Larry Minikes 8/10/21 Larry Minikes 8/10/21

Vocal music boosts the recovery of language functions after stroke

July 9, 2021

Science Daily/University of Helsinki

Research has shown that listening to music daily improves language recovery in patients who have experienced a stroke. However, the neural mechanisms underlying the phenomenon have so far remained unknown.

A study conducted at the University of Helsinki and the Turku University Hospital Neurocenter compared the effect of listening to vocal music, instrumental music and audiobooks on the structural and functional recovery of the language network of patients who had suffered an acute stroke. In addition, the study investigated the links between such changes and language recovery during a three-month follow-up period. The study was published in the eNeuro journal.

Based on the findings, listening to vocal music improved the recovery of the structural connectivity of the language network in the left frontal lobe compared to listening to audiobooks. These structural changes correlated with the recovery of language skills.

"For the first time, we were able to demonstrate that the positive effects of vocal music are related to the structural and functional plasticity of the language network. This expands our understanding of the mechanisms of action of music-based neurological rehabilitation methods," says Postdoctoral Researcher Aleksi Sihvonen.

Listening to music supports other rehabilitation

Aphasia, a language impairment resulting from a stroke, causes considerable suffering to patients and their families. Current therapies help in the rehabilitation of language impairments, but the results vary and the necessary rehabilitation is often not available to a sufficient degree and early enough.

"Listening to vocal music can be considered a measure that enhances conventional forms of rehabilitation in healthcare. Such activity can be easily, safely and efficiently arranged even in the early stages of rehabilitation," Sihvonen says.

According to Sihvonen, listening to music could be used as a cost-efficient boost to normal rehabilitation, or for rehabilitating patients with mild speech disorders when other rehabilitation options are scarce.

After a disturbance of the cerebral circulation, the brain needs stimulation to recover as well as possible. This is the goal of conventional rehabilitation methods as well.

"Unfortunately, a lot of the time spent in hospital is not stimulating. At these times, listening to music could serve as an additional and sensible rehabilitation measure that can have a positive effect on recovery, improving the prognosis," Sihvonen adds.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210709104224.htm

Larry Minikes 8/10/21 Larry Minikes 8/10/21

Tooth loss associated with increased cognitive impairment, dementia

Good oral health, including dentures, may protect against cognitive decline

July 8, 2021

Science Daily/New York University

Tooth loss is a risk factor for cognitive impairment and dementia -- and with each tooth lost, the risk of cognitive decline grows, according to a new analysis led by researchers at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing and published in JAMDA: The Journal of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. However, this risk was not significant among older adults with dentures, suggesting that timely treatment with dentures may protect against cognitive decline.

About one in six adults aged 65 or older have lost all of their teeth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Prior studies show a connection between tooth loss and diminished cognitive function, with researchers offering a range of possible explanations for this link. For one, missing teeth can lead to difficulty chewing, which may contribute to nutritional deficiencies or promote changes in the brain. A growing body of research also points to a connection between gum disease -- a leading cause of tooth loss -- and cognitive decline. In addition, tooth loss may reflect life-long socioeconomic disadvantages that are also risk factors for cognitive decline.

"Given the staggering number of people diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease and dementia each year, and the opportunity to improve oral health across the lifespan, it's important to gain a deeper understanding of the connection between poor oral health and cognitive decline," said Bei Wu, PhD, Dean's Professor in Global Health at NYU Rory Meyers College of Nursing and co-director of the NYU Aging Incubator, as well as the study's senior author.

Wu and her colleagues conducted a meta-analysis using longitudinal studies of tooth loss and cognitive impairment. The 14 studies included in their analysis involved a total of 34,074 adults and 4,689 cases of people with diminished cognitive function.

The researchers found that adults with more tooth loss had a 1.48 times higher risk of developing cognitive impairment and 1.28 times higher risk of being diagnosed with dementia, even after controlling for other factors.

However, adults missing teeth were more likely to have cognitive impairment if they did not have dentures (23.8 percent) compared to those with dentures (16.9 percent); a further analysis revealed that the association between tooth loss and cognitive impairment was not significant when participants had dentures.

The researchers also conducted an analysis using a subset of eight studies to determine if there was a "dose-response" association between tooth loss and cognitive impairment -- in other words, if a greater number of missing teeth was linked to a higher risk for cognitive decline. Their findings confirmed this relationship: each additional missing tooth was associated with a 1.4 percent increased risk of cognitive impairment and 1.1 percent increased risk of being diagnosed with dementia.

"This 'dose-response' relationship between the number of missing teeth and risk of diminished cognitive function substantially strengthens the evidence linking tooth loss to cognitive impairment, and provides some evidence that tooth loss may predict cognitive decline," said Xiang Qi, a doctoral candidate from NYU Meyers.

"Our findings underscore the importance of maintaining good oral health and its role in helping to preserve cognitive function," said Wu.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210708083904.htm

Larry Minikes 8/10/21 Larry Minikes 8/10/21

Faulty memories of our past whereabouts: The fallacy of an airtight alibi

July 7, 2021

Science Daily/Association for Psychological Science

When someone is suspected of criminal activity, one of the most important questions they are asked is if they have a credible alibi. Playing back past events in our minds, however, is not like playing back a video recording. Recollections of locations, dates, and companions can become muddled with the passage of time. If a suspect's memories are out of line with documented events, a once-plausible alibi can crumble and may be seen as evidence of guilt.

To put people's memories of past whereabouts to the test, a team of researchers tracked the locations of 51 volunteers for one month and found that their recollections were wrong approximately 36% of the time.

"This is the first study to examine memory for where an event happened," said Simon J. Dennis, director of the Complex Human Data Hub at the University of Melbourne's School of Psychological Sciences and lead author of the study, which was published in the journal Psychological Science. "We were able to use experience-sampling methods to actually examine people's memories and analyze what is affecting memory error in their everyday life."

In the study, an app on the participants' smartphones continuously (and securely) recorded their locations and surroundings via GPS. The app also made sound recordings of the environment every 10 minutes. Participants had the freedom to turn off the app or to delete events -- a mechanism designed to protect privacy.

At the end of the month, the participants received a memory test in which they were given a time and date and then asked to select one of four markers on Google Maps to show where they had been at that moment.

The results revealed that participants tended to confuse days across weeks. They also often confused weeks in general and hours across days. The participants had the poorest recall when memories of one event become entwined with memories of a similar experience, such as filling up a car with gas at a different location of the same gas-station chain.

Additionally, the researchers found that people tended to confuse places they had visited at similar times or locations, such as multiple bars visited in one evening. People also made mistakes -- although less frequently -- when events involved similar sounds or movement patterns, such as when they had walked through town on different days while listening to their favorite music.

"This has implications for alibi generation, as jurors tend to assume that a suspect who is wrong is lying," said Dennis. "These results can alert investigators to the questions they should ask in order to catch the memory errors that suspects are likely to make."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210707160527.htm

Larry Minikes 8/10/21 Larry Minikes 8/10/21

Could ketogenic diet be helpful with brain cancer?

