Memory - Page 23 of 28

Classical Music’s Surprising Effect on Genes Vital to Memory and Learning

How 20 minutes of Mozart affects the expression of genes vital to learning, memory and more…

How 20 minutes of Mozart affects the expression of genes vital to learning, memory and more…

Listening to classical music enhances the activity of genes involved in learning and memory, a new study finds.

At the same time it reduces the activity of genes involved in neurodegeneration.

It is the first study to show how music affects the transcription of genes across the whole genome.

Transcription is the first step in how genes are expressed — in other words, how our genetic code is turned into proteins.

The study helps to explain the widespread effects of music on the brain.

Music has considerable power to enhance memory, cognitive performance and development, not to mention the emotions.

Classical music study

For the study, 48 participants listened to Mozart’s Violin Concerto No. 3 in G major, K.216:

Blood samples were taken just before they listened to it and just after.

To provide a comparison group, some of the same people also had blood samples taken before and after a non-musical activity on another occasion.

The results showed that classical music enhanced the activity of genes involved in synaptic neurotransmission and dopamine secretion, both of which are important to memory and learning.

On top of this, classical music reduced the activity of genes that are known to be involved in diseases like Parkinson’s.

However, the effects were only seen in musically experience people.

Dr. Irma Järvelä, who led the study, said:

“The effect was only detectable in musically experienced participants, suggesting the importance of familiarity and experience in mediating music-induced effects.”

Some of the genes that were affected by classical music suggest an evolutionary affinity with songbirds, Dr. Järvelä suggested:

“The up-regulation of several genes that are known to be responsible for song learning and singing in songbirds suggest a shared evolutionary background of sound perception between vocalizing birds and humans.”

The study was published in the journal PeerJ (Kanduri et al., 2015).

Music image from Shutterstock

Alzheimer’s Treatment Using Ultrasound Completely Restores Memory

Breakthrough Alzheimer’s treatment may restore memory and clear plaques in the brain without drugs.

Breakthrough Alzheimer’s treatment may restore memory and clear plaques in the brain without drugs.

Australian scientists have found an Alzheimer’s treatment that can restore memory using ultrasound technology.

The Alzheimer’s treatment — which has been successfully tested on mice — does not involve drugs, but high frequency sound waves.

Professor Jürgen Götz, the director of the Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research in Australia, and one of the study’s authors, said:

“We’re extremely excited by this innovation of treating Alzheimer’s without using drug therapeutics.
The ultrasound waves oscillate tremendously quickly, activating microglial cells that digest and remove the amyloid plaques that destroy brain synapses.
The word ‘breakthrough’ is often mis-used, but in this case I think this really does fundamentally change our understanding of how to treat this disease, and I foresee a great future for this approach.”

Potential Alzheimer’s treatment

The study trialled the ultrasound technique on mice whose brains contained amyloid beta, a toxic plaque seen in Alzheimer’s sufferers.

It uses high-energy ultrasound to clear the build-up of toxic plaques.

After using the Alzheimer’s treatment for several weeks, the researchers restored memory and cleared the plaques in 75% of the mice.

Professor Götz said:

“This treatment restored memory function to the same level of normal healthy mice.
We’re also working on seeing whether this method clears toxic protein aggregates in neurodegenerative diseases other than Alzheimer’s and whether this also restores executive functions, including decision-making and motor control.”

The research is still at a very early stage and it will likely be years before it can be tested on people.

The researchers need to see whether it will work in other animals — sheep are next — and whether any side-effects exist.

Nevertheless, the scientists think it could be much more effective than any Alzheimer’s treatment currently used.

These do not remove amyloid plaques and only work for a short time.

Professor Götz said:

“With an ageing population placing an increasing burden on the health system, an important factor is cost, and other potential drug treatments using antibodies will be expensive.
In contrast, this method uses relatively inexpensive ultrasound and microbubble technology which is non-invasive and appears highly effective.”

The study is published in the journal Science Translational Medicine (Leinenga & Götz, 2015).

Brain aging image from Shutterstock

Memory & Learning Boosted and Depression Prevented By Compound In These Fruits and Nuts

A compound in these nuts and fruits has striking effect on memory, learning and depression.

A compound in these nuts and fruits has striking effect on memory, learning and depression.

Resveratrol, a compound which plants produce in response to injury, has shown striking abilities to boost memory and alleviate depression in new research.

Resveratrol is found in the skin of grapes, in berries and some peanuts.

