Category: Memory

The Best Exercise To Quickly Improve Memory

Each exercise session was only 20-minutes long.

Each exercise session was only 20-minutes long.

Short bursts of high-intensity exercise provide a considerable boost to memory, research finds.

The study showed that healthy young adults increased their memory performance in a relatively short period of time.

Each exercise session was only 20-minutes long, during which they did short bouts of intense exercise.

Those with the greatest fitness gains saw increases in brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF).

This is a protein that supports the function, growth and survival of brain cells.

Dr Jennifer Heisz, the study’s first author, said:

“Improvements in this type of memory from exercise might help to explain the previously established link between aerobic exercise and better academic performance.

At the other end of our lifespan, as we reach our senior years, we might expect to see even greater benefits in individuals with memory impairment brought on by conditions such as dementia.”

For the study, exercise training was compared with a control group among 95 people.

The high-intensity exercise was particularly beneficial to high-interference memory.

When we try to retrieve something from memory, the retrieval process can be hampered by other similar memories.

For example, when trying to remember someone’s name beginning with the letter ‘J’, the memory might return ‘Jack’, ‘James’ and ‘Jeremy’, before you remember the man’s name is ‘Jeff’.

After exercise, people found it easier to recall memories in these sorts of situations.

Dr Heisz said they were now looking at older adults to see if the same findings held true:

“One hypothesis is that we will see greater benefits for older adults given that this type of memory declines with age.

However, the availability of neurotrophic factors also declines with age and this may mean that we do not get the synergistic effects.”

The study was published in the Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (Heisz et al., 2017).

How Memory Works: 8 Brilliant Psychology Studies

Memory can be improved by the right amount of stress, reading, one’s location and even something as simple as saying a word out loud (or not).

Memory can be improved by the right amount of stress, reading, one’s location and even something as simple as saying a word out loud (or not).

In the search for a better memory, scientists have tried all kinds of techniques.

Some of the latest include using laser light to stimulate the prefrontal cortex and optogenetics to control neurons to bring ‘forgotten’ memories back.

In less high-tech realms, the right amount of stress, reading, one’s location and even something as simple as saying a word out loud (or not) have been found to enhance memory.

Still, being forgetful is actually surprisingly common, even among young people, so it is not necessarily a sign of senility.

These ideas and more are explored in these 8 psychology studies on memory from the members-only section of PsyBlog.

(If you are not already, find out how to become a PsyBlog member here.)

  1. ‘Forgotten’ Memories Can Be Reawakened By Light
  2. Unlocking The Secret To Memorizing New Words
  3. These Are The Physical Signs Of A Razor-Sharp Memory
  4. Forgetfulness Is Common Even Among Young — Sometimes With Tragic Consequences
  5. Painless Laser Therapy Improves Memory By 25% In Minutes
  6. How Reading Changes Your Brain
  7. The Amount Of Stress That Improves Your Memory
  8. Why We Remember More When In New Places

.

The Type Of Dietary Fats That Damage Your Memory

A study shows that “good” or healthy fats and “bad” fats affect brain cells in different ways.

A study shows that “good” or healthy fats and “bad” fats affect brain cells in different ways.

Diets rich in saturated fat and or refined carbohydrates are linked to neurodegenerative disorders, neuroinflammation, and cognitive dysfunction.

In contrast, diets rich in polyunsaturated fats such as omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids may have neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects.

A study shows that “good” or healthy fats and “bad” fats affect brain cells in different ways.

The research suggests that high-fat diets will reduce polyunsaturated fatty acids and increase saturated fatty acids in the hippocampus.

The hippocampus is part of the brain important for the formation of new memories and learning processes.

The finding may explain the connection between high-fat foods and memory impairment, especially in older people.

Moreover, the study found that omega-3 DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) has the ability to reduce the negative effect of high fat foods-induced inflammation in brain cells.

Previously they showed that eating highly processed foods was linked to higher levels of inflammation in the brain accompanied with memory loss, but DHA supplements averted the issue.

DHA can lower inflammation by acting directly on microglia in response to issues such as traumatic brain injury, neurodegenerative disorders including Alzheimer’s, and brain infections.

Microglia are types of immune cells that are involved in brain development, and inflammatory responses to brain injury.

Dr Ruth Barrientos, the study’s senior author, said:

“The cool thing about this paper is that for the first time, we’re really starting to tease these things apart by cell type.

Our lab and others have often looked at the whole tissue of the hippocampus to observe the brain’s memory-related response to a high-fat diet.

