http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. A high-fat diet in adolescence appears to have long-lasting effects on learning and memory during adulthood, a new study in mice finds. The results were presented Saturday at The Endocrine Society's 95th Annual Meeting in San Francisco. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-06-adolescents-high-fat-diet-impairs-memory.html Health Mon, 17 Jun 2013 11:46:18 EST news290688371 Brain research has made unprecedented progress over the years, with Europe at the forefront of scientific advances. But more can be done. This comes from Alzheimer's Disease International who issued their report on the Global Economic Impact of Dementia. They estimate that if dementia care were a country, it would be the world's 18th largest economy, ranking between Turkey and Indonesia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-vaccine-alzheimer.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Fri, 31 May 2013 07:20:01 EST news289201993 (Medical Xpress)—New research shows that drinking one to three glasses of champagne a week may counteract the memory loss associated with ageing, and could help delay the onset of degenerative brain disorders, such as dementia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-scientists-reveal-champagne-memory.html Health Wed, 08 May 2013 09:30:03 EST news287221913 (Medical Xpress)—During spatial learning, space is represented in the hippocampus through plastic changes in the connections between neurons. Jozsef Csicsvari and his collaborators investigate spatial learning in rats using the cheeseboard maze apparatus. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-blank-cheeseboard-maze.html Neuroscience Fri, 22 Mar 2013 11:20:02 EST news283167224 Playing video games for an hour each day can improve subsequent performance on cognitive tasks that use similar mental processes to those involved in the game, according to research published March 13 in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Adam Chie-Ming Oei and Michael Donald Patterson of Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-video-game-hour-day-cognitive.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 13 Mar 2013 17:28:23 EST news282414496 Cognitive decline in old age is linked to decreasing production of new neurons. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center have discovered in mice that significantly more neurons are generated in the brains of older animals if a signaling molecule called Dickkopf-1 is turned off. In tests for spatial orientation and memory, mice in advanced adult age whose Dickkopf gene had been silenced reached an equal mental performance as young animals. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-potential-age-related-cognitive-decline.html Medical research Thu, 07 Feb 2013 12:00:15 EST news279458847 A group of Portuguese researchers from IBMC and FMUP at the University of Porto has found the reason why patients with chronic pain often suffer from impaired short –term memory. The study, to be published in the Journal of Neuroscience, shows how persistent pain disrupts the flow of information between two brain regions crucial to retain temporary memories. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-chronic-pain-disrupts-short-term.html Neuroscience Thu, 07 Feb 2013 07:25:48 EST news279444279 Down syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is the leading cause of genetically defined intellectual disability. In the brain, Down syndrome results in alterations in the connections between neurons and a reduction in the development of new neurons (neurogenesis) that usually occurs during learning. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-lithium-cognitive-function-syndrome-mice.html Neuroscience Mon, 03 Dec 2012 12:00:17 EST news273754265 Researchers at Western University have created a mouse model that reproduces some of the chemical changes in the brain that occur with Alzheimer's, shedding new light on this devastating disease. Marco Prado, Vania Prado and their colleagues at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry's Robarts Research Institute, looked at changes related to a neurotransmitter or chemical messenger, named acetylcholine (ACh), and the kinds of memory problems associated with it. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-reveals-spatial-memory-problems-alzheimer.html Alzheimer's disease & dementia Wed, 10 Oct 2012 13:05:57 EST news269093145 (Medical Xpress) -- Synapses are modified through learning. Up until now, scientists believed that a particular form of synaptic plasticity in the brain’s hippocampus was responsible for learning spatial relations. This was based on a receptor type for the neurotransmitter glutamate: the NMDA receptor. Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research in Heidelberg and Oxford University have now observed that mice develop a spatial memory, even when the NMDA receptor-transmitted plasticity is switched off in parts of their hippocampus. However, if these mice have to resolve a conflict while getting their bearings, they are not successful in resolving it; the hippocampal NMDA receptors are clearly needed to detect or resolve the conflict. This has led the researchers involved in this experiment to refute a central tenet of neuroscience regarding the function of hippocampal NMDA receptor-transmitted plasticity in spatial learning. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-hippocampus-decision-maker.html Neuroscience Thu, 19 Jul 2012 09:08:12 EST news261907680 Ever gone to the movies and forgotten where you parked the car? New UCLA research may one day help you improve your memory. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-02-scientists-memory-key-site-brain.html Neuroscience Wed, 08 Feb 2012 17:24:37 EST news247944267 The hippocampus is an important brain structure for recollection memory, the type of memory we use for detailed reliving of past events. Now, new research published by Cell Press in the December 22 issue of the journal Neuron reveals characteristics of the human hippocampus that allow scientists to use anatomical brain scans to form predictions about an individual's recollection ability. The new research helps to explain why this relationship has been hard to find in the past and provides evidence for a possible underlying mechanism. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-bigger-brain-memory.html Neuroscience Wed, 21 Dec 2011 12:50:01 EST news243693583 When the activity of a molecule that is normally elevated during viral infections is inhibited in the brain, mice learn and remember better, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine reported in a recent article in the journal Cell. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-neuroscientists-boost-memory-genetics-memory-enhancing.html Neuroscience Thu, 08 Dec 2011 13:00:42 EST news242571591