memory

The Brain Forgets Things In Order To Conserve Energy, Lund University Study

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Our brains not only contain learning mechanisms but also forgetting mechanisms that erase “unnecessary” learning. A research group at Lund University in Sweden has now been able to describe one of these mechanisms at the cellular level.

The group’s results, published in the international journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS), explain a theoretical learning phenomenon which has so far been difficult to understand.

The premise is that human or animal subjects can learn to associate a certain tone or light signal with a puff of air to the eye. The air puff makes the subject blink, and eventually they blink as soon as they hear the tone or see the light signal. The strange thing, however, is that if the tone and the light are presented together (and with the air puff), the learning does not improve, but gets worse.

 

Link to BioSpace article

Digital dependence ‘eroding human memory’

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An over-reliance on using computers and search engines is weakening people’s memories, according to a study.

It showed many people use computers instead of memorising information.

Many adults who could still recall their phone numbers from childhood could not remember their current work number or numbers of family members.

Maria Wimber from the University of Birmingham said the trend of looking up information “prevents the build-up of long-term memories”.

The study, examining the memory habits of 6,000 adults in the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, found more than a third would turn first to computers to recall information.

The UK had the highest level, with more than half “searching online for the answer first”.

 

Link to full article on BBC

Here’s How Chocolate-Rich Diets Could Boost Your Memory, University Of L’Aquila Study

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Mounting Evidence Demonstrates Improved Cognitive Function From Cocoa Flavanol Consumption

January 6, 2015 / It is normal for cognitive function to slightly deteriorate with age. Memory capacity begins to worsen, along with processing speed and the ability to form long-term memories. Finding a way to defer the onset of these issues becomes increasingly important as life expectancy gets longer and global populations age.

This study, conducted by researchers from Italy’s University of L’Aquila and Mars, Incorporated, reinforces the results of several recent cognitive studies–throwing more light on the important role diet plays in maintaining cognitive health. Dr. Giovambattista Desideri, lead author on the paper, said, “The results of this study are encouraging–they support the idea that diet, and specifically a diet rich in cocoa flavanols, can play an important role in maintaining cognitive health as we age.”

This study was the second installment in a two-part investigation by this team into the effects cocoa flavanols have on the brain. The first study, published in the journal Hypertension in 2012, found cognitive and cardiometabolic benefits of habitual cocoa flavanol consumption in older adults who had been diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Despite these findings, the question of the benefits of cocoa flavanols on cognitive function among individuals without MCI remained uncertain.

 

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Complex jobs ‘may protect memory’

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People with mentally taxing jobs, including lawyers and graphic designers, may end up having better memory in old age, research suggests.

A study of more than 1,000 Scottish 70-year-olds found that those who had had complex jobs scored better on memory and thinking tests.

One theory is a more stimulating environment helps build up a “cognitive reserve” to help buffer the brain against age-related decline,

The research was reported in Neurology.

The team, from Heriot-Watt University, in Edinburgh, is now planning more work to look at how lifestyle and work interact to affect memory loss.

Those taking part in the study took tests designed to assess memory, processing speed and general thinking ability, as well as filling in a questionnaire about their working life.

 

Full story at BBC Health