Posts Tagged ‘learning’
Cognitive Effect of Head Impacts on Student Athletes
Dartmouth researchers investigate the cognitive effects of athlete head impacts. Dartmouth faculty and students played prominent roles in a recent study on the cognitive effects of head impacts among student athletes. Tested at the beginning and end of one season, 22 [Read More]
Sugar Makes You Stupid: Study Shows High Fructose Diet Sabotages Learning and Memory
This is your brain on sugar: UCLA study shows high-fructose diet sabotages learning, memory. Attention, college students cramming between midterms and finals: Binging on soda and sweets for as little as six weeks may make you stupid. A new UCLA rat study is the first to [Read More]
Reduction of Excess Brain Activity Improves Memory in Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment
Research published by Cell Press in the May 10th issue of the journal Neuron, describes a potential new therapeutic approach for improving memory and modifying disease progression in patients with amnestic mild cognitive impairment. The study finds that excess brain [Read More]
Awake Mental Replay of Past Experiences Critical for Learning
Blocking it stumps memory-guided decision-making in rats – NIH-funded study Awake mental replay of past experiences is essential for making informed choices, suggests a study in rats. Without it, the animals’ memory-based decision-making faltered, say scientists [Read More]
Learning Mechanism of the Adult Brain Revealed
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Fortunately, this is not always true. Researchers at the Netherlands Institute for Neuroscience (NIN-KNAW) have now discovered how the adult brain can adapt to new situations. The Dutch researchers’ findings are published [Read More]
Single Neuron Observations Mark Steps in Alzheimer’s Disease
Multiple disease-related changes progress in parallel through distinct stages. Studying a mouse model of Alzheimer’s disease, neuroscientists at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen have observed correlations between increases in both soluble and plaque-forming [Read More]
In Immersion Foreign Language Learning, Adults Attain, Retain Native Speaker Brain Pattern
A first-of-its kind series of brain studies shows how an adult learning a foreign language can come to use the same brain mechanisms as a native speaker. The research also demonstrates that the kind of exposure you have to the language can determine whether you achieve [Read More]
Coffee and Other Stimulant Drugs May Cause High Achievers to Slack Off
While stimulants may improve unengaged workers’ performance, a new University of British Columbia study suggests that for others, caffeine and amphetamines can have the opposite effect, causing workers with higher motivation levels to slack off. The study, published [Read More]
Blocking “Oh-Glick-Nack” May Improve Long-Term Memory
Just as the familiar sugar in food can be bad for the teeth and waistline, another sugar has been implicated as a health menace and blocking its action may have benefits that include improving long-term memory in older people and treating cancer. Progress toward finding [Read More]
Researchers Show that Memories Reside in Specific Brain Cells
Simply activating a tiny number of neurons can conjure an entire memory. Our fond or fearful memories — that first kiss or a bump in the night — leave memory traces that we may conjure up in the remembrance of things past, complete with time, place and all the [Read More]
