http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Scientists today reported the first evidence that eating blueberries, strawberries, and acai berries may help the aging brain stay healthy in a crucial but previously unrecognized way. Their study, presented at the 240th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS), concluded that berries, and possibly walnuts, activate the brain's natural "housekeeper" mechanism, which cleans up and recycles toxic proteins linked to age-related memory loss and other mental decline. http://phys.org/news201789781.html Medicine & Health Mon, 23 Aug 2010 13:43:48 EST news201789781 protein fragments associated with Alzheimer's disease when they accumulate in the brain—appear to be associated with faster cognitive decline even in those who do not develop dementia, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the December print issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. http://phys.org/news200581112.html Medicine & Health Mon, 09 Aug 2010 16:20:01 EST news200581112 School-aged children who undergo cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) during surgery for less complicated congenital heart defects do not appear to suffer any impairments in neurocognitive abilities, such as intelligence, memory, motor skills and behavior. http://phys.org/news199111248.html Medicine & Health Mon, 26 Jul 2010 00:20:01 EST news199111248 Specialized brain training targeted at the regions of a rat's brain that process sound reversed many aspects of normal, age-related cognitive decline and improved the health of the brain cells, according to a new study from researchers at University of California, San Francisco. http://phys.org/news198836441.html Medicine & Health Tue, 20 Jul 2010 10:30:01 EST news198836441 The brain undergoes rapid growth and development in the early years of life and then degenerates as we progress into old age, yet little is known about the biological processes that distinguish brain development and aging. In a report published online today in Genome Research, researchers have identified a gene regulatory link between changes in the young and aging brain, describing "runaway" development as a potentially significant factor in age-related loss of function. http://phys.org/news198774085.html Medicine & Health Mon, 19 Jul 2010 17:00:18 EST news198774085 A research team from the Peninsula Medical School, University of Exeter, has established the first clear link between vitamin D deficiency and the development of cognitive problems that are a key feature of dementia. http://phys.org/news198171957.html Medicine & Health Mon, 12 Jul 2010 17:50:04 EST news198171957 Scientists have discovered a compound that restores the capacity to form new memories in aging rats, likely by improving the survival of newborn neurons in the brain's memory hub. The research, funded in part by the National Institutes of Health, has turned up clues to a neuroprotective mechanism that could lead to a treatment for Alzheimer's disease. http://phys.org/news197793408.html Medicine & Health Thu, 08 Jul 2010 12:00:01 EST news197793408 Higher concentrations of clusterin, a protein in the blood plasma, appears to be associated with the development, severity and progression of Alzheimer's disease, according to a report in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry. http://phys.org/news197544952.html Medicine & Health Mon, 05 Jul 2010 16:00:03 EST news197544952 The prevalence of Huntington's disease (HD) is substantially underestimated in the UK, with significant implications for those affected, the healthcare system, and research. New estimates of prevalence, and their implications, are discussed in a Comment published Online First and in an upcoming Lancet, written by Professor Sir Michael Rawlins, who is the Chairman of the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), but writes in his capacity as an Honorary Professor of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. http://phys.org/news197041730.html Medicine & Health Tue, 29 Jun 2010 18:30:01 EST news197041730 Mild cognitive impairment is often seen as a transition stage between the cognitive decline of normal aging and the more serious problems of Alzheimer's disease. But what leads to mild cognitive impairment? http://phys.org/news196948361.html Medicine & Health Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:10:08 EST news196948361 New research suggests that abnormalities in the process of blood clot formation may contribute to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). The study, published by Cell Press in the June 10 issue of the journal Neuron, advances our understanding of the link between vascular pathology and AD and proposes a new therapeutic strategy aimed at slowing cognitive decline. http://phys.org/news195309737.html Medicine & Health Wed, 09 Jun 2010 14:50:01 EST news195309737 June 3, 2010 - Reducing a protein called beta-amyloid in young mice with a condition resembling Down syndrome improves their ability to learn, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found. http://phys.org/news194806396.html Medicine & Health Thu, 03 Jun 2010 17:53:51 EST news194806396 Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that certain types of specializations on nerve cells called "spines" are depleted as a person ages, causing cognitive decline in the part of the brain that mediates the highest levels of learning. These spines receive an important class of synapses that are involved with the process of learning. The discovery provides the medical community with a new therapeutic target to help prevent this loss of function. The study is published in the June 2 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience. http://phys.org/news194711617.html Medicine & Health Wed, 02 Jun 2010 15:33:54 EST news194711617 Spitting can be a good thing when it comes to blood vessels. http://phys.org/news194097025.html Medicine & Health Wed, 26 May 2010 13:00:01 EST news194097025 Although caffeine is the most widely consumed psychoactive drug worldwide, its potential beneficial