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.

Study aims to determine risk of dementia, cognitive decline in middle-aged people

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researchers are co-leading a national study to examine whether middle-aged people's physical health influences their risk of dementia later in life.

28 Jan 2011

Cognitive training may help end hijacking of imagination by drugs of abuse

The growing numbers of new cases of substance abuse disorders are perplexing. After all, the course of drug addiction so often ends badly. The negative consequences of drug abuse appear regularly on TV, from stories of celebrities behaving in socially inappropriate and self-destructive ways while intoxicated to dramatization of the rigors of drug withdrawal on "Intervention" and other reality shows.

28 Jan 2011

Appalling report on Victoria’s mental healthcare services

In a new revealing report, a Victorian Government official – from the Office of the Public Advocate (OPA), spoke about the declining level of care and protection provided to those with a mental disability. The OPA report entitled “Violence against People with Cognitive Impairments” analyzed 86 cases of abuse in government-funded and private support facilities over four years and reported mistreatment including instances of physical, sexual, psychological, and emotional abuse - sometimes by carers themselves. The report said police often believe the perpetrator of the abuse, rather than the mentally impaired victim.

27 Jan 2011

How estrogen decreases risk and delays onset and progression of Alzheimer's disease

An influential article in the journal Progress in Neurobiology provided one of the first comprehensive reviews of how estrogen potentially can protect against Alzheimer's disease and other neurological disorders.

27 Jan 2011

Sleep on it to remember it better: Study

A new study says that the best way to remember something important is to remember it while you are asleep. The research, led by Bjorn Rasch of the University of Basel in Switzerland says that newly learned memories during sleep rather than when awake does a better job of strengthening the memory trace. This could help people with disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) feel researchers.

24 Jan 2011

Brains of migraine sufferers show higher proportion of lesions of brain microvessels

Recent work, in particular the CAMERA study, has used MRI to study the brains of migraine sufferers and has shown that a higher proportion of these patients exhibit lesions of the brain microvessels than the rest of the population.

20 Jan 2011

Lower levels in plasma of biomarkers beta-amyloid 42/40 increase rate of cognitive decline

Older adults without dementia and with lower levels in plasma of the biomarkers beta-amyloid 42/40 (protein fragments) had an increased rate of cognitive decline over a period of 9 years, according to a study in the January 19 issue of JAMA. The researchers also found that this relationship was stronger among individuals with less education and lower levels of literacy.

19 Jan 2011

OMJPI, Sanford-Burnham enter agreement to discover compounds for Alzheimer's disease, psychiatric disorders

Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute has entered into a collaboration with Ortho-McNeil-Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., to discover compounds for Alzheimer's disease and major psychiatric disorders.

18 Jan 2011

Study indicates disease's underlying causes in mice, finds compounds that normalize Alzheimer's brain

A Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute study published today in the Journal of Neuroscience reveals underlying causes for the degeneration of synapses in Alzheimer's Disease and identifies promising pharmaceutical solutions for the devastating condition that affects more than 5 million people in the United States.

12 Jan 2011

Study reveals underlying causes for degeneration of synapses in Alzheimer's Disease

A Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute (BRNI) study published today in the Journal of Neuroscience reveals underlying causes for the degeneration of synapses in Alzheimer's Disease and identifies promising pharmaceutical solutions for the devastating condition that affects more than 5 million people in the United States.

12 Jan 2011

Nicotine may act as treatment for some symptoms of schizophrenia

Smoking is a common problem for patients with schizophrenia. The increased tendency of patients diagnosed with this disorder is to not only smoke, but to do so more heavily than the general public. This raises the possibility that nicotine may be acting as a treatment for some symptoms of schizophrenia.

11 Jan 2011

Green tea may help in Alzheimer’s disease: Study

A new study finds that a cup of green tea may protect against Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia. The researchers looked at the effects of a concentrated green tea extract that had been treated in the laboratory to mimic the effects of normal digestion.

9 Jan 2011

New approach to Alzheimer’s care

Protocols and practices at an Arizona nursing home that allows patients with Alzheimer’s disease freedom to eat and sleep when they want makes appears to make them happier and easier to care for, the New York Times reports. Beatitudes, a ministry of the Church of the Beatitude, has also done away with restraints. Each patient is cared for according to his/her individual needs.

3 Jan 2011

Neuroscientists say that general anesthesia is a reversible coma

The brain under general anesthesia isn't "asleep" as surgery patients are often told -- it is placed into a state that is a reversible coma, according to three neuroscientists who have published an extensive review of general anesthesia, sleep and coma, in the Dec. 30 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

30 Dec 2010

BSI: Guidance is key to improve dementia care

Dementia is a critical health concern, but are the current care services able to offer appropriate support? Only a few days ago, the review by the Royal College of Psychiatrists found many dementia patients were not getting the support on nutrition and mental health that they should. The need for improved care is higher than ever.

20 Dec 2010

Proteins that unlock the mystery of over 100 brain diseases

An Anglo-American team of researchers have made a medical breakthrough after identifying a large collection of nerve proteins that are involved in around 130 brain diseases including Alzheimer’s and autism.

20 Dec 2010

Gene variant affects brain function long before brain begins accumulating amyloid: Study

People with a known, high risk for Alzheimer's disease develop abnormal brain function even before the appearance of telltale amyloid plaques that are characteristic of the disease, according to a new study.

17 Dec 2010

New hypothesis emphasizes the value of anti-inflammatory approaches to prevent Alzheimer's disease

Karl Herrup thinks that the national research effort to understand Alzheimer-s disease has gone about as far as it can go with its current theories.

15 Dec 2010

Study: HUCBs boost survival and maturation of hippocampal neurons

Laboratory culture studies examining the activity of human umbilical cord blood cells on experimental models of central nervous system aging, injury and disease, have shown that HUCBs provide a 'trophic effect' that enhances survival and maturation of hippocampal neurons harvested from both young and old laboratory animals.