July 7, 2021

Science Daily/American Academy of Neurology

A modified ketogenic diet may be worth exploring for people with brain tumors, according to a new study published in the July 7, 2021, online issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. The diet is high in fat and low in carbohydrates.

The small study found that the diet was safe and feasible for people with brain tumors called astrocytomas. All of the people had completed radiation treatment and chemotherapy. The diet led to changes in the metabolism in the body and the brain. The study was not designed to determine whether the diet could slow down tumor growth or improve survival.

"There are not a lot of effective treatments for these types of brain tumors, and survival rates are low, so any new advances are very welcome," said study author Roy E. Strowd, MD, MS, MEd, of Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, N.C., and a Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology.

"These cancer cells rely on glucose, or sugar, to divide and grow. Since the ketogenic diet is low in sugar, the body changes what it uses for energy -- instead of carbohydrates, it uses what are called ketones. Normal brain cells can survive on ketones, but the theory is that cancer cells cannot use ketones for energy."

The study involved 25 people with astrocytomas. They followed a type of ketogenic diet, the modified Atkins diet with intermittent fasting, for eight weeks. The diet includes foods such as bacon, eggs, heavy cream, butter, leafy green vegetables and fish. Participants met with a dietician at the start of the study and then every two weeks. Five days a week they followed the modified Atkins diet, which combined carbohydrate restriction with high amounts of fats. Two days a week they fasted, eating up to 20% of their recommended daily calorie amount.

The main goal of the study was to see if people were able to follow the diet with no serious side effects. A total of 21 people completed the study, and 48% followed the diet completely, according to their food records. But urine tests showed that 80% of the people reached the level where their body was primarily using fats and protein for fuel, rather than carbohydrates.

The diet was well-tolerated. Two people had serious side effects during the study -- one was not related to the diet and one was possibly related.

By the end of the study, changes in the metabolism in the body and the brain were seen. Hemoglobin A1c levels, insulin levels, and fat body mass all decreased. Lean body mass increased. Specialized brain scans that detect changes in brain metabolites showed an increase in concentrations of ketones and metabolic changes in the tumor.

"Of course more studies are needed to determine whether this diet can prevent the growth of brain tumors and help people live longer, but these results show that the diet can be safe for people with brain tumors and successfully produce changes in the metabolism of the body and the brain," Strowd said.

A limitation of the study is that study team members provided a high amount of contact with participants, which may not be feasible in a larger study or in routine clinical care.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210707160516.htm

Larry Minikes 8/10/21 Larry Minikes 8/10/21

Source of remarkable memory of 'superagers' revealed

July 6, 2021

Science Daily/Massachusetts General Hospital

'Superagers' who performed a challenging memory task in an MRI scanner were able to learn and recall new information as well as 25-year-old participants. Neurons in the visual cortex of brains of superaging older adults retain their selective and efficient ability to process visual stimuli and create a distinct memory of the images. In the future, interventions to train specific areas of the brain to be more efficient may enable normal aging adults to enhance memory and other cognitive functions.

As we age, our brains typically undergo a slow process of atrophy, causing less robust communication between various brain regions, which leads to declining memory and other cognitive functions. But a rare group of older individuals called "superagers" have been shown to learn and recall novel information as well as a 25-year-old. Investigators from Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) have now identified the brain activity that underlies superagers' superior memory. "This is the first time we have images of the function of superagers' brains as they actively learn and remember new information," says Alexandra Touroutoglou, PhD, director of Imaging Operations at MGH's Frontotemporal Disorders Unit and senior author of the paper published in Cerebral Cortex.

In 2016, Touroutoglou and her fellow researchers identified a group of adults older than 65 with remarkable performance on memory tests. The superagers are participants in an ongoing longitudinal study of aging at MGH led by Bradford Dickerson, MD, director of the Frontotemporal Disorders Unit at MGH, and Lisa Feldman Barrett, PhD, a research scientist in Psychiatry at MGH. "Using MRI, we found that the structure of superagers' brains and the connectivity of their neural networks more closely resemble the brains of young adults; superagers had avoided the brain atrophy typically seen in older adults," says Touroutoglou.

In the new study, the investigators gave 40 adults with a mean age of 67 a very challenging memory test while their brains were imaged using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), which, unlike typical MRI, shows the activity of different brain areas during tasks. Forty-one young adults (mean age of 25) also took the same memory test while their brains were imaged. The participants first viewed 80 pictures of faces or scenes that were each paired with an adjective, such as a cityscape paired with the word "industrial" or a male face paired with the word "average." Their first task was to determine whether the word matched the image, a process called encoding. After 10 minutes, participants were presented with the 80 image-word pairs they had just learned, an additional 40 pairs of new words and images, and 40 rearranged pairs consisting of words and images they had previously seen. Their second task was to recall whether they had previously seen each specific word-picture pair, or whether they were looking at a new or rearranged pair.

While the participants were in the scanner, the researchers paid close attention to the visual cortex, which is the area of the brain that processes what you see and is particularly sensitive to aging. "In the visual cortex, there are populations of neurons that are selectively involved in processing different categories of images, such as faces, houses or scenes," says lead author Yuta Katsumi, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in Psychiatry at MGH. "This selective function of each group of neurons makes them more efficient at processing what you see and creating a distinct memory of those images, which can then easily be retrieved."

During aging, this selectivity, called neural differentiation, diminishes and the group of neurons that once responded primarily to faces now activates for other images. The brain now has difficulty creating unique neural activation patterns for different types of images, which means it is making less distinctive mental representations of what the person is seeing. That's one reason older individuals have trouble remembering when they may have seen a television show, read an article, or eaten a specific meal.

But in the fMRI study, the superagers' memory performance was indistinguishable from the 25-year-olds', and their brains' visual cortex maintained youthful activity patterns. "The superagers had maintained the same high level of neural differentiation, or selectivity, as a young adult," says Katsumi. "Their brains enabled them to create distinct representations of the different categories of visual information so that they could accurately remember the image-word pairs."

An important question that researchers still must answer is whether "superagers' brains were always more efficient than their peers, or whether, over time, they developed mechanisms to compensate for the decline of the aging brain," says Touroutoglou.

Previous studies have shown that training can increase the selectivity of brain regions, which may be a potential intervention to delay or prevent the decline in neural differentiation in normal aging adults and make their brains more like those of superagers. Currently the researchers are conducting a clinical trial to evaluate whether noninvasive electromagnetic stimulation, which delivers an electrical current to targeted areas of the brain, can improve memory in older adults. The researchers also plan to study different brain regions to further understand how superagers learn and remember, and they will examine lifestyle and other factors that might contribute to superagers' amazing memory.

Major funding for this study was provided by the National Institute on Aging.

Touroutoglou is an assistant professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School (HMS). Dickerson is professor of Neurology at HMS. Barrett is distinguished professor of Psychology at Northeastern University. The other co-author is Joseph Andreano, PhD, an investigator in the Department of Psychiatry at MGH and an instructor of Psychiatry at HMS.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210706133136.htm

Larry Minikes 8/10/21 Larry Minikes 8/10/21

Scientists rejuvenate mouse brains with ketamine or flickering light

July 6, 2021

Science Daily/Institute of Science and Technology Austria

Can you remember the smell of flowers in your grandmother's garden or the tune your grandpa always used to whistle? Some childhood memories are seemingly ingrained into your brain. In fact, there are critical periods in which the brain learns and saves profound cognitive routines and memories. The structure responsible for saving them is called the perineuronal net.

