Cognitive Function News and Research

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Cognition is a concept used in different ways by different disciplines, but is generally accepted to mean the process of thought. For example, in psychology and cognitive science it refers to an information processing view of an individual's psychological functions.

Researchers develop simple visual test to identify individuals' level of executive cognitive abilities

University of Georgia researchers have developed a simple technique to measure an individual's visual processing speed--the speed at which an individual can comprehend visual information--in order to identify whether or not they may have cognitive issues.

19 Nov 2015

NIH-led collaboration details research strategy to address brain disorders

Infants are starved of oxygen during difficult births. Children's cognitive function is permanently damaged due to malnutrition or exposure to infections or toxins. Adults suffer from crippling depression or dementia. The breadth and complexity of these and other brain and nervous system disorders make them some of the most difficult conditions to diagnose and treat, especially in the developing world, where there are few resources.

19 Nov 2015

Scientists explain the evolutionary roots of language in the brain

A team led at Newcastle University, UK, has shed light on the evolutionary roots of language in the brain. Publishing in Nature Communications, the team led by Dr Ben Wilson and Professor Chris Petkov explain how using an imaging technique to explore the brain activity in humans and monkeys has identified the evolutionary origins of cognitive functions in the brain that underpin language and allow us to evaluate orderliness in sequences of sounds.

18 Nov 2015

Landmark study demonstrates link between pupils' breakfast quality and educational attainment

A direct and positive link between pupils' breakfast quality and consumption, and their educational attainment, has for the first time been demonstrated in a ground-breaking new study carried out by public health experts at Cardiff University.

18 Nov 2015

Reproductive history associated with cognitive impairment risk in postmenopausal women

Researchers led by Professor Jun-Fen Lin at Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention have found that reproductive history, an important modifier of estrogen exposure across women's lifetime, is associated with risk of cognitive impairment in postmenopausal women.

13 Nov 2015

Johns Hopkins researchers present new healthcare tips from American Heart Association Meeting

Linking digital activity trackers to smartphones and periodically pinging users with personalized texts that urge them to walk more can significantly increase physical activity levels and spark healthy behavior changes, according to findings of a pilot study conducted at Johns Hopkins.

13 Nov 2015

Study finds high prevalence of dehydration in older people living in UK care homes

One in every five older people living in UK care homes has dehydration, suggesting that they are not drinking enough to keep themselves healthy.

11 Nov 2015

Intensive management of high blood pressure reduces rates of cardiovascular disease, lowers risk of death

Jackson T. Wright Jr., MD, PhD, and researchers from University Hospitals Case Medical Center presented new results from the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT) showing that in patients at high risk for cardiovascular events, targeting a systolic blood pressure of less than 120 mm Hg resulted in lower rates of fatal and non-fatal major events or death compared to targeting systolic blood pressure to the usually recommended target of less than 140 mm Hg.

10 Nov 2015

Vanderbilt wins NIA grant to study effectiveness of nicotine patch in improving memory loss in older adults with MCI

Vanderbilt University Medical Center has received a $9.4 million grant from the National Institute on Aging to test the effectiveness of a transdermal nicotine patch in improving memory loss in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), a precursor to Alzheimer's disease.

6 Nov 2015

Multimodal non-invasive neurological monitoring reduces postoperative delirium in older cardiac patients

Patients undergoing cardiac surgery are at an increased risk of developing delirium and other changes in cognitive function in the days following surgery. However, new research presented at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2015 annual meeting, found using monitors to track depth of anesthesia and oxygenation levels in older patients' brains during cardiac surgery significantly reduced their incidence of postoperative delirium and associated cognitive decline.

28 Oct 2015

Weight and physical activity level matter in kids' ability to think

Weight and physical activity levels are both factors in a child's ability to acquire and use knowledge, a new study finds.

28 Oct 2015

Study: Green office environments influence cognitive function performance of workers

People who work in well-ventilated offices with below-average levels of indoor pollutants and carbon dioxide (CO2) have significantly higher cognitive functioning scores--in crucial areas such as responding to a crisis or developing strategy--than those who work in offices with typical levels, according to a new study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health's Center for Health and the Global Environment, SUNY Upstate Medical University, and Syracuse University.

27 Oct 2015

Lewy Body Composite Risk Score detects LBD and Parkinson's disease dementia in three minutes

Although Lewy Body disease (LBD) is the second-most-common degenerative disease after Alzheimer's disease, it's not exactly a household name. It affects more than 1.3 million Americans, is poorly recognized, and diagnosis is often significantly delayed. Patients with LBD simultaneously experience losses in cognitive function, mobility and behavior.

27 Oct 2015

Breakthrough research suggests that female sex hormone may save lives on the battlefield

Breakthrough research suggests a female sex hormone may be the key to saving lives on the battlefield, where between 2001 and 2011 more than 80 percent of potentially preventable U.S. war injury deaths resulted from blood loss.

22 Oct 2015

Use of hearing aids may help safeguard memory and thinking skills in older adults

Hearing loss is linked with accelerated cognitive decline in older adults, but the use of hearing aids may help safeguard seniors' memory and thinking skills.

20 Oct 2015

Researchers find that stem cell treatment may reduce cognitive impairment related to dementia with Lewy bodies

Neural stem cells transplanted into damaged brain sites in mice dramatically improved both motor and cognitive impairments associated with dementia with Lewy bodies, according to University of California, Irvine neurobiologists with the Sue & Bill Gross Stem Cell Research Center and the Institute for Memory Impairments and Neurological Disorders.

19 Oct 2015

Developing tailored interventions for cognitive and behavioral symptoms key to improving outcomes after TBI

Kessler researchers assessed moderate to severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) for frontal behavioral syndromes and cognitive function. Their finding suggest that adding the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale to neuropsychological assessment may yield useful information about the behavioral sequelae of TBI.

15 Oct 2015

Gene therapy prevents neuronal death, disease effects in experimental model of PD

An estimated seven to ten million people worldwide are living with Parkinson's disease (PD), which is an incurable and progressive disease of the nervous system affecting movement and cognitive function. More than half of PD patients develop progressive disease showing signs of dementia similar to Alzheimer's disease.

9 Oct 2015

Birth weight associated with poor hearing, vision and cognition in middle age

A study of up to 433,390 UK adults, led by The University of Manchester, has linked being under and overweight at birth with poorer hearing, vision and cognition in middle age.

6 Oct 2015

Researchers identify role of microglia during early stages of Alzheimer's disease

For the first time, researchers have determined how toxic tau fibrils spread by the help of brain immune cells called microglia during the early stages of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The discovery of this new pathway may lead to a therapeutic target for AD, one that has not been previously identified.

5 Oct 2015