Futurity.org » memory

Coping with trauma may be genetic

Robin Lally-Rutgers — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:00:25 +0000

RUTGERS (US) — Scientists have uncovered why some mice no longer in danger are still fearful, a finding that may help people suffering from PTSD.

Since humans and animals register fear in the brain similarly, the discovery reported in the journal PLoS ONE, is an important step to understanding how genes work in the brain to control learning and memory as well as reactions to fearful and traumatic experiences.

When mom nurtures, kids’ brains grow

Jim Dryden-WUSTL — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:39:24 +0000

WASHINGTON U.-ST. LOUIS (US) — Children whose mothers nurture them have brains with a larger hippocampus—a region vital for learning and memory.

The research by child psychiatrists and neuroscientists at Washington University in St. Louis is the first to show that changes in this critical region of children’s brain anatomy are linked to a mother’s nurturing.

Lifelong musicians may keep ears in tune

Wendy Leopold-Northwestern — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:05:24 +0000

NORTHWESTERN (US) — Age-related delays in neural timing are not inevitable and can be avoided or offset with musical training, according to a new study.

Published in the journal Neurobiology of Aging, the study is the first to provide biological evidence that lifelong musical experience has an impact on the aging process.

Smells, great and gross, reshape the brain

Deborah Williams-Hedges-Caltech — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 17:25:04 +0000

CALTECH (US) — Based on a new study with locusts, researchers better understand how the brain adapts to remember new and specific smells.

The California Institute of Technology (Caltech) study focuses on a key feature of human and animal brains—that they are adaptive. They are able to change their structure and function based on input from the environment and on the potential associations, or consequences, of that input.

Don’t ditch the ‘ums’. Listeners need them

Steve McGaughey-Illinois — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 17:05:21 +0000

U. ILLINOIS (US) — Speakers should think twice before eliminating the “ums,” “uhs,” and other speech fillers from their message if they want listeners to recall what was said.

As reported in the Journal of Memory and Language, speech fillers actually facilitate recall for listeners.

We text and walk and veer off course

Jacob Levich-Stony Brook — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 17:11:04 +0000

STONY BROOK (US) — Talking or texting on a phone while walking can make it difficult to stay on course and may interfere with memory recall, research shows.

Thirty-three men and women in their 20s, all of whom used a cell phone and were familiar with texting, participated in a study reported in the journal Gait & Posture.

Babies remember inklings, not objects

Lisa De Nike-JHU — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 21:55:51 +0000

JOHNS HOPKINS / RUTGERS (US) — Infants may not remember what they saw, but they remember that they saw something, according to researchers.

New research reveals that even though very young babies can’t remember details once an object disappears, their brains do retain a notion that whatever they saw was there and still exists.

Dream sleep soothes painful memories

Yasmin Anwar-UC Berkeley — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 15:12:25 +0000

UC BERKELEY (US) — During the dream phase of sleep, the body’s stress chemistry shuts down, taking the edge off difficult memories. The finding may help explain why people with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) suffer reoccurring nightmares.

“The dream stage of sleep, based on its unique neurochemical composition, provides us with a form of overnight therapy, a soothing balm that removes the sharp edges from the prior day’s emotional experiences,” says Matthew Walker, associate professor of psychology and neuroscience at the University of California, Berkeley.

To be great, it may take more than practice

Andy Henion-Michigan State — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:31:04 +0000

MICHIGAN STATE (US) — Can practice, practice, practice alone produce greatness? New research finds working memory capacity may be the deciding factor between being good or being great.

The concept runs counter to previous arguments such as those from Malcom Gladwell of the New Yorker and David Brooks of the New York Times that argue intelligence plays a role in greatness—but only to a point. Beyond that, they say, it’s all about practice.

Brain learns while body snoozes

Andy Henion-Michigan State — Thu, 29 Sep 2011 14:06:51 +0000

MICHIGAN STATE (US) — An unconscious form of memory may keep people learning even while they sleep.

A new study finds people derive vastly different effects from this sleep memory ability, with some memories improving dramatically and others not at all.