Shrinkage! Bad Heart Habits Lessen Brain Volume Over Time

Want a full sized brain for life? Avoid smoking, excessive drinking, keep your weight, blood sugar levels and blood pressure all under control and you should be able to avoid brain volume mass shrinkage over time a new study suggests.

Persons with high blood pressure experienced a more rapid worsening of test scores of planning and decision making, which corresponded to a faster rate of growth of small areas of vascular brain damage than those with normal blood pressure.

Those study participants with diabetes in middle age experienced brain shrinkage in an area known as the hippocampus faster than those without, and smokers lost brain volume overall and in the hippocampus faster than nonsmokers, with a more rapid increase of small areas of vascular brain damage.

Finally, persons who were obese at middle age were more likely to be in the top 25% of those with faster declines in tests of executive function and were among the top 25% with a faster drop in brain volume. 
courtesy/ Source:http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232123.php

Older Brains Benefit From Learning By Trial And Error

Canadian researchers have found the first evidence that older brains get more benefit than younger brains from learning information the hard way - via trial-and-error learning.

The study was led by scientists at Baycrest's world-renowned Rotman Research Institute in Toronto and appears online in the journal Psychology and Aging, ahead of the print edition.

The finding will surprise professional educators and cognitive rehabilitation clinicians as it challenges a large body of published science which has shown that making mistakes while learning information hurts memory performance for older adults, and that passive "errorless" learning (where the correct answer is provided) is better suited to older brains.  Read full:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/233314.php

A longtime vegetarian gets a high cholesterol count

My blood test results arrived in the mail last year -- and I was shocked. My report, with total cholesterol listed at 248, contained a handwritten note from my doctor in the margin: Come in to see me for medication.

How could I have high cholesterol? Read in full:
http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-myturn-cholesterol18-2010jan18,0,1272980.story

Study Identifies Fish Oil's Impact On Cognition And Brain Structure

Researchers at Rhode Island Hospital's Alzheimer's Disease and Memory Disorders Center have found positive associations between fish oil supplements and cognitive functioning as well as differences in brain structure between users and non-users of fish oil supplements. The findings suggest possible benefits of fish oil supplements on brain health and aging. The results were reported at the recent International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease, in Paris, France.

The study was led by Lori Daiello, PharmD, a research scientist at the Rhode Island Hospital Alzheimer's Disease and Memory Disorders Center. Data for the analyses was obtained from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative (ADNI), a large multi-center, NIH-funded study that followed older adults with normal cognition, mild cognitive impairment, and Alzheimer's Disease for over three years with periodic memory testing and brain MRIs.Read full article:http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/232952.php

Too Much Salt In Diet And Too Little Exercise Increases Risk Of Cognitive Decline In Seniors

Older adults who lead sedentary lifestyles and consume a lot of sodium in their diet may be putting themselves at risk for more than just heart disease.

A study led by researchers at Baycrest in Toronto - in collaboration with colleagues at the Institut Universitaire de Geriatrie de Montreal, McGill University and the Universite de Sherbrooke - has found evidence that high-salt diets coupled with low physical activity can be detrimental to cognitive health in older adults. Read in full:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/233181.php

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Binge Drinking Damages Teenage Girls' Brains More Than Boys'

Teenage girls who binge-drink have a higher risk of long-term harm to the brain compared to boys of the same age who also binge drink, researchers from the University of California, San Diego and Stanford University reported inAlcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Their definition of binge-drinking is consuming at least four (for females) or five (for males) alcoholic drinks at one sitting.Read full article:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/231240.php