Can your blood type affect your memory in later years?
September 10, 2014
Science Daily/American Academy of Neurology (AAN)
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People with blood type AB may be more likely to develop memory loss in later years than people with other blood types, according to a study. AB is the least common blood type, found in about 4 percent of the U.S. population. The study found that people with AB blood were 82 percent more likely to develop the thinking and memory problems that can lead to dementia than people with other blood types.
People with AB blood type made up 6 percent of the group who developed cognitive impairment, which is higher than the 4 percent found in the population.
"Our study looks at blood type and risk of cognitive impairment, but several studies have shown that factors such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes increase the risk of cognitive impairment and dementia," said study author Mary Cushman, MD, MSc, of the University of Vermont College of Medicine in Burlington. "Blood type is also related to other vascular conditions like stroke, so the findings highlight the connections between vascular issues and brain health. More research is needed to confirm these results."
Researchers also looked at blood levels of factor VIII, a protein that helps blood to clot. High levels of factor VIII are related to higher risk of cognitive impairment and dementia. People in this study with higher levels of factor VIII were 24 percent more likely to develop thinking and memory problems than people with lower levels of the protein. People with AB blood had a higher average level of factor VIII than people with other blood types.
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140910185913.htm
Lift weights, improve your memory
October 1, 2014
Science Daily/Georgia Institute of Technology
Here’s another reason why it’s a good idea to hit the gym: it can improve memory. A new study shows that an intense workout of as little as 20 minutes can enhance episodic memory, also known as long-term memory for previous events, by about 10 percent in healthy young adults.
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The Georgia Tech research isn't the first to find that exercise can improve memory. But the study, which was just published in the journal Acta Psychologica, took a few new approaches. While many existing studies have demonstrated that months of aerobic exercises such as running can improve memory, the current study had participants lift weights just once two days before testing them.
The Georgia Tech researchers also had participants study events just before the exercise rather than after workout. They did this because of extensive animal research suggesting that the period after learning (or consolidation) is when the arousal or stress.
"There were no significant differences in cognitive functioning and regional brain volumes during late life according to reported midlife alcohol consumption status," said lead author Brian Downer, UTMB Sealy Center on Aging postdoctoral fellow. "This may be due to the fact that adults who are able to continue consuming alcohol into old age are healthier, and therefore have higher cognition and larger regional brain volumes, than people who had to decrease their alcohol consumption due to unfavorable health outcomes."
Although the potential benefits of light to moderate alcohol consumption to cognitive learning and memory later in life have been consistently reported, extended periods of abusing alcohol, often defined as having five or more alcoholic beverages during a single drinking occasion is known to be harmful to the brain.
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141001102028.htm
If you're over 60, drink up: Alcohol associated with better memory
October 23, 2014
Science Daily/University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston
For people 60 and older who do not have dementia, light alcohol consumption during late life is associated with higher episodic memory -- the ability to recall memories of events -- researchers report.
Moderate alcohol consumption was also linked with a larger volume in the hippocampus, a brain region critical for episodic memory. The relationship between light alcohol consumption and episodic memory goes away if hippocampal volume is factored in, providing new evidence that hippocampal functioning is the critical factor in these improvements.
Findings from animal studies suggest that moderate alcohol consumption may contribute to preserved hippocampal volume by promoting generation of new nerve cells in the hippocampus. In addition, exposing the brain to moderate amounts of alcohol may increase the release of brain chemicals involved with cognitive, or information processing, functions.
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141023092031.htm
Why anesthetics cause prolonged memory loss
November 3, 2014
Science Daily/University of Toronto
Researchers have shown why anesthetics can cause long-term memory loss, a discovery that can have serious implications for post-operative patients.
Until now, scientists haven't understood why about a third of patients who undergo anesthesia and surgery experience some kind of cognitive impairment -- such as memory loss -- at hospital discharge. One-tenth of patients still suffer cognitive impairments three months later.
Anesthetics activate memory-loss receptors in the brain, ensuring that patients don't remember traumatic events during surgery. Professor Beverley Orser and her team found that the activity of memory loss receptors remains high long after the drugs have left the patient's system, sometimes for days on end.
Animal studies showed this chain reaction has long-term effects on the performance of memory-related tasks."Patients -- and even many doctors -- think anesthetics don't have long-term consequences. Our research shows that our fundamental assumption about how these drugs work is wrong," says Orser, a Professor in the Departments of Anesthesia and Physiology, and anesthesiologist at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.
Science Daily/SOURCE :http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141103192130.htm