Posts Tagged ‘memory’

Research presented this week at the Neuroscience 2009 meeting in Chicago revealed an interesting side effect of internet use on older brains. Researchers from University of California, Los Angeles found that frequent internet use among the elderly – even those who only recently started using the web – increased brain functioning beyond their baseline. By comparing novice users to seasoned internet veterans the researchers found that even after just one week of using the internet, the novice users’ brains showed activity in areas important for working memory and decision making – activity that wasn’t apparent on brain scans prior to engagement with the web. [via Medical News Today]

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Doodling may help with concentration and memory, so says a newly published study comparing doodlers and non-doodlers. Study volunteers were tested on how much they were able to recall after listening to a dull 2.5 minute-long telephone message. Those who doodled while listening performed 29% better in recalling specific names and places mentioned in the message. The other half of the group were left to daydream or do anything they pleased while on the phone. Researchers say that doodling is a simple task that may be sufficient to stop daydreaming, but it won’t necessarily distract you from the task at hand.

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Had a “senior moment” lately? You know, those sudden, momentary lapses when you just can’t seem to remember the most common things. For most of us, we will experience what physicians term normal cognitive aging. Now, Columbia University researchers say that elevated blood glucose levels that occur naturally when we age may contribute to age-related cognitive decline. “This is news even for people without diabetes since blood glucose levels tend to rise as we grow older. Whether through physical exercise, diet or drugs, our research suggests that improving glucose metabolism could help some of us avert the cognitive slide that occurs in many of us as we age,” reported the lead investigator. Although regularly checking your blood sugar level isn’t recommended for non-diabetics, daily exercise is recommended for everyone (especially diabetics) because it contributes to normalization of blood glucose.

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