This extracellular structure envelops certain neurons, thereby stabilizes existing connections -- the synapses -- between them and prevents new ones from forming. But what if we could remove the perineuronal net and restore the adaptability of a young brain? The neuroscientist Sandra Siegert and her research group at IST Austria now published two promising techniques to do so.

In defining periods of development, the brain re-organizes connections between its neurons more freely than in its adult form. Researchers have now discovered two methods to reopen such plasticity: repeated ketamine anesthesia and non-invasive 60 hertz light flickering. The findings may have the potential to become a therapeutic tool applicable to humans.

Taking Ketamine or Flashing Lights

It all began four years ago when the researchers at IST Austria found that microglia cells in mice become very reactive after they had anesthetized animals with the drug ketamine. Microglia are typically seen as the brain's immune cells. However, recent studies have shown that they also interact with the neurons. The reactive microglia have the ability to eat synapses and even entire neurons, which is often seen in the late phases of Alzheimer's disease.

"The strong response of the microglia upon ketamine anesthesia surprised us," explains Alessandro Venturino, leading author in the study and member of the Siegert group. "But we did not see any synapses or dead neurons vanishing. So, we were puzzled, what the microglia were actually eating." It turned out to be the perineuronal net that protects and stabilizes the connections between neurons.

"Alessandro came to my office and told me that the perineuronal net was gone. I could not believe it," Siegert remembers. They had applied repeated anesthetic dosages of ketamine to mice. Ketamine is an essential drug for human surgery and was also recently approved for treating psychiatric symptoms. "After just three treatments, we could see a considerable loss in the perineuronal net, which lasted for seven days before being rebuilt."

When Siegert shared the results with Mark Bear, collaborating neuroscientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), he was equally amazed and intrigued by the potential of this discovery. "In biology, you rarely witness such a black-and-white situation," Siegert continues. "Yet, the cherry on top was the effect of the 60-hertz light flickering."

Neurons communicate by sending electric impulses to each other. These are coordinated to create waves of signals -- so-called brainwaves -- which can be influenced by external sensory information, for example, light shining into the eyes. "It had been previously shown that light flickering 40 times a second -- at 40 hertz -- can promote microglia to remove plaques in Alzheimer disease. But it did not remove the perineuronal net," Venturino explains. But when the scientists then put mice in boxes with light flickering 60 times a second, it had a similar effect as the ketamine treatments. "This fine-tuning between distinct brainwaves and the microglia action is the most fascinating and might be a new way of thinking about brainwaves."

Caution and Possibilities

Previously established strategies to remove the perineuronal net are long-lasting and extremely invasive. The high-dosage ketamine treatment but even more so the 60-hertz light flickering are minimally invasive. Therefore, they could open new therapeutic approaches in humans.

Once the blocking of the perineuronal net in the brain is lessened, neurons are again sensitive to new input, and new synapses can be formed. "But it is not like you take ketamine as a drug and become smart," Venturino emphasizes. By re-establishing plasticity, one could potentially overwrite traumatic experiences and treat post-traumatic stress disorder. "But we are very cautious because in this formative window also something traumatic could happen," Siegert says. "It is probably also not a good idea to blast yourself with flickering light."

There are various possible applications for these treatments, one being amblyopia, also known as the lazy eye. This sight disorder is caused by an unbalanced visual input during a child's development and, if untreated, leads to permanent loss of vision. Another topic the researchers want to investigate is the molecular mechanisms behind their discovery which are still not fully understood. Venturino puts it in a nutshell: "There is a lot to explore."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210706115323.htm

Larry Minikes 8/10/21 Larry Minikes 8/10/21

Non-invasive potential treatment for Alzheimer's disease

June 24, 2021

Science Daily/University of Queensland

Ultrasound can overcome some of the detrimental effects of ageing and dementia without the need to cross the blood-brain barrier, Queensland Brain Institute researchers have found.

Professor Jürgen Götz led a multidisciplinary team at QBI's Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research who showed low-intensity ultrasound effectively restored cognition without opening the barrier in mice models.

The findings provide a potential new avenue for the non-invasive technology and will help clinicians tailor medical treatments that consider an individual's disease progression and cognitive decline.

"Historically, we have been using ultrasound together with small gas-filled bubbles to open the almost-impenetrable blood-brain barrier and get therapeutics from the bloodstream into the brain," Professor Götz said.

The new research involved a designated control group who received ultrasound without the barrier-opening microbubbles.

"The entire research team was surprised by the remarkable restoration in cognition," he said.

"We conclude therapeutic ultrasound is a non-invasive way to enhance cognition in the elderly."

Ageing is associated with impaired cognition and a reduction in the learning induced plasticity of the signalling between neurons called long-term potentiation (LTP).

Dr Daniel Blackmore, senior postdoctoral researcher on the team, said the new research aimed to use ultrasound to restore LTP and improved spatial learning in aged mice.

Professor Götz said the brain was "not particularly accessible," but ultrasound provided a tool for overcoming challenges like the blood-brain barrier.

"Using ultrasound could enhance cognition independently of clearing amyloid and tau, which form plaques and tangles in people with Alzheimer's disease," he said.

"Microbubbles will continue to be used in combination with ultrasound in ongoing Alzheimer's research."

About 400,000 people in Australia have dementia and numbers are projected to increase to one million by 2050, with ageing the single biggest risk factor.

Previous research has shown the long-term safety of ultrasound technology and that pathological changes and cognitive deficits could be improved by using ultrasound to treat Alzheimer's disease.

Professor Götz said there were still questions about the differences between normal "physiological" ageing and the "pathological" ageing that happens in Alzheimer's disease.

''We believe there may be some overlap between physiological and pathological ageing in the brain and the potential for this to be corrected with ultrasound is meaningful for those living with Alzheimer's disease," he said.

''We are taking these findings and implementing them in our Alzheimer's research as we go forward to clinical trials.''

Professor Götz's research team aims to understand how brain diseases begin and their progression at molecular and cellular levels in the hope of ultimately developing therapies.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210624114329.htm

Larry Minikes 8/10/21 Larry Minikes 8/10/21

Self-reported declines in cognition may be linked to changes in brain connectivity

June 22, 2021

Science Daily/Wayne State University - Office of the Vice President for Research

Jessica Damoiseaux, Ph.D., an associate professor with the Institute of Gerontology at Wayne State University, recently published the results of a three-year study of cognitive changes in older adults. The team followed 69 primarily African American females, ages 50 to 85, who complained that their cognitive ability was worsening though clinical assessments showed no impairments. Three magnetic resonance imaging scans (MRIs) at 18-month intervals showed significant changes in functional connectivity in two areas of the brain.

"An older adult's perceived cognitive decline could be an important precursor to dementia," Damoiseaux said. "Brain alterations that underlie the experience of decline could reflect the progression of incipient dementia and may emerge before cognitive assessment is sensitive enough to detect a deficit."

