Staying Sharp While Aging: It Has a Price

iPod therapy stimulates cognitive functions lost to disease

(NEWSER) - Therapists and doctors who treat Alzheimer's are now using music not only to soothe and entertain their patients but to restore some cognitive function. For decades it's been recognized that Alzheimer's patients can still remember and sing songs long after they've stopped recognizing names and faces. Now it's thought that those tunes can provide a pathway back to memories otherwise lost. One claims intensive music therapy can lead to an increase of 50% on cognitive-function tests. More»

(NEWSER) - Gyms offering to exercise the brain instead of the body are attracting thousands of aging Americans seeking to tone their gray matter, the Wall Street Journal reports. The gyms are generally based around brain-fitness software, but some offer courses in brain nutrition as well as mental-fitness assessments with personal trainers and "neurobics." More»

Researchers investigate the science of early memories

(NEWSER) - Why is it that we struggle to remember events from before we were 3 or 4 years old? Canadian researchers found that 4- to 6-year-olds remembered events from age 2 or younger as their “earliest memories,” but two years later had largely forgotten them and named a different memory as their earliest. Kids over 10, on the other hand, mentioned the same earliest memories at both the start and end of the study. That suggests those memories “are crystallized” by age 10, says an expert. But despite more than a century of study, scientists still aren’t sure why we can’t recall earlier moments. More»

But they're still not sure about the 'why' part

(NEWSER) - From the scariest nightmares to the most bizarre fantasies, some dreams are remembered forever, and a team of Italian scientists knows how. Researchers at L'Aquila and Bologna universities have determined that it's all about the theta waves. If those slow electrical oscillations are present in the cerebral cortex during the REM cycle, the dream is remembered. If not, it's lost forever. These same waves are at work in waking life, when we form an "episodic memory" of events. More»

Stress hormones alter brain cells, aiding in memory storage

(NEWSER) - If studying for exams stresses you out, be glad: It could help you remember the material, a study suggests. Hormones produced when we’re stressed, like cortisol and adrenaline, help us store memories by altering the way our brain cells work, reports the Telegraph . The hormones “reprogram” DNA in our brains in a process called epigenetic modification, says the lead British researcher. More»