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POPSWhen Human Rights Extend to Nonhumans The 300 apes in Spanish zoos would not be freed, but better conditions would be mandated. Meanwhile, even in democracies, the law accords diminished rights to many humans: children, prisoners, the insane, the senile. Teenagers may not vote, philosophers who slip into dementia may be lashed to their beds, courts can order surgery or force-feeding. Spain’s Catholic bishops attacked the vote as undermining a divine will that placed humans above animals. One said such thinking led to abortion, euthanasia and ethnic cleansing.
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POPSSense of identity What researchers are finding is that there is no single “identity spot” in the brain. Instead, the brain uses several different neural regions, working closely together, to sustain and update the identities of self and others. Learning what makes identity, researchers say, will help doctors understand how some people preserve their identities in the face of creeping dementia, and how others are sometimes able to reconstitute one.
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POPSWhy working out may help memory Glucose metabolism naturally slows with age, and memory begins to decline in our 30s, says co-author Scott Small, an associate professor of neurology at Columbia University Medical Center in New York. The new study suggests a possible association between the two, because elevated blood sugar appears to damage the dentate gyrus, Small says. The dentate gyrus's exact function is unknown. But it's one of several circuits in the hippocampus that, if disrupted, impairs memory, such as a person's ability to learn the names of new people or to remember where they parked their car. The possible connection between its dysfunction and poor glucose regulation may explain earlier observations that exercise benefits the dentate gyrus, Small says. Until now, scientists believed that physical activity reduced the risk of age-related memory loss by allowing glucose to be absorbed more quickly into muscle cells, but were not sure why.
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POPSYou Must Remember This Easy read, quite amusing, a somewhat sardonic slant on current obsessions for neuroporn and the current cutting edge of the self-improvement industries. Mind you, I may have made up that reading rather than remembered it.
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POPSMost older adults have brain disease: study Older persons can often handle one pathology in their brain, but the burden of more than one pathology may tip them over the threshold of clinical dementia Therefore, prevention of not only Alzheimer's disease but these other pathologies, particularly stroke and those things that may increase the risk of stroke, like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cigarette smoking, obesity, "are likely to significantly decrease the prevalence of dementia
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POPSReboot Your Brain? Science Says It's Possible -A Galaxy Insight As part of a healthy lifestyle the prescription of moderating food intake, exercising, and eating anti-oxidant rich foods is what we’ve long known will boost longevity, but it’s good to know that we can bring our brains along with us as we make it into those golden years without being the 1 in 7 who suffers from dementia. Keep your fingers crossed and eat some rosemary chicken.
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POPSBBC: "'Brain training' claims dismissed" Another product looked at was the £88 Mindfit for the PC, which the company says "exercises important abilities that are… known to decline in later life, such as short-term memory". However, results did not show that it was any better than standard computer games such as Tetris, said Dr Adrian Owen, a senior scientist at the Medical Research Council's Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit. The team also looked at Lumosity online training system, which costs £4.99 a month, MindSpa, a £175 system which uses audiovisual stimulation to promote relaxation and increase focus, and the £9.99 Test and Improve Your Memory computer programme. None of the manufacturers' claims on improved cognition are supported by evidence that meets the minimum standard by which scientific research is judged, the panel said. ... BBC
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