The resulting paper, "Longitudinal change in hippocampal and dorsal anterior insulae functional connectivity in subjective cognitive decline," appeared in the May 31 issue of Alzheimer's Research & Therapy. Damoiseaux conducted the study with graduate student Raymond Viviano, Ph.D., who is first author.

Subjective cognitive decline, defined as a perceived worsening of cognitive ability not noted on clinical assessment, may be an early indicator of dementia. Previous cross-sectional research has demonstrated aberrant brain functional connectivity in subjective cognitive decline, but longitudinal evaluation has been limited.

Viviano and Damoiseaux's three-year study found that persons reporting more subjective cognitive decline showed a larger decrease in connectivity between components of the default mode network and a larger increase in connectivity between salience and default mode network components. The functional connectivity changed in the absence of a change in cognitive performance.

Since these brain changes occurred without concomitant cognitive changes, they could indicate that brain changes underlie the perception of decline. These changes could be a sensitive marker for nascent dementia months or years before assessments detect any cognitive deficit.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210622132311.htm

Larry Minikes 8/10/21 Larry Minikes 8/10/21

Protein linked to heart health, disease a potential therapeutic target for dementia

Brain protein reduces Alzheimer's-like brain damage in mice

June 23, 2021

Science Daily/Washington University School of Medicine

By the time people with Alzheimer's disease start exhibiting difficulty remembering and thinking, the disease has been developing in their brains for two decades or more, and their brain tissue already has sustained damage. As the disease progresses, the damage accumulates, and their symptoms worsen.

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that high levels of a normal protein associated with reduced heart disease also protect against Alzheimer's-like brain damage -- at least in mice. The findings, published June 21 in Neuron, suggest that raising levels of the protein -- known as low-density lipoprotein receptor (LDL receptor) -- could potentially be a way to slow or stop cognitive decline.

The discovery of LDL receptor as a potential therapeutic target for dementia is surprising since the protein is much better known for its role in cholesterol metabolism. Statins and PCSK9 inhibitors, two groups of drugs widely prescribed for cardiovascular disease, work in part by increasing levels of LDL receptor in the liver and some other tissues. It is not known whether they affect LDL receptor levels in the brain.

"There are not yet clearly effective therapies to preserve cognitive function in people with Alzheimer's disease," said senior author David Holtzman, MD, the Andrew B. and Gretchen P. Jones Professor and head of the Department of Neurology. "We found that increasing LDL receptor in the brain strongly decreases neurodegeneration and protects against brain injury in mice. If you could increase LDL receptor in the brain with a small molecule or other approach, it could be a very attractive treatment strategy."

The key to the importance of LDL receptor lies in a different protein, APOE, that also is linked to both cholesterol metabolism and Alzheimer's disease. High cholesterol in the blood is associated with increased risk of Alzheimer's disease, although the exact nature of the association is unclear.

During the long, slow development of Alzheimer's disease, plaques of a protein called amyloid gradually accumulate in the brain. After many years, another brain protein called tau starts forming tangles that become detectable just before Alzheimer's symptoms arise. The tangles are thought to be toxic to neurons, and their spread through the brain foretells the death of brain tissue and cognitive decline. First author Yang Shi, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher, and Holtzman previously showed that APOE drives tau-mediated degeneration in the brain by activating microglia, the brain's cellular janitorial crew. Once activated, microglia can injure neural tissue in their zeal to clean up molecular debris.

Higher levels of LDL receptor limit the damage APOE can do in part by binding to APOE and degrading it. Higher levels of LDL receptor in the brain, therefore, should pull more APOE out of the fluid surrounding brain cells and mitigate damage even further, the researchers reasoned.

As part of this study, Shi, Holtzman and colleagues including co-senior author Jason Ulrich, PhD, an associate professor of neurology, studied mice predisposed to develop Alzheimer's-like neurodegeneration because they had been genetically modified to develop tau buildup in the brain, much like people with Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia. The researchers bred the tau mice with mice genetically modified to express high levels of LDL receptor in their brains. The resulting offspring had high levels of LDL receptor and a propensity to develop Alzheimer's-like brain damage by the time they were 9 months old, which is similar to middle age in a person.

Then, the researchers compared the four groups: normal mice, tau mice, mice with high levels of LDL receptor, and tau mice with high levels of LDL receptor. At 9 months, the normal mice and the mice with high levels of LDL receptor had healthy looking brains. The tau mice had severe brain atrophy and neurological damage. In comparison, the tau mice with high levels of LDL receptor were in much better shape. They had significantly less brain shrinkage and damage, their levels of certain forms of tau and APOE were significantly lower, and their microglia were shifted toward a less damaging pattern of activation.

"Alzheimer's develops slowly through multiple phases, and the degeneration phase when tau is building up is when the symptoms arise and worsen," Holtzman said. "In terms of quality of life for people with Alzheimer's, this is a phase in which it would be great if we could intervene. I think this LDL receptor pathway is a good candidate because it has a strong effect, and we know it can be targeted in other parts of the body. This has motivated us over the last few years to try to develop programs to modulate the receptor in other ways."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210623095247.htm

Larry Minikes 8/10/21 Larry Minikes 8/10/21

Some blood pressure-lowering meds linked to less memory decline in older adults

June 21, 2021

Science Daily/American Heart Association

Older adults taking blood pressure-lowering medications known to cross the blood-brain barrier had better memory recall over time compared to those taking other types of medicines to treat high blood pressure, according to new research published today in the American Heart Association journal Hypertension.

High blood pressure, or hypertension, is a risk factor for cognitive decline and dementia in older adults. Nearly half of American adults have elevated blood pressure. Treating high blood pressure with blood pressure-lowering medicines reduced the cases of mild cognitive impairment by 19% in one large trial (SPRINT MIND).

ACE inhibitors, angiotensin II receptor blockers (ARBs), calcium channel blockers and diuretics are different classes of blood pressure-lowering medicines. Each class acts in a different way to reduce blood pressure, and some cross the blood-brain barrier, thereby impacting cognitive function.

"Research has been mixed on which medicines have the most benefit to cognition," said study author Daniel A. Nation, Ph.D., an associate professor of psychological science in the Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders at the University of California, Irvine. "Studies of angiotensin II receptor blockers and angiotensin-converting-enzyme (ACE) inhibitors have suggested these medicines may confer the greatest benefit to long-term cognition, while other studies have shown the benefits of calcium channel blockers and diuretics on reducing dementia risk."

This is the first meta-analysis to compare the potential impact over time of blood pressure lowering medicines that do vs. those that do not cross the blood-brain barrier. The medicines were evaluated for their effects on several cognitive domains, including attention, language, verbal memory, learning and recall.

"Hypertension occurs decades prior to the onset of dementia symptoms, affecting blood flow not only in the body but also to the brain," Nation said . "Treating hypertension is likely to have long-term beneficial effects on brain health and cognitive function later."

