Be active and sleep well for a better memory

by William Atkins

Wednesday, 16 July 2008

Page 2 of 3 Mentally active while awake and memory In the second study, Australian scientists already knew that “… complex mental activity may reduce the risk for dementia,” but wanted to find out the “underlying mechanism.” According to the abstract to their paper, their “… objective was to determine whether individual differences in lifespan complex mental activity are linked to altered rates of hippocampal atrophy independent of global measures of neurodegeneration.” They learned that staying mentally active awhile awake helps to slow down the hippocampus from growing smaller. The hippocampus is the critical part of the brain that deals with memory. Australian clinical neuroscientist. Michael Valenzuela, from the School of Psychiatry at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), made the discovery. Valenzuela states, "I think it's quite an exciting finding and a strong finding.” [ABC News: “Use it or lose it, brain researchers say”] The Valenzuela study found older people who keep their minds busy with complex mental activities throughout their lifetimes reduce the rate at which their hippocampus shrinks by about 50%. The study dealt with thirty-seven healthy people at or over the age of 60 years. For three years the researchers studied the subjects as they lived their lives. They were tested using the Lifetime of Experiences Questionnaire (LEQ) and completed a series of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to measure hippocampal volume, whole brain volume, and white matter hyperintensities. What did they specifically conclude? Please turn to page three. << First page <   1 2 3 Next page > Last page - Post your comment >>

 

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