Resveratrol has already shown promise for protecting against heart disease, but this is the first time its effects on memory have been tested.

The study, published in the journal Scientific Reports, found that resveratrol did better than just slowing the age-related decline of memory in rats, it actually improved it (Kodali et al., 2015).

Professor Ashok K. Shetty, who led the study, said:

“The results of the study were striking.
They indicated that for the control rats who did not receive resveratrol, spatial learning ability was largely maintained but ability to make new spatial memories significantly declined between 22 and 25 months.
By contrast, both spatial learning and memory improved in the resveratrol-treated rats.”

Since both humans and animals, including rats, suffer memory loss with age, the study suggests resveratrol may be a useful treatment in humans.

Professor Shetty said:

“The study provides novel evidence that resveratrol treatment in late middle age can help improve memory and mood function in old age.”

The study found that in comparison with a control group of rats, those fed resveratrol had double the rate of neuronal growth.

There were also improvements in their blood vessels and less problems with inflammation in their hippocampus, the area of the brain vital to memory.

On top of this, the rats were also less depressed:

“The beneficial functional effects included improved ability for spatial learning, preserved proficiency for making new spatial memory, and alleviation of depressive-like behavior associated with aging.”

Brain aging image from Shutterstock

The Age At Which Sleep Matters Most For a Good Memory

The age at which sleep has the greatest influence on cognitive function.

The time of life when sleep has the greatest influence on cognitive function.

Good sleep in young and middle-aged people helps boost memory up to 28 years later, a new review of the evidence finds.

However, people in their 70s, 80s and 90s do not typically sleep so well and the link to a good memory is less strong.

Dr Michael K. Scullin, who co-authored the review of around 2,000 separate studies, said:

“If sleep benefits memory and thinking in young adults but is changed in quantity and quality with age, then the question is whether improving sleep might delay — or reverse — age-related changes in memory and thinking.
It’s the difference between investing up front rather than trying to compensate later.
We came across studies that showed that sleeping well in middle age predicted better mental functioning 28 years later.”

Deep sleep in particular has a whole host of mental benefits, found the 50-year review of research which is published in the journal Perspectives on Psychological Science (Scullin & Bliwise, 2015).

Just one of those is that during this time memory is sorted and consolidated for better recall later on.

Even sleep during the day, in the form of an afternoon nap, can be beneficial for memory, as long as sleep at night is still sufficient.

Later in life, though, people tend to sleep worse, with less deep sleep and more wakefulness during the night.

Dr Scullin says:

“…even if the link between sleep and memory lessens with age, sleeping well is still linked to better mental health, improved cardiovascular health and fewer, less severe disorders and diseases of many kinds.”

Image credit: Sleep image from Shutterstock

Study Finds Memory Has a Fascinating Effect On Sleep

Poor sleep’s negative effect on memory is well-known, but what about the effect of memory on sleep?

Poor sleep’s negative effect on memory is well-known, but what about the effect of memory on sleep?

It’s long been known that animals — from flies to humans — have trouble with their memory when they don’t get enough sleep.

Getting enough sleep is critical in converting short-term memories into long-term memories.

That’s the reason that all-nighters don’t work; but little is known about how memory affects sleep.

One theory has it that memory neurons are actively trying to put us to sleep so our brains can transfer information into long-term memory.

In a new study, researchers at Brandeis University have put this to the test in fruit flies.

The fly has a structure in its brain called ‘the mushroom body’, which is similar to the hippocampus, the area of the human brain that’s vital for memory consolidation.

The results, published in the journal eLife, show for the first time that when critical memory neurons were active, the flies slept more (Haynes et al., 2015).

This suggests that memory plays an active role in the sleep cycle.

Not only did parts of the mushroom body in the fly’s brain help send it to sleep, at other times it was helping to keep it awake.

Bethany L Christmann, one of the study’s authors explains:

“It’s almost as if that section of the mushroom body were saying ‘hey, stay awake and learn this.’
Then, after a while, the DPM neurons start signaling to suppress that section, as if to say ‘you’re going to need sleep if you want to remember this later.'”

Christmann continued:

“Knowing that sleep and memory overlap in the fly brain can allow researchers to narrow their search in humans.
Eventually, it could help us figure out how sleep or memory is affected when things go wrong, as in the case of insomnia or memory disorders.”