Researchers gathered information from 14 studies of nearly 12,900 adults ages 50 years and older. These included studies done in the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland and Japan. The meta-analysis found:

Older adults taking blood pressure-lowering medicines that cross the blood-brain barrier had better memory recall for up to 3 years of follow-up compared to those taking medicines that do not cross the blood-brain barrier even though they had a higher level of vascular risk.
Adults taking hypertension medications that did not cross the blood-brain barrier had better attention for up to 3 years of follow-up.

"These findings represent the most powerful evidence to-date linking brain-penetrant ACE-inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers to better memory. It suggests that people who are being treated for hypertension may be protected from cognitive decline if they medications that cross the blood-brain barrier," said study co-author Jean K. Ho, Ph.D., a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California, Irvine.

Blood pressure is considered elevated at 120/80 mm Hg and higher. The current American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology guidelines for treating high blood pressure suggest changes to diet and activity levels to lower blood pressure and adding blood pressure-lowering medication for people with levels of 130/80 mm Hg or higher depending on their risk status. If blood pressure reaches 140/90 mm Hg, blood pressure-lowering medication is recommended.

Limitations of this analysis are that the authors could not account for differences in racial/ethnic background based on the available studies, and there is a higher proportion of men vs. women in the group who took medications that cross the blood-brain barrier. This is an important area of future research since previous studies have shown that people from various racial/ethnic backgrounds may respond differently to different blood pressure medications.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210621084105.htm

Larry Minikes 8/10/21 Larry Minikes 8/10/21

Link found between gut microbes and stroke

Findings lay the groundwork for new stroke treatments, prevention strategies

June 16, 2021

Science Daily/Cleveland Clinic

New findings from Cleveland Clinic researchers show for the first time that the gut microbiome impacts stroke severity and functional impairment following stroke. The results, published in Cell Host & Microbe, lay the groundwork for potential new interventions to help treat or prevent stroke.

The research was led by Weifei Zhu, Ph.D., and Stanley Hazen, M.D., Ph.D., of Cleveland Clinic's Lerner Research Institute. The study builds on more than a decade of research spearheaded by Dr. Hazen and his team related to the gut microbiome's role in cardiovascular health and disease, including the adverse effects of TMAO (trimethylamine N-oxide) -- a byproduct produced when gut bacteria digest certain nutrients abundant in red meat and other animal products.

"In this study we found that dietary choline and TMAO produced greater stroke size and severity, and poorer outcomes in animal models," said Dr. Hazen, chair of the Department of Cardiovascular & Metabolic Sciences and director of Cleveland Clinic's Center for Microbiome & Human Health. "Remarkably, simply transplanting gut microbes capable of making TMAO was enough to cause a profound change in stroke severity."

Previously, Dr. Hazen and his team discovered that elevated TMAO levels can lead to the development of cardiovascular disease. In clinical studies involving thousands of patients, they have shown that blood levels of TMAO predict future risk of heart attack, stroke and death -findings that have been replicated around the world. Earlier studies, also led by Drs. Zhu and Hazen, were the first to show a link between TMAO and enhanced risk for blood clotting.

"This new study expands on these findings, and for the first time provides proof that gut microbes in general -- and through TMAO specifically -- can directly impact stroke severity or post-stroke functional impairment," said Dr. Hazen.

The researchers compared brain damage in preclinical stroke models between those with elevated or reduced TMAO levels. Over time, those with higher levels of TMAO had more extensive brain damage and a greater degree of motor and cognitive functional deficits following stroke. The researchers also found that dietary changes that alter TMAO levels, such as eating less red meat and eggs, impacted stroke severity.

"Functionality after a stroke -- which occurs when blood flow to the brain is blocked -- is a major concern for patients," said Dr. Hazen, who is also co-section head of Preventive Cardiology & Cardiac Rehabilitation in Cleveland Clinic's Miller Heart, Vascular & Thoracic Institute. "To understand if choline and TMAO affect post-stroke functionality, in addition to stroke severity, we compared performance on various tasks pre-stroke, and then both in the short- and long-term following stroke."

The team found that a gut microbe enzyme critical to TMAO production called CutC drove heightened stroke severity and worsened outcomes.

According to Dr. Zhu, targeting this gut microbe enzyme may be a promising approach to prevent stroke. "When we genetically silenced the gut microbe gene that encodes CutC, stroke severity significantly diminished," she said. "Ongoing research is exploring this treatment approach, as well as the potential for dietary interventions to help reduce TMAO levels and stroke risk, since both a Western diet and a diet rich in red meat are known to elevate TMAO levels. Switching to plant-based protein sources helps to lower TMAO."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210616113816.htm

Larry Minikes 8/10/21 Larry Minikes 8/10/21

Head impacts linked to imaging changes in youth football players

June 15, 2021

Science Daily/Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center

With preseason football training on the horizon, a new study shows that head impacts experienced during practice are associated with changes in brain imaging of young players over multiple seasons.

The research, conducted by scientists at Wake Forest School of Medicine and the University of Texas Southwestern, is published in the June 15 issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics.

"Although we need more studies to fully understand what the measured changes mean, from a public health perspective, it is motivation to further reduce head impact drills used during practice in youth football," said the study's corresponding author Jill Urban, Ph.D., assistant professor of biomedical engineering at Wake Forest School of Medicine.

The purpose of the study was to examine changes in head impact exposure (HIE) pre- and post-season in a group of 47 athletes who participated in youth football for two or more consecutive years between 2012 and 2017. None of the 47 youth athletes sustained a clinically diagnosed concussion during the study period.

A group of 16 youth athletes who participated in non-contact sports, such as swimming, tennis and track, served as the control group.

Pre- and post-season MRIs were completed for both groups of study participants using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), a type of neuroimaging that can be used to assess the integrity of the brain's white matter, indicating possible sites of injury.

In addition, the research team gathered biomechanical data of linear and rotational head accelerations of head impacts from the football group during all practice and games via the Riddell Head Impact Telemetry System in the helmets. That information was transmitted in real time to a sideline data collection field unit for later analysis.

In 19 of the 47 youth football athletes, brain images were obtained pre- and post-season for two consecutive football seasons. Using data from the DTIs and the head impact telemetry system, the researchers found variations in head impact exposures (i.e., the number and severity of head impacts measured) from year-to-year and between athletes. For example, in an examination of data from three consecutive seasons, some youths experienced more impacts in their second year of play than in their first, while other youths experienced fewer impacts in later years of play.

"We observed variability in the amount and direction of imaging changes in the brain related to the amount of exposure that the players experienced on the field," Urban said. "If we can take efforts to reduce that exposure on-field, we can potentially mitigate changes in brain imaging.

"Our findings further support ongoing efforts to reduce the number of head impacts in football practices. In an upcoming study, we plan to engage stakeholders in the youth football community to develop and test practical solutions informed by the data we collect on the field to reduce head impacts in practice."

With preseason football training on the horizon, a new study shows that head impacts experienced during practice are associated with changes in brain imaging of young players over multiple seasons.

The research, conducted by scientists at Wake Forest School of Medicine and the University of Texas Southwestern, is published in the June 15 issue of the Journal of Neurosurgery: Pediatrics.

