Music Prompts Memory in Alzheimer's Patients

(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»

From diet to depression, here's what to watch

(NEWSER) - New research suggests our lifestyle choices affect memory loss almost as much as aging. Forbes looks at 10 surprising factors, positive and negative, that determine how sharp you'll stay:

1. Tofu—eating too much can increase dementia in the elderly.

2. Carbs—likewise, too many derail Alzheimer's-fighting enzymes in the brain.

3. Hot flashes—women who suffer have trouble remembering names.

Monkeys keep their gray matter throughout their lives

(NEWSER) - Next time you start to feel mentally superior to a chimp, think again. It turns out that while human brains shrink as they age, chimpanzee brains do not, a new George Washington University study has discovered. The findings upend the conventional wisdom that all primates saw their brains shrink over time, the Wall Street Journal explains—in fact, the researchers now suspect that only humans decline in this way. More»

Studies link obesity with declining mental faculties

(NEWSER) - Being fat could make you lose your mind, recent research suggests. One recent long-term study found that overweight people experienced a much more pronounced and rapid decline in brain functions, writes Olivia Judson at the New York Times Opinionator blog. Another found that middle-aged obese people have smaller, more atrophied brains than the thin—and that atrophy is a leading feature of dementia. Still another study noticed that even among the young and healthy, fatter people had lower brain-matter density. More»

Electromagnetic waves might boost memory

(NEWSER) - Researchers finally have some good news about the health effects of cell phones. The electromagnetic waves the phones emit may improve memory and prevent Alzheimer's disease, according to a recent study of mice exposed to radiation similar to electromagnetic waves from cell phones. The mice showed improved cognitive function and reduction of the protein deposits in the brain believed to cause dementia, the Independent reports. More»