Image credit: Simon Pais-Thomas

A Handful of This Everyday Food Improves Memory, Concentration And Processing Speed

Just 13 grams of this regular food improves brain function across the ages.

Just 13 grams of this regular food improves brain function across the ages.

Eating a handful of walnuts each day may help improve memory, concentration and the speed at which the brain processes information, a new study finds.

No matter what people’s age, gender or ethnicity, adults who ate walnuts had greater cognitive function, the research found.

The study, published in the Journal of Nutrition, Health and Aging, is the first in humans to show that walnuts may have a beneficial effect on cognitive health (Arab & Ang, 2014).

Dr. Lenore Arab, who led the study, said:

“It is exciting to see the strength of the evidence from this analysis across the U.S. population supporting the previous results of animal studies that have shown the neuroprotective benefit from eating walnuts; and it’s a realistic amount – less than a handful per day (13 grams).”

The conclusions come from an analysis of a series of very large US nutritional surveys of a nationally representative sample.

Across the age groups — from 20- to 90-years-old — people who ate more walnuts had improved cognitive performance.

In those over 60, though, the results were particularly encouraging, with boosts in learning and memory of around 7% on average.

Importantly, the study can’t tell us that eating walnuts causes improved cognitive function, but it is suggestive.

This is also not the first study to find a link between walnut consumption and improved cognitive health.

The nut has already been connected to improved brain health in Alzheimer’s disease, but as yet only in a mouse model.

It’s not yet known exactly why walnuts are beneficial, but there are a number of possibilities, as they contain:

high levels of antioxidants,
alpha-linolenic acid (ALA),
and numerous vitamins and minerals.

Dr. Alfonso Ang, the study’s co-author, said:

“It isn’t every day that research results in such simple advice – eating a handful of walnuts daily as a snack, or as part of a meal, can help improve your cognitive health.”

Image credit: Rishi Bandopadhay

Men and Women Process Emotions in Different Ways: This Affects What They Remember

Study of 3,000+ finds men and women process emotions differently and this affects what they remember.

Study of 3,000+ finds men and women process emotions differently and this affects what they remember.

Women rate emotional images as more stimulating and are more likely to remember them than men, a new study finds.

While strong emotions tend to boost memory for both men and women, this neuroimaging study may help explain why women often outperform men on memory tests.

The results come from a very large study of 3,398 people who took part in four different trials.

Both men and women were asked to look at a series of pictures, some of which were emotionally arousing and others which were neutral.

They were also tested on their memory for the pictures.

The results, published in the Journal of Neuroscience, showed that women found the emotional pictures — and especially the negative pictures — more stimulating than the men (Spalek et al., 2015).

Dr Klara Spalek, the study’s first author, said:

“This result would support the common belief that women are more emotionally expressive than men.”

Across all the pictures women displayed enhanced recall, and their memory was particularly good for the positive images.

Dr Annette Milnik, who led the study, said:

“This would suggest that gender-dependent differences in emotional processing and memory are due to different mechanisms.”

The researchers then examined brain scans which were taken while people looked at different types of emotional images.

This showed that women’s brains were more active in appraising the negative images than men, especially in the parts of the brain linked to motor functions.

In the image below, the red and yellow areas show the parts of the brain which were more active in both men and women when they looked at emotionally stimulating images.

The green shows the specific areas where women’s brains were more active.

Image credit: Ryan Wiedmaier & MCN, University of Basel

How To Help Infants Learn and Remember

Infants could remember a new skill a day later.

Infants could remember a new skill a day later.

A nap after learning helps a baby consolidate its learning and memories, a new study finds.

The study suggests that a flexible napping schedule could help infants learn.

Dr Jane Herbert, one of the study’s authors, said:

“These findings are particularly interesting to both parents and educationalists because they suggest that the optimal time for infants to learn new information is just before they have a sleep.
Until now people have presumed that the best time for infants to learn is when they are wide-awake, rather than when they are starting to feel tired, but our results show that activities occurring just before infants have a nap can be particularly valuable and well-remembered.”

The study, which is published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), involved showing over 200 infants between six- and twelve-months-old how to remove a mitten from a puppet (Seehagen et al., 2015).

They were tested on their newly learned skill 4 hours later and after 24 hours.

Some of the infants napped within four hours of learning while others did not.

The results showed that only infants who napped for at least 30 minutes within four hours of learning could remember how to remove the puppet’s mitten.

Babies that did not nap within four hours could not remember.