A group of 16 youth athletes who participated in non-contact sports, such as swimming, tennis and track, served as the control group.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210615132223.htm

Larry Minikes 8/10/21 Larry Minikes 8/10/21

Older adults are happier when space matches personality

July 29, 2021

Science Daily/University of Texas at Austin

The old saying, "Home is where the heart is," has some new science to back it up. A study has found photos of a person's living space can accurately point at personality traits and the mood of the people who live there, especially as a person gets older.

For the study, scientists at The University of Texas at Austin studied 286 people over the age of 65. They took photographs of the rooms where the subjects spent the most time (typically the living room) and found that certain characteristics of a person's personality were reflected in core elements of room décor. Applying the findings could help lead to happier lives, including for older adults with frailty or cognitive impairment that has led them to be transferred from their homes to long-term care facilities.

"People who have a match between personality and living space report better well-being, and they feel better about their life and have a better mood," said Karen Fingerman, professor of human development and family sciences at The University of Texas at Austin and director of the Texas Aging and Longevity Center. "Home is where we can express ourselves."

The researchers analyzed participants' personalities and took photos of the room where each person spent the most time. As part of a first-of-its-kind study, independent examiners looked at the photos and rated characteristics of the room, such as brightness, cleanliness and newness. The results were published online in the journal The Gerontologist earlier this month.

Extraversion was expressed in room décor with newness of items in the room and cheerfulness of décor. This may come from a desire to make the room appealing to visiting friends and family, researchers said.

Conscientiousness was associated with newness and comfort. Because orderliness and organization are key components of that personality trait, that may explain the association.

Agreeableness, openness and neuroticism were not associated with room décor for everyone, scientists found. But openness was evident in the décor for older adults who live alone, suggesting that people who live with others may not have as much latitude to express their personalities in their room décor.

Importantly, when a living space matches the personality and preferences of the person who lives there, older adults reported enhanced well-being.

The goal for many older adults is to grow older in their own homes, but as they encountered functional limitations, such as not being able to walk or climb stairs, their homes became out-of-date, uncomfortable, dim and cluttered. Scientists said this may be because those adults have less energy to maintain their spaces.

Surprisingly, for adults with functional limitations, clutter was associated with fewer symptoms of depression.

"Clutter may represent an effort to exert control over the environment," Fingerman said. "They may also wish to keep items close at hand to compensate for mobility issues."

Researchers said this study suggests that older adults with functional limitations may benefit from a little help around the house, but cleaning and maintenance should be done in collaboration. What looks like clutter to one person may be an arrangement that makes an older adult more comfortable.

Long-term care facilities that allow for greater latitude in room décor to improve the mood of residents also may see benefits.

"There is no one ideal way to create a living space," Fingerman said. "It has to match the person."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210729143431.htm

Larry Minikes 8/10/21 Larry Minikes 8/10/21

High BMI causes depression – and both physical and social factors play a role

August 9, 2021

Science Daily/University of Exeter

A largescale new study provides further evidence that being overweight causes depression and lowers wellbeing and indicates both social and physical factors may play a role in the effect.

With one in four adults estimated to be obese in the UK, and growing numbers of children affected, obesity is a global health challenge. While the dangers of being obese on physical health is well known, researchers are now discovering that being overweight can also have a significant impact on mental health.

The new study, published in Human Molecular Genetics, sought to investigate why a body of evidence now indicates that higher BMI causes depression. The team used genetic analysis, known as Mendelian Randomisation, to examine whether the causal link is the result of psychosocial pathways, such as societal influences and social stigma, or physical pathways, such as metabolic conditions linked to higher BMI. Such conditions include high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

In research led by the University of Exeter and funded by the Academy of Medical Sciences, the team examined genetic data from more than 145,000 participants from the UK Biobank with detailed mental health data available. In a multifaceted study, the researchers analysed genetic variants linked to higher BMI, as well as outcomes from a clinically-relevant mental health questionnaire designed to assess levels of depression, anxiety and wellbeing.

To examine which pathways may be active in causing depression in people with higher BMI, the team also interrogated two sets of previously discovered genetic variants. One set of genes makes people fatter, yet metabolically healthier, meaning they were less likely to develop conditions linked to higher BMI, such as high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. The second set of genes analysed make people fatter and metabolically unhealthy, or more prone to such conditions. The team found little difference between the two sets of genetic variants, indicating that both physical and social factors play a role in higher rates of depression and poorer wellbeing.

Lead author Jess O'Loughlin, at the University of Exeter Medical School, said: "Obesity and depression are both major global health challenges, and our study provides the most robust evidence to date that higher BMI causes depression. Understanding whether physical or social factors are responsible for this relationship can help inform effective strategies to improve mental health and wellbeing. Our research suggests that being fatter leads to a higher risk of depression, regardless of the role of metabolic health. This suggests that both physical health and social factors, such as social stigma, both play a role in the relationship between obesity and depression."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210809144059.htm

Larry Minikes 8/10/21 Larry Minikes 8/10/21

Focus on emotions is key to improving heart health in people living with obesity

June 17, 2021

Science Daily/European Society of Cardiology

People living with obesity who attended a non-judgemental and personalised lifestyle modification programme improved their cardiovascular and mental health during just 10 weeks, according to a study presented today at EuroHeartCare -- ACNAP Congress 2021, an online scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC).1 Participants lost weight and achieved benefits in anxiety and depression and physical measurements including blood pressure.

"We focus on changing behaviours and improving people's relationship with food," said study author Ms. Aisling Harris, cardiac and weight management dietitian, Croi Heart and Stroke Centre, Galway, Ireland. "Many participants have tried diets with strict rules and have fears about foods they can't eat. Our programme has no diet or meal plan, and no foods are excluded. Each person sets their own goals, which are reviewed weekly, and our approach is non-judgemental, which builds rapport and gains trust."

"Obesity develops for multiple reasons and blaming someone for their weight can stop them from getting healthcare and advice," said Ms. Harris. "It can lead to emotional eating and feeling too self-conscious to exercise. By identifying each person's triggers, we can develop alternative coping strategies, all within the context of their job, caring responsibilities, external stresses, and so on. For some people, coming to a group like this might be the only social contact that they've had in the week or that they've had in years. People share experiences and support their peers."

Both overweight and obesity are associated with an increased risk of dying from cardiovascular disease.2 Weight loss is recommended to reduce blood pressure, blood lipids, and the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, and thus lower the likelihood of heart disease. This study analysed the impact of a community-based, lifestyle modification programme on the physical and mental health of people living with obesity referred from a specialist bariatric service at Galway University Hospital. The researchers reviewed data from 1,122 participants between 2013 and 2019.

The 10-week Croí CLANN (Changing Lifestyle with Activity and Nutrition) programme started with an assessment by a nurse, dietitian and physiotherapist and baseline measurements of weight, blood pressure, cholesterol, blood glucose, fitness, and levels of anxiety and depression. Personalised goals and a management plan were agreed in collaboration with each patient.

Participants attended a 2.5-hour session each week for 8 weeks. The first 30 minutes were devoted to one-to-one goal setting. Next was a 1-hour exercise class led by the physiotherapist. A 1-hour health promotion talk followed on topics such as healthy eating, portion sizes, reading food labels, emotional versus physical hunger, stress management techniques (e.g. meditation), physical activity, sedentary behaviour, cardiovascular risk factors, and making and maintaining changes. Participants used activity trackers and kept food diaries to identify triggers for emotional eating.

