By Paddy Kamen, Publisher, BetterBrainBetterLife


Sometimes the brain remembers too much, as with autism, and other times too little, as with Alzheimer's disease. Researchers from McGill University have discovered a protein trigger that controls how this happens in the brain.

Led by Dr. Keith Murai, associate professor in the department of neurology and neurosurgery, the researchers found they could either block or enhance the brain's ability to create the new molecules necessary for new memory formation. 

By Paddy Kamen, Publisher, BetterBrainBetterLife.com

Telomeres are all over the news these days. Those pesky little caps of DNA on our chromosomes shorten as we age and research shows that some cancers, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis, depression, diabetes, obesity and heart disease are all more likely to arise in people with shorter telomeres. So it is fair to say that longer telomeres equal longevity.

By Paddy Kamen, Publisher, BetterBrainBetterLife.com

I love to drive and I’m an enthusiast of all things that improve cognition, so I’m excited to report that a new racecar driving 3D computer game is in development that has been proven to enhance cognition in senior players. With just 12 hours of training, those between 60 – 85 are as good or better at the game than 20 year-olds playing it for the first time.

The game is demanding, asking players to drive a racecar on a winding road, while also watching for a specific sign to show up on the side of the road. When that sign appears the player has to press a certain button. The game’s demands stress the brain and this stress response, or interference, is greater in older people. However, with just 12 hours of training, seniors gained significantly in memory and attention. The benefits were shown to last at least six months after the training stopped.

The game was created by University of California – San Franciso (UCSF) researchers.

Adam Gazzaley, UCSF associate professor of neurology, and his team studied the brains of the players, and their work is published in Nature (Sept.4, 2013). Gazzaley is a co-founding advisor with Akili Interactive Labs, a company that is currently testing a clinical version of the game.

I can’t wait to try it! Read more here: http://www.eurekalert.org/multimedia/pub/61488.php?from=247855

By Paddy Kamen, Publisher, BetterBrainBetterLife.com

If you think your brain might be shrinking (due to aging, poor memory, or signs of dementia) you’ll want to know about the relationship between homocysteine and B vitamins.

Researchers at the University of Oxford recently published study results that show significantly reduced brain atrophy in pre-dementia patients (those with Mild Cognitive Impairment) as a result of B vitamin supplementation.

By Paddy Kamen, Publisher, BetterBrainBetterLife.com

Science has now ‘proven’ what women have known all along: the ability to remember is affected by menopause.

Maybe I’m uber-sensitive (after all, I am post-menopausal), but the tone of the news release about this research strikes me as a tad sexist. The headline reads, “It’s not your imagination: Memory gets muddled at menopause.” How many women of a certain age have been told that their very real symptoms or experiences are, in fact, figments of their imaginations? This type of language (and attitude) about women’s health-related experience has been with us for some time. Was the news release written by a man? Who approved it?