But we’ve been curious about which cell types are more or less affected by these saturated fatty acids, and this is our first foray into determining that.”

DHA protects cells

For this study, microglia cells from animal tissue were taken and developed in the laboratory.

Then these microglia models were exposed to palmitic acid, the most common saturated fat in foods such as shortening, pork, beef, lard, palm oil, and cocoa butter.

The results revealed that palmitic acid caused changes in gene expression involved in the inflammatory response.

However, DHA treatment completely prevented or partially lowered alterations and so protected cells against inflammation.

Dr Michael Butler, the study’s first author, said:

“Previous work has shown that DHA is protective in the brain and that palmitic acid has been detrimental to brain cells, but this is the first time we’ve looked at how DHA can directly protect against the effects of palmitic acid in those microglia, and we see that there is a strong protective effect.

The protective effects of DHA might, in this context, be restricted to effects on gene expression related to the pro-inflammatory response as opposed to the metabolic deficits that the saturated fat also induced.”

Related

The study was published in the journal Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience (Butler et al., 2023).

‘Forgotten’ Memories Can Be Reawakened By Light (M)

Contrary to what many believe, memories do not simply decay with time — ‘forgotten’ memories are still there encoded in the brain.

Contrary to what many believe, memories do not simply decay with time -- 'forgotten' memories are still there encoded in the brain.

Keep reading with a membership

• Adverts removed
• Cancel at any time
• 14 day money-back guarantee

Join PsyBlog

Members can sign in below:

Smelling These Fragrances At Night Boosts Memory 226% In Older Adults (M)

The researchers hope that along with strengthening memory, the fragrances may help delay dementia.

The researchers hope that along with strengthening memory, the fragrances may help delay dementia.

Keep reading with a membership

• Adverts removed
• Cancel at any time
• 14 day money-back guarantee

Join PsyBlog

Members can sign in below:

This Sleep Pattern Accelerates Memory Loss – Possible Link to Alzheimer’s

Sleep pattern lowered levels of an antioxidant that helps fight cellular damage, such as that caused by Alzheimer’s.

Sleep pattern lowered levels of an antioxidant that helps fight cellular damage, such as that caused by Alzheimer’s.

Sleep disruptions similar to jet lag could cause memory problems linked to Alzheimer’s disease, research finds.

It’s well-known by scientists that there’s a link between Alzheimer’s and sleep, but not what causes what.

Professor Gregory Brewer, who led the research, said:

“The issue is whether poor sleep accelerates the development of Alzheimer’s disease or vice versa.

It’s a chicken-or-egg dilemma, but our research points to disruption of sleep as the accelerator of memory loss.”

The research gave jet-lag to mice that had been genetically engineered to suffer from Alzheimer’s.

They did this by moving the dark period every three days to a different time — which is what causes jet-lag.

The jet-lagged mice had lower levels of an antioxidant that helps fight cellular damage, such as that caused by Alzheimer’s.

This suggests it could be poor sleep that is contributing to the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

Professor Brewer said:

“This study suggests that clinicians and caregivers should add good sleep habits to regular exercise and a healthy diet to maximize good memory.”

Dementia and sleep

Many other studies have found a link between dementia and sleep.

People who sleep for too little or too long are at a higher risk of cognitive decline and dementia.

Indeed, people who sleep more than 9 hours a night have double the risk of developing dementia, one study found.

However, those who sleep for between 5.5 and 7.5 hours per night do not see declines in their cognitive health, even when suffering the early effects of Alzheimer’s disease.

Those sleeping longer also have lower brain volumes.

Also, getting less REM sleep — the phase in which we dream — is linked to dementia.

During sleep the brain cycles between periods of deep sleep and then up towards shallower periods of sleep in which we tend to dream, whether we remember those dreams or not.

During REM sleep the eyes move rapidly from side-to-side (hence Rapid Eye Movement Sleep).

Sleep apnea has also been linked to developing Alzheimer’s disease.

The most common signs of sleep apnea, which affects 30 percent of older people, include:

  • Loud snoring,
  • gasping for air during sleep,
  • breathing stopping for brief periods during the night,
  • morning headache,
  • and daytime sleepiness and irritability.

The study was published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease (Brewer et al., 2015).

The Mineral That Reverses Memory Loss

Supplementation of this natural mineral can reverse memory loss and cognitive deficits.

Supplementation of this natural mineral can reverse memory loss and cognitive deficits.

Selenium is an essential nutrient found in many foods such as brazil nuts, fish, eggs, long-grain brown rice, beef, chicken, and milk.