In the last week patients had an end of programme assessment with the nurse, dietitian and physiotherapist to look at outcomes. They were then referred back to the hospital.

At baseline, the average body mass index (BMI) was 47.0 kg/m2 and 56.4% of participants had a BMI above 45 kg/m2. In addition, 26.7% had type 2 diabetes, and 31.4% had a history of depression.

More than three-quarters of participants (78%) completed the programme. Psychosocial health was assessed using the 21-point Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), where 0-7 is normal, 8-10 is mild, 11-15 is moderate, and 16-21 is severe. Anxiety and depression scores decreased by 1.5 and 2.2 points, respectively, over the course of the programme. The proportion with an anxiety score greater than 11 at the start was 30.8% and reduced to 19.9%; for depression the corresponding proportions were 21.8%, falling to 9.5%.

The average reduction in body weight was 2.0 kg overall, with 27.2% of participants losing more than 3% of their initial weight. The proportion achieving recommended physical activity levels rose by 31%. There were significant reductions in total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol, and blood pressure. The proportion with high blood pressure fell from 37.4% at baseline to 31.1% at 10 weeks. In those with type 2 diabetes, the proportion achieving the recommended blood sugar target rose from 47.6% to 57.4%.

Ms. Harris concluded: "Nearly eight in ten people finished the programme which suggests that the content and format were acceptable. We observed improvements across all psychosocial and health outcomes during a relatively short period indicating that this could be a model of service delivery for other centres."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/06/210617082738.htm

Larry Minikes 8/10/21 Larry Minikes 8/10/21

New mothers’ sleep loss linked to accelerated aging

Too little sleep in first six months after birth can add 3 to 7 years to women’s ‘biological age,’ UCLA scientists report

August 5, 2021

Science Daily/University of California - Los Angeles

When new mothers complain that all those sleepless nights caring for their newborns are taking years off their life, they just might be right, UCLA research published this summer in the journal Sleep Health suggests.

Scientists studied 33 mothers during their pregnancies and the first year of their babies' lives, analyzing the women's DNA from blood samples to determine their "biological age," which can differ from chronological age. They found that a year after giving birth, the biological age of mothers who slept less than seven hours a night at the six-month mark was three to seven years older than those who logged seven hours or more.

Mothers who slept less than seven hours also had shorter telomeres in their white blood cells. These small pieces of DNA at the ends of chromosomes act as protective caps, like the plastic tips on the ends of shoelaces. Shortened telomeres have been linked to a higher risk of cancers, cardiovascular and other diseases, and earlier death.

"The early months of postpartum sleep deprivation could have a lasting effect on physical health," said the study's first author, Judith Carroll, UCLA's George F. Solomon Professor of Psychobiology. "We know from a large body of research that sleeping less than seven hours a night is detrimental to health and increases the risk of age-related diseases."

While participants' nightly sleep ranged from five to nine hours, more than half were getting less than seven hours, both six months and one year after giving birth, the researchers report.

"We found that with every hour of additional sleep, the mother's biological age was younger," said Carroll, a member of the Cousins Center for Psychoneuroimmunology at UCLA's Jane and Terry Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior. "I, and many other sleep scientists, consider sleep health to be just as vital to overall health as diet and exercise."

Carroll urged new mothers take advantage of opportunities to get a little extra sleep, like taking naps during the day when their baby is asleep, accepting offers of assistance from family and friends, and, when possible, asking their partner to help with the baby during the night or early morning. "Taking care of your sleep needs will help you and your baby in the long run," she said.

Co-author Christine Dunkel Schetter, a distinguished professor of psychology and psychiatry at UCLA, said the study results "and other findings on maternal postpartum mental health provide impetus for better supporting mothers of young infants so that they can get sufficient sleep -- possibly through parental leave so that both parents can bear some of the burden of care, and through programs for families and fathers."

Dunkel Schetter added that while accelerated biological aging linked to sleep loss may increase women's health risks, it doesn't automatically cause harm to their bodies. "We don't want the message to be that mothers are permanently damaged by infant care and loss of sleep," she emphasized. "We don't know if these effects are long lasting."

'This aisle is closed': Using epigenetics to determine biological age

The study used the latest scientific methods of analyzing changes in DNA to assess biological aging -- also known as epigenetic aging, Dunkel Schetter said. DNA provides the code for making proteins, which carry out many functions in the cells of our body, and epigenetics focuses on whether regions of this code are "open" or "closed."

"You can think of DNA as a grocery store," Carroll said, "with lots of basic ingredients to build a meal. If there is a spill in one aisle, it may be closed, and you can't get an item from that aisle, which might prevent you from making a recipe. When access to DNA code is 'closed,' then those genes that code for specific proteins cannot be expressed and are therefore turned off."

Because specific sites within DNA are turned on or off with aging, the process acts as a sort of clock, Carroll said, allowing scientists to estimate individuals' biological age. The greater an individual's biological, or epigenetic, age, the greater their risk of disease and earlier death.

The study's cohort -- which included women who ranged in age from 23 to 45 six months after giving birth -- is not a large representative sample of women, the authors said, and more studies are needed to better understand the long-term impact of sleep loss on new mothers, what other factors might contribute to sleep loss and whether the biological aging effects are permanent or reversible.

Carroll and Dunkel Schetter reported last year that a mother's stress prior to giving birth may accelerate her child's biological aging, which is a form of "intergenerational transfer of health risk," Dunkel Schetter said.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210805115519.htm

Larry Minikes 8/10/21 Larry Minikes 8/10/21

Good toothbrushing habits in children linked to mother's wellbeing

July 28, 2021

Science Daily/Tohoku University

A mother's mental health may play a larger role in a child's toothbrushing habits than previously thought.

It is no secret that brushing your teeth twice a day is highly effective in promoting healthy teeth and gums. The International Association of Pediatric Dentistry advocates brushing with toothpaste containing fluoride to prevent decayed, missing, or filled teeth -- known as childhood dental caries (ECC) -- in children.

Parents are instrumental in instilling good dental habits in their children.

In Japan, there is a worryingly high prevalence of ECC among children aged 3 years old. Postpartum depression and/or lack of affection caused by bonding disorders hamper a mother's ability to cultivate healthy dental practices in children, and researchers were keen to explore this link.

Dr Shinobu Tsuchiya from Tohoku University Hospital led a research group that analyzed approximately 80,000 mother-infant pairs from the Ministry of Environment's Japan Environment and Children's Study.

They found children with mothers suffering from postpartum depression or bonding disorders brushed their teeth less often. Likewise, the frequency with which children brushed their teeth increased when mothers showed strong affection towards their children.

The research group hopes their research will foster greater mental support and management for mothers and that doctors will incorporate these factors when assessing children's oral health.

