09/24/2009 - 4:52am

Chemotherapy Affects More Than Memory

Although chemotherapy saves the lives of millions of cancer patients each year, it takes a significant toll on the cognitive function and emotional lives of the survivors.

09/17/2009 - 6:58am

Do Brains Shrink With Age?

Many scientists believed that as we age, our brains get smaller. But a new study has shown that “healthy” brains  show very little deterioration and that only when people experience cognitive decline is there significant shrinking of their brains.

The study was conducted at Maastricht University in the Netherlands and its results suggest that studies done until now simply did not exclude people who were already experiencing cognitive decline.

09/17/2009 - 4:40am

Some Exercises Better Than Others For Your Brain

Research with laboratory mice in Taiwan has shed some interesting light on the link between exercise and improved brain function.

It seems mice that were allowed to do their usual exercise of running around their rodent wheels as much as possible, improved their brain function. But a second group of mice that were pushed harder on a mini-treadmill at a speed and duration controlled by the scientists, out-performed their lab mates in cognitive performance.

09/16/2009 - 4:41am

Sport Advantage- Players' Skill and Brains

We can all agree that professional sportsmen are better at their particular sport than you or I. Is it because of intense practice or are they simply born with better skills? Or is there perhaps something else at work there?

Swiss and British researchers have been looking into this matter and have come up with some interesting insights.

Any sport that involves moving objects (like tennis), requires three levels of response for timing:

09/09/2009 - 7:30am

BBC Conducting Largest Ever Test of Brain Training

The BBC will be launching an experiment designed by Prof.  Clive Ballard of Kings College, London and the director of research at the UK Alzheimer’s Society and Dr. Adrian Owen of the Medical Research Council Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit Cambridge, to test whether brain training actually works.

06/08/2009 - 8:59am

Second-hand smoke causes more damage than you thought

People who are exposed to second-hand smoke may have a greater risk of developing cognitive impairment.

05/07/2009 - 3:21am

Cognitive reserve and how it can help us age well

Does aging always have to be accompanied by declining physical and mental abilities? Not necessarily. In recent years, circumstantial evidence has been building about how training your brain with stimulating activities can help compensate for the changes that occur with age. Brain training may also allow people to avoid mild cognitive impairment or symptoms of Alzheimer's for far longer than others who haven’t taken the opportunity to make their brains more adaptable and agile through regular mental exercise.

03/08/2009 - 10:14am

Effective Brain Training

One of the most common questions people ask us is whether solving puzzles or playing computer games can help prevent or slow down cognitive decline. While any training is better than no training at all, research has proven that the key to an effective brain fitness program is its ability to maintain a sufficient level of challenge over a range of different activities.