from The University of Texas at Austin studying electric fish have gained new insight into how memory is stored at the level of neurons. Their finding, published in the Feb. 16 issue of Neuron, could help researchers better understand memory formation and neural disorders like epilepsy in humans. Dr. Harold Zakon, Dr. J�rg Oestreich and colleagues show that when electric fish zap each other in dark waters, their neurons store a memory of the sizzling communiqu� by turning on special cell membrane channels. The channels give the fish neurons the ability to retain a memory long after its original stimulus is gone.
Feb 19, 2006 - 5:23:00 PM
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Neurosciences
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Memory
Age-related memory improvement linked with consumption of apple products
"An apple a day" now has new meaning for those who want to maintain mental dexterity as they age. New research from the University of Massachusetts Lowell suggests that consuming apple juice may protect against cell damage that contributes to age-related memory loss, even in test animals that were not prone to developing Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.
Jan 24, 2006 - 11:48:00 PM
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Neurosciences
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Memory
Activation of protein kinase A (PKA) solidifies fear memory in the brain
When activated, a specific protein in the brain enhances long-term storage of fearful memories and strengthens previously established fearful memories, Yale School of Medicine researchers report this week in Nature Neuroscience.
Jan 24, 2006 - 11:38:00 PM
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Neurosciences
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Memory
Working memory retains visual details despite distractions
The ability to retain memory about the details of a natural scene is unaffected by the distraction of another activity and this information is retained in "working memory" according to a study recently published in Journal of Vision, an online, free access publication of the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO). These results reinforce the notion that humans maintain useful information about previous fixations in long-term working memory rather than the limited capacity of visual short-term memory (VSTM).
Jan 21, 2006 - 10:00:00 PM
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Neurosciences
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Memory
Sugared drinks can boost memory retention
Sugared drinks can help boost memory retention and combat dementia, a study has found.
Jan 19, 2006 - 3:38:00 PM
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Neurosciences
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Memory
Memory retrieval is a form of mental time travel
Neuroscientists at Princeton University have developed a new way of tracking people's mental state as they think back to previous events -- a process that has been described as "mental time travel."
Dec 27, 2005 - 5:27:00 PM
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Memory
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Brain size matters for intellectual ability
Brain size matters for intellectual ability and bigger is better, McMaster University researchers have found. The study, led by neuroscientist Sandra Witelson, a professor in the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, and published in the December issue of the journal Brain, has provided some of the clearest evidence on the underlying basis of differences in intelligence. The study involved testing of intelligence in 100 neurologically normal, terminally ill volunteers, who agreed that their brains be measured after death. It found bigger is better, but there are differences between women and men. In women, verbal intelligence was clearly correlated with brain size, accounting for 36 percent of the verbal IQ score. In men, this was true for right-handers only, indicating that brain asymmetry is a factor in men.
Dec 23, 2005 - 6:53:00 PM
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Memory
New Research on Mental Time Travel
Neuroscientists at Princeton University have developed a new way of tracking people's mental state as they think back to previous events -- a process that has been described as "mental time travel." The findings, detailed in the Dec. 23 issue of Science, will aid efforts to learn more about how people mine the recesses of memory and could have a wide-ranging impact in the field of neuroscience, including studies of brain disorders such as Alzheimer's disease. The researchers showed nine participants a series of pictures and then asked them to recall what they had seen. By applying a computerized pattern-recognition program to brain scanning data, the researchers were able to show that the participants' brain state gradually aligned with their brain state from when they first studied the pictures. This supports the theory that memory retrieval is a form of mental time travel.
Dec 23, 2005 - 4:00:00 PM
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Neurosciences
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Memory
How brain replenishes memory-making molecules
New research on living neurons has clarified how the brain refreshes the supply of molecules it needs to make new memories. The discovery by scientists at UCSF is reported today in the December 22 issue of the journal Neuron and is featured on the journal's cover. Memory formation is thought to involve a strengthening of the communication between neurons in the part of the brain known as the hippocampus. Researchers know that this increased communication results from a surge in the number of receptors on one neuron that is available to bind to the neurotransmitter glutamate released from another neuron. The two neurons meet at a synapse.
Dec 22, 2005 - 5:00:00 AM
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Neurosciences
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Memory
Amnesiac gene mediates in memory trace formation
Memory formation follows a dynamic pattern, allowing for retrieval from different areas of the brain, depending on when an organism needs to remember, said a researcher at Baylor College of Medicine.
Dec 5, 2005 - 6:15:00 AM
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Neurosciences
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Memory
Memory formation follows a dynamic pattern
Memory formation follows a dynamic pattern, allowing for retrieval from different areas of the brain, depending on when an organism needs to remember, said a researcher at Baylor College of Medicine.
Dec 2, 2005 - 8:22:00 PM
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Neurosciences
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Memory
Synchronized Brain Interactions Associated with Memory and Decision-Making
Next time you lose your keys, you might consider the Clark's nutcracker. During the fall, this woodland resident collects over 30,000 seeds, buries them in discrete locations, then returns over the winter to retrieve its cache. This improbable behavior requires the coordinated activity of different brain structures to integrate spatial coordinates encoded in the hippocampus with memories of how to find the seed stash. As it turns out, food-storing birds have a significantly larger hippocampus—a brain region involved in spatial organization and memory—than nonhording species.
Nov 15, 2005 - 7:39:00 PM
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