effect for maintenance of proper brain functioning has only recently begun to be adequately appreciated. Substantial evidence from epidemiological studies and fundamental research in animal models suggests that caffeine may be protective against the cognitive decline seen in dementia and Alzheimer's disease (AD). A special supplement to the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease, "Therapeutic Opportunities for Caffeine in Alzheimer's Disease and Other Neurodegenerative Diseases," sheds new light on this topic and presents key findings. http://phys.org/news193317154.html Medicine & Health Mon, 17 May 2010 12:40:03 EST news193317154 The risk of cerebrovascular diseases appears to be higher among individuals with fluctuating blood pressure in addition to high blood pressure, according to a report in the May issue of Archives of Neurology. http://phys.org/news192728288.html Medicine & Health Mon, 10 May 2010 17:20:02 EST news192728288 Scientists have found an important clue in the quest to understand why people who suffer from depression in later life are harder to treat and keep well in the long term. http://phys.org/news192188831.html Medicine & Health Tue, 04 May 2010 11:00:09 EST news192188831 (PhysOrg.com) -- Ever have a senior moment? Then you might be missing some teeth, too. http://phys.org/news191861416.html Medicine & Health Fri, 30 Apr 2010 15:50:39 EST news191861416 (PhysOrg.com) -- Many preventive measures for cognitive decline and for preventing Alzheimer's disease—mental stimulation, exercise, and a variety of dietary supplements -- have been studied over the years. However, an independent panel convened this week by the National Institutes of Health determined that the value of these strategies for delaying the onset and/or reducing the severity of decline or disease hasn't been demonstrated in rigorous studies. http://phys.org/news191692767.html Medicine & Health Wed, 28 Apr 2010 17:10:01 EST news191692767 New research shows a gene variant may help protect the memory and thinking skills of older people. The research will be published in the April 20, 2010, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. http://phys.org/news190901129.html Medicine & Health Mon, 19 Apr 2010 16:00:08 EST news190901129 (PhysOrg.com) -- Of the millions of animals on Earth, including the relative handful that are considered the most intelligent -- including apes, whales, crows, and owls -- only humans experience the severe age-related decline in mental abilities marked by Alzheimer's disease. http://phys.org/news189064015.html Medicine & Health Mon, 29 Mar 2010 06:47:15 EST news189064015 (PhysOrg.com) -- Hormone therapy seems to preserve the memories of women just entering menopause but is of little benefit to older women and leaves them at increased risk of breast cancer, heart disease and stroke, according to a research team at Yale University. http://phys.org/news188670375.html Medicine & Health Wed, 24 Mar 2010 17:50:01 EST news188670375 (PhysOrg.com) -- People with Alzheimer’s disease experience a rate of cognitive decline four times greater than those with no dementia according to a new study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago. The results of the study, which is only the second population-based study to quantify the rate of cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease, are published in the March 23, 2010 issue of the journal Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. http://phys.org/news188591396.html Medicine & Health Tue, 23 Mar 2010 20:00:02 EST news188591396 Researchers at UC Irvine and the Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) will monitor the day-to-day health of low-birth-weight babies and their parents as part of a comprehensive initiative designed to combat chronic illnesses associated with low-weight births. http://phys.org/news187015558.html Medicine & Health Fri, 05 Mar 2010 12:46:15 EST news187015558 Carnegie Mellon University researchers in the Quality of Life Technology Center (QoLTC) will embed wireless sensors in the residences of about 50 older adults who live alone to see if they can detect subtle changes in everyday activities that indicate the onset of dementia or physical infirmities. http://phys.org/news186835275.html Medicine & Health Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:20:01 EST news186835275 Individuals who report having greater purpose in their lives appear less likely to develop Alzheimer's disease or its precursor, mild cognitive impairment, according to a report in the March issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. http://phys.org/news186683556.html Medicine & Health Mon, 01 Mar 2010 17:00:01 EST news186683556 Older patients hospitalized for acute care or a critical illness are more likely to experience cognitive decline compared to older adults who are not hospitalized, according to a study in the February 24 issue of JAMA. http://phys.org/news186168691.html Medicine & Health Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:00:01 EST news186168691 Stress raises the risk of memory loss and cognitive decline among older people with diabetes, research suggests. http://phys.org/news186063965.html Medicine & Health Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:40:01 EST news186063965 (PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists have determined that a new instrument known as PIB-PET is effective in detecting deposits of amyloid-beta protein plaques in the brains of living people, and that these deposits are predictive of who will develop Alzheimer’s disease. http://phys.org/news184954822.html Medicine & Health Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:30:01 EST news184954822 People who experience memory loss or a decline in their thinking abilities may be at higher risk of stroke, regardless of whether they have been diagnosed with dementia, according to a new study published in the February 2, 2010, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology. http://phys.org/news184269757.html Medicine & Health Mon, 01 Feb 2010 18:02:48 EST news184269757