"A mother's psychological well-being provides valuable screening information for identifying children at a high risk of ECC," said Tsuchiya

In future studies, Tsuchiya and her team hope to examine other environmental influences on poor oral health.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210728105646.htm

Larry Minikes 8/10/21 Larry Minikes 8/10/21

Postmenopausal women can dance their way to better health

July 28, 2021

Science Daily/The North American Menopause Society (NAMS)

Women often struggle with managing their weight and other health risk factors, such as high cholesterol, once they transition through menopause. A new study suggests that dancing may effectively lower cholesterol levels, improve fitness and body composition and in the process, improve self-esteem. Study results are published online today in Menopause, the journal of The North American Menopause Society (NAMS).

After menopause, women are more likely to experience weight gain, overall/central body adiposity increases, and metabolic disturbances, such as increases in triglycerides and bad cholesterol. Together, these changes ultimately increase cardiovascular risk. Around this same time, women often are less physically active, which translates into reductions in lean mass and an increased risk of falls and fractures. As a result of all these changes, postmenopausal women often suffer from decreased self-image and self-esteem, which are directly related to overall mental health.

Physical activity has been shown to minimize some of the many health problems associated with menopause. The effect of dancing, specifically, has already been investigated with regard to how it improves body composition and functional fitness. Few studies, however, have investigated the effects of dance on body image, self-esteem, and physical fitness together in postmenopausal women.

This new study was designed to analyze the effects of dance practice on body composition, metabolic profile, functional fitness, and self-image/self-esteem in postmenopausal women. Although the sample size was small, the study suggested some credible benefits of a three-times-weekly dance regimen in improving not only the lipid profile and functional fitness of postmenopausal women but also self-image and self-esteem.

Dance therapy is seen as an attractive option because it is a pleasant activity with low associated costs and low risk of injury for its practitioners. Additional confirmed benefits of regular dancing include improvement in balance, postural control, gait, strength, and overall physical performance. All of these benefits may contribute to a woman's ability to maintain an independent, high-quality lifestyle throughout her lifespan.

Study results are published in the article "Dance practice modifies functional fitness, lipid profile, and self-image in postmenopausal women."

"This study highlights the feasibility of a simple intervention, such as a dance class three times weekly, for improving not only fitness and metabolic profile but also self-image and self-esteem in postmenopausal women. In addition to these benefits, women also probably enjoyed a sense of comradery from the shared experience of learning something new," says Dr. Stephanie Faubion, NAMS medical director.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210728105640.htm

Larry Minikes 8/10/21 Larry Minikes 8/10/21

Physical activity protects children from the adverse effects of digital media on their weight later in adolescence

August 9, 2021

Science Daily/University of Helsinki

Children's heavy digital media use is associated with a risk of being overweight later in adolescence. Physical activity protects children from the adverse effects of digital media on their weight later in adolescence.

A recently completed study shows that six hours of leisure-time physical activity per week at the age of 11 reduces the risk of being overweight at 14 years of age associated with heavy use of digital media.

Obesity in children and adolescents is one of the most significant health-related challenges globally. A study carried out by the Folkhälsan Research Center and the University of Helsinki investigated whether a link exists between the digital media use of Finnish school-age children and the risk of being overweight later in adolescence. In addition, the study looked into whether children's physical activity has an effect on this potential link.

The results were published in the Journal of Physical Activity and Health.

More than six hours of physical activity per week appears to reverse adverse effects of screen time

The study involved 4,661 children from the Finnish Health in Teens (Fin-HIT) study. The participating children reported how much time they spent on sedentary digital media use and physical activity outside school hours. The study demonstrated that heavy use of digital media at 11 years of age was associated with a heightened risk of being overweight at 14 years of age in children who reported engaging in under six hours per week of physical activity in their leisure time. In children who reported being physically active for six or more hours per week, such a link was not observed.

The study also took into account other factors potentially impacting obesity, such as childhood eating habits and the amount of sleep, as well as the amount of digital media use and physical activity in adolescence. In spite of the confounding factors, the protective role of childhood physical activity in the connection between digital media use in childhood and being overweight later in life was successfully confirmed.

Activity according to recommendations

"The effect of physical activity on the association between digital media use and being overweight has not been extensively investigated in follow-up studies so far," says Postdoctoral Researcher Elina Engberg.

Further research is needed to determine in more detail how much sedentary digital media use increases the risk of being overweight, and how much physical activity is needed, and at what intensity, to ward off such a risk. In this study, the amount of physical activity and use of digital media was reported by the children themselves, and the level of their activity was not surveyed, so there is a need for further studies.

"A good rule of thumb is to adhere to the physical activity guidelines for children and adolescents, according to which school-aged children and adolescents should be physically active in a versatile, brisk and strenuous manner for at least 60 minutes a day in a way that suits the individual, considering their age," says Engberg. In addition, excessive and extended sedentary activity should be avoided.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/08/210809144112.htm

Larry Minikes 8/10/21 Larry Minikes 8/10/21

Exercise may boost kids’ vocabulary growth

New study suggests exercise can boost kids’ vocabulary growth

July 28, 2021

Science Daily/University of Delaware

Swimming a few laps likely won't turn your child into the next Katie Ledecky or Michael Phelps, but it just might help them become the next J.K. Rowling or Stephen King.

A recent study by University of Delaware researchers suggests exercise can boost kids' vocabulary growth. The article, published in the Journal of Speech Language and Hearing Research, details one of the first studies on the effect of exercise on vocabulary learning in children.

Children ages 6 to 12 were taught new words before doing one of three things -- swimming, taking part in CrossFit exercises or completing a coloring sheet. The children who swam were 13% more accurate in follow up tests of the vocabulary words.

It makes sense to the lead researcher, Maddy Pruitt, herself a former college swimmer who now regularly takes CrossFit classes. "Motor movement helps in encoding new words," she said, explaining that exercise is known to increase levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, a protein Pruitt describes as the "Miracle-Gro of the brain."

Why then, did swimming make a difference while CrossFit did not? Pruitt attributes it to the amount of energy each exercise demands of the brain. Swimming is an activity the kids could complete without much thought or instruction. It was more automatic, while the CrossFit exercises were new to them. The children needed to learn the moves, which required mental energy.

Pruitt conducted the research as part of her Master's Capstone Project and graduated in 2020. She now works as a speech language pathologist at an elementary school in South Carolina, where she puts her findings into practice.

"My sessions are very rarely at a table," she said. "I'll take my kids out to the playground or we'll take a walk around the school."

Pruitt's adviser and coauthor Giovanna Morini is building on the findings in her lab. Morini, an assistant professor in the Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders, said most research into exercise examines it from the angle of a healthy lifestyle, not much enters the domain of language acquisition. She said she sees this as a rich line of inquiry and has another student running a similar experiment now with toddlers.

"We were so excited about this study because it applies to clinicians, caregivers and educators who can put it into practice," Morini said. "It's simple stuff, nothing out of the ordinary. But it could really help boost the outcomes."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/07/210728105611.htm

Good oral health, including dentures, may protect against cognitive decline

Brain protein reduces Alzheimer's-like brain damage in mice

Findings lay the groundwork for new stroke treatments, prevention strategies

Too little sleep in first six months after birth can add 3 to 7 years to women’s ‘biological age,’ UCLA scientists report

New study suggests exercise can boost kids’ vocabulary growth

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