My first kiss. The first time I saw my first-born. When I knew I passed my PhD exam. Those exquisite moments in time. It turns out, I- and you- can relive those moments. Because they are encoded in specific cells in our brain.
Continue reading Our memories ARE mapped to specific neurons
We all think we forget things. But, what if we are thinking incorrectly? What if we never forget anything we learned- we just don’t know how to retrieve it- now or quickly?
Continue reading Infinite storage capacity?
This is not good news. If this data are valid, it means that our belief that we are “safe” until age 60 (mostly from the Washington State studies) is incorrect- and that mental decline begins at age 45. So, those brain exercises you were going to start in a few years- better start them now.
Continue reading Am I losing my mind? (No comments from the peanut gallery!)
It turns out that a lot of what we were taught about sleep and dreaming is incorrect. Dreams are a critical component of sleep- they serve to consolidate our memory, and improve our memory performance.
Continue reading Sleep and Memory Consolidation
If you’ve been reading this blog (What? You haven’t? Shame on you!), then you know I often refer to fMRI (functional magnetic resonance imaging) experiments. The fMRI had its genesis at Mass General in 1991- when giant magnetics afforded us the ability to visualize activity in the brain. (This final result relied on the finding by Seiji Ogawa at Bell Labs that determined blood-oxygen-level dependence, the MRI contrast of blood deoxyhemoglobin [oxygen depleted red blood cells].)
Continue reading fMRI is still just a surrogate measurement
A research examination of some 111 studies was effected by Drs. Kramer, Voss, Nagarnatsu, and Liu-Ambrose (first two from the University of Illinois-Urbana, the latter two from University of British Columbia) and published in the Journal of Applied Physiology. Obviously, literature searches do not provide new information. Rather, they serve to coalesce existing information into patterns and conclusions, as was provided by this compilation.
Continue reading Exercise Early. Exercise Late. For Brain, Health, & Weight!
I wish we did not have to do these kinds of studies. But, this one will help our troops, our athletes, car crash victims, and a whole bunch more. The US Department of Defense commissioned the Institute of Medicine (IOM, associated the the National Academies, where our best and our brightest serve voluntarily) to study traumatic brain injury(TBI). One of the problems is that we have not yet characterized the biomechanics of TBI, so this study was devoted to the treatment (nutritional aspect) of patients who suffer TBI.
Continue reading Hope for TBI patients
Researchers at UC Davis published a survey in Epidemiology purportedly reporting on the effect of prenatal vitamins and their ability to preclude births of children with autism. Drs. Schmidt (2), Hansen, Hartiala, Allayee, Hooman, Tancredi, Tassone, and Hertz-Picciotto (UC Davis) reported that women who took prenatal vitamins BEFORE pregnancy (and during pregnancy) were ½ as likely to have a child with autism; those that had high risk mutations were associated with a 7 fold reduction.
Continue reading Autism, Vitamins, Gene Expression… Link?
You know that expression, “Do as I say, not as I do?”. I am not a fan of it at all. But, there’s new preliminary research (much more work must be done before we can prognosticate with certainty) that may make this posting one of “Do as I say, I’ll be joining the ranks imminently!” Given that introduction, we can proceed.
Continue reading The Breakfast Effect?
Dr. Zoran Josipovic, a research neuroscientist and adjunct professor at New York University, has been examining the rearranging of brains for about 3 years now. What is more unusual about the study is that his study subjects are Buddhist nuns and monks. 
Continue reading How our brain works…and meditation shows the way