This powerful antioxidant is important for our immune system, metabolism, thyroid function, and cognitive health.

According to a study, selenium can reverse the cognitive problems after a stroke and improve cognitive function including memory and learning.

Past studies have found that physical activity slows down age-related cognitive decline.

Exercise elevates the levels of upregulated proteins in the blood and one is selenoprotein P (SEPP1) that transports selenium to the brain.

Dr Tara Walker, the study’s senior author, said:

“We’ve known for the last 20 years that exercise can create new neurons in the brain, but we didn’t really understand how.”

The researchers wanted to know whether selenium supplements can mimic the effects of exercise on the aging brain.

In this experiment, mice were given Seleno-L-methionine (a form of selenium) for a month.

Dr Walker said:

“Our models showed that selenium supplementation could increase neuron generation and improve cognition in elderly mice.

The levels of new neuron generation decrease rapidly in aged mice, as they do in humans.

When selenium supplements were given to the mice, the production of neurons increased, reversing the cognitive deficits observed in aging.”

The research team also examined if selenium can reverse memory loss and improve learning function in people with brain injury after a stroke.

Dr Walker said:

“Young mice are really good at the learning and memory tasks, but after a stroke, they could no longer perform these tasks.

We found that learning and memory deficits of stroke affected mice returned to normal when they were given selenium supplements.”

However, a high intake of selenium supplementation in the long-term can cause serious health issue, thus, foods containing selenium seem to be a much better option.

Nuts, seafoods, legumes, eggs, whole grains, meat, and dairy products all contain selenium and so they can easily be added to the diet of the elderly and those with disability who are unable to exercise.

Dr Dr Walker added:

“Selenium supplements shouldn’t be seen as a complete substitute for exercise, and too much can be bad for you.

A person who is getting a balanced diet of fruits, nuts, veggies and meat usually has good selenium levels.

But in older people, particularly those with neurological conditions, selenium supplements could be beneficial.”

The study was published in the journal Cell Metabolism (Leiter et al., 2022).

The Type Of Films And Stories That Make You Smarter

An unsettling feeling, like the absurdity of life, can engender the desired state.

An unsettling feeling, like the absurdity of life, can engender the desired state.

Surreal books and films could make you smarter, research finds.

Stories by Franz Kafka or films by master of the absurd David Lynch could boost learning.

Even an unsettling feeling, like the absurdity of life, can engender the desired state.

The reason is that surreal or nonsensical things put our mind into overdrive looking for meaning.

When people are more motivated to search for meaning, they learn better, the psychologists found.

Dr Travis Proulx, the study’s first author, explained:

“The idea is that when you’re exposed to a meaning threat –– something that fundamentally does not make sense –– your brain is going to respond by looking for some other kind of structure within your environment.

And, it turns out, that structure can be completely unrelated to the meaning threat.”

For the study, people read a Franz Kafka’s short story called ‘The Country Doctor’ — which involves a nonsensical series of events.

A version of the story was rewritten to make more sense and read by a control group.

Afterwards, both groups were given an unconscious learning task that involved spotting strings of letters.

Dr Proulx said:

“People who read the nonsensical story checked off more letter strings –– clearly they were motivated to find structure.

But what’s more important is that they were actually more accurate than those who read the more normal version of the story.

They really did learn the pattern better than the other participants did.”

In a second study, people were made to feel their own lives didn’t make sense.

This was done by pointing out the contradictory decisions they had made.

Dr Proulx said:

“You get the same pattern of effects whether you’re reading Kafka or experiencing a breakdown in your sense of identity.

People feel uncomfortable when their expected associations are violated, and that creates an unconscious desire to make sense of their surroundings.

That feeling of discomfort may come from a surreal story, or from contemplating their own contradictory behaviors, but either way, people want to get rid of it.

So they’re motivated to learn new patterns.”

The study only tested unconscious learning, it doesn’t tell us whether you would be able to use this trick intentionally.

Dr Proulx said:

“It’s important to note that sitting down with a Kafka story before exam time probably wouldn’t boost your performance on a test.

What is critical here is that our participants were not expecting to encounter this bizarre story.

If you expect that you’ll encounter something strange or out of the ordinary, you won’t experience the same sense of alienation.

You may be disturbed by it, but you won’t show the same learning ability.

The key to our study is that our participants were surprised by the series of unexpected events, and they had no way to make sense of them.

Hence, they strived to make sense of something else.”

The study was published in the journal Psychological Science (Proulx & Heine, 2009).