Dr Jane Herbert continued:

“Parents receive lots of advice about what they should and shouldn’t do with their baby’s sleep schedule.
This study however examined learning opportunities around naturally occurring naps and shows just how valuable activities like reading books with young children just before they go down to sleep can be.”

The researchers conclude:

“Until now people have presumed that the best time for infants to learn is when they are wide-awake, rather than when they are starting to feel tired, but our results show that activities occurring just before infants have a nap can be particularly valuable and well-remembered.”

Image credit: Paul Goyette

Nasal Spray Effective Treatment For Memory Loss and Alzheimer’s, Study Finds

Memory loss and Alzheimer’s treated with a nasal spray over 21 days.

Memory loss and Alzheimer’s treated with a nasal spray over 21 days.

An insulin nasal spray can improve cognitive function in those with Alzheimer’s disease and normal age-related memory problems, new research finds.

The pilot study, published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, involved 60 adults who had normal age-related memory problems or mild to moderate Alzheimer’s (Claxton et al., 2015).

Over 21 days, two groups received different doses of insulin detemir: a synthetic, long-acting version of the natural hormone.

A comparison group received a placebo.

The group which received the larger, daily nasal spray of insulin showed improvements in short-term memory in comparison to the lower dose and the placebo condition.

Professor Suzanne Craft, who led the study, said:

“The study provides preliminary evidence that insulin detemir can provide effective treatment for people diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s-related dementia similar to our previous work with regular insulin.
We are also especially encouraged that we were able to improve memory for adults with MCI who have the APOE-e4 gene, as these patients are notoriously resistant to other therapies and interventions.”

This is the first study to test the effects of the longer-lasting synthetic insulin, although previous studies have found that natural insulin is effective.

Insulin is thought to help with memory problems because the areas of the brain which process memory are densely packed with insulin receptors.

Professor Craft continued:

“Alzheimer’s is a devastating illness, for which even small therapeutic gains have the potential to improve quality of life and significantly reduce the overall burden for patients, families and society.
Future studies are warranted to examine the safety and efficacy of this promising treatment.”

Here is Why Age-Related Memory and Thinking Problems Are Less Scary Than Many Imagine

Study reveals the chance that mild age-related memory and thinking problems will turn into dementia.

Study reveals the chance that mild age-related memory and thinking problems will turn into dementia.

It is normal for people over 65 to experience slowing of memory and thinking skills which does not interfere significantly with daily life.

Doctors call this ‘mild cognitive impairment’ or MCI and a new review of the evidence summarises the chances of developing dementia and how to combat it.

Dr. Kenneth Langa, one of the study’s authors, said:

“MCI is hard for both clinicians and for patients and their families, because it’s a scary prospect — and because there’s still a lot we don’t know about this condition.
We still don’t have great answers to give patients and families, but the medical literature shows there are certainly factors that can influence the risk, severity, and progression of MCI.

The review, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, describes four key factors that help combat MCI (Langa & Levine, 2014).

Dr. Deborah Levine, the study’s co-author, explained:

“While no medications have been proven to treat MCI successfully, it’s still a treatable condition.
Our review shows good evidence that aerobic exercise, mental activity, social engagement, and stroke prevention help reduce the risk of further cognitive decline.”

Stroke prevention strategies include lowering cholesterol and blood pressure and taking statins or aspirin.

Seniors who have had mini-strokes or full-blown strokes should concentrate on these strategies as further damage to the brain will clearly be detrimental.

The study’s authors emphasise that multiple medications can sometimes fog the brain.

Older people may be prescribed different pills by different doctors which can interact with each other and cause problems.

In the first instance it’s important to see a doctor who has the full picture of what drugs are being taken.

Dr. Langa explains:

“It is important to avoid overtreatment of high blood pressure and diabetes because low blood pressure and low blood sugar may increase the risk of cognitive decline and other patient harms.”

Along with medicine, seniors should also try to keep mentally, physically and socially active, since all have been shown to have beneficial effects on thinking and memory.

So, what are the chances that mild cognitive impairment will turn into full-blown dementia?

The actual number is somewhere between 5% and 20% of people which, as Dr. Levine says, is not as bad as people fear:

“The numbers are less scary than many people believe.
The majority of people with MCI will not progress to dementia and loss of independence, even after 10 years.
Some patients with MCI will actually have improved cognition after a year or two, if their cognitive test scores were brought down by an acute illness that gets addressed.”

Image credit: annamo