Feature Channels: Cognition and Learning

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Neurons become active when mice exploring a maze correct after making a wrong turn.

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Eighty percent of older adults see the benefit of tests that can give an early warning that a person’s memory and thinking abilities have started to decline, a new poll of people age 65 to 80 finds. And 60% think that health care providers should offer cognitive screening to all older adults every year

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Indiana University researchers have made a substantial discovery in the role genes play in the development of AUDs, finding that alteration of a group of genes known to influence neuronal plasticity and pain perceptions, rather than single gene defect, is linked to AUDs.

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Valentina Harmjanz often tapped into music on her smartphone to connect with older patients she visited at William P. Clements Jr. University Hospital. The UT Southwestern medical student met with patients as part of the Hospital Elder Life Program (HELP), a joint effort between UTSW and the Hobson Wildenthal Honors College at the University of Texas at Dallas.

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Cognitive abilities not only vary among different species but also among individuals within the same species. It is expected that smarter individuals live longer, as they are likely to make better decisions, regarding habitat and food selection, predator avoidance, and infant care.

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Musical rhythms can help children with speech and language processing difficulties in finding their voice by improving their capacity to repeat sentences they just heard, according to a study led by a Western Sydney University researcher and co-authored by Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

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Distinct, though neighboring, areas of the brain are activated when processing music and language, with specific sub-regions engaged for simple melodies versus complex melodies, and for simple versus complex sentences, according to research from UTHealth Houston.

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Despite the fears of parents, screen time doesn’t appear to have overwhelmingly negative impacts on preschoolers’ development, new research suggests. The study of kids from low-income and minority homes found that the quantity of time in front of the TV, smartphones and tablets was not related to children’s gains in language, literacy and math skills.

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A recently-published study led by Prof. Einat Levy-Gigi, from Bar-Ilan University, examined for the first time the interactive effect of exposure to stress in the school setting and cognitive flexibility on the tendency to develop post-traumatic symptoms among education and teaching staff. One hundred fifty education and teaching personnel (85% women and 15% men with an average age of 43 and average teaching experience of 13 years) volunteered to participate in the study and underwent an assessment of their exposure to stress, their cognitive flexibility, their ability to cope and their level of post-traumatic symptoms.

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Climbing trees, making mud pies, or simply playing outside, parents and educators know that being in nature is an important part of every childhood. But when it comes to messy or risky play, it’s a whole different story according to new research from the University of South Australia.

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A new study, led by the University of Portsmouth, suggests young children are more vocal when interacting with toys and household items, highlighting their importance for developing language skills.

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Children who begin reading for pleasure early in life tend to perform better at cognitive tests and have better mental health when they enter adolescence, a study of more than 10,000 young adolescents in the US has found.

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A group from Nagoya University in Japan has discovered that when the diet of nematodes, tiny worms measuring about a millimeter or less in length, includes the bacteria Lactobacillus reuteri, the weakening of associative learning ability caused by aging does not occur.

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A study by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis reveals that household and community poverty may influence brain health in children. Childhood obesity and lower cognitive function may explain, at least partially, poverty’s influence on the brain.

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One in four Americans live with a disability, which is associated with stigma and disparities in health care. New research examined differences in alcohol use by disability status and types of disability, and found a need for a range of accommodations in alcohol treatment and recovery services – including technology-based options. These results and others will be shared at the 46th annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcohol (RSA) in Bellevue, Washington.

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Alcohol use disorder (AUD) is a common neuropsychiatric disorder marked by neuropsychological deficits and neurocircuitry brain damage that can lead to serious negative consequences for family, work, and personal well-being. Researchers will share their published findings on the adverse effects of AUD on the brain and its interaction with aging and postural instability at the 46th annual scientific meeting of the Research Society on Alcohol (RSA) in Bellevue, Washington.

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While summer is a time for fun in the sun, we often hear of parents expressing their concern about the “summer slide.” It’s when the loss of learning opportunities during the break lead to regression in reading and math. Some studies suggest up to a month of learning is lost over the summer, but according to Tonya Price, a 4-H youth development extension specialist with Virginia Cooperative Extension, there are many things that can be done to keep children learning and engaged while out of the classroom.

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Receptor patterns define key organisational principles in the brain, scientists have discovered.

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University of Sydney and Fudan University scientists have discovered human brain signals travelling across the outer layer of neural tissue that naturally arrange themselves to resemble swirling spirals.

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Adverse cognitive effects linked to polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) exposure, a type of endocrine-disrupting chemical (EDC), have the potential to be passed down through generations, according to an animal study being presented Thursday at ENDO 2023, the Endocrine Society’s annual meeting in Chicago, Ill.

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Scientists at City of Hope have developed universal donor stem cells that could one day provide lifesaving therapy to children with lethal brain conditions, such as Canavan disease, as well as to people with other degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and multiple sclerosis.

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Male students are falling behind in the classroom, earning lower grades, test scores and experiencing higher expulsion rates than females.

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The Program in Public Health at the University of California, Irvine has received a five-year, $2.7 million grant from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences to research the connection between low-level lead exposure during pregnancy and early childhood and children’s school performance and behavior in Santa Ana, California.

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Hackensack Meridian Health and its Bear’s Den program invest in company to help detect potential health problems hinted in speech patterns

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In a pioneering study involving serial entrepreneurs and managers, a multidisciplinary research team led by HEC - School of Management at the University of Liège and Liège University Hospital (CHU Liège), combining entrepreneurship researchers and brain specialists, found evidence of increased neuronal connectivity in the brains of entrepreneurs, which may contribute to distinct cognitive attributes.

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A new study followed more than 7000 middle aged and older Canadians for approximately three years to understand whether higher rates of social participation were associated with successful aging in later life.

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The relationship between cognitive ability in childhood and financial wellbeing in adulthood varies for different financial measures—such as savings levels versus having debt—per a new analysis of nearly 6,000 people.

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A research consortium, including a Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine neuroscientist and his research coordinator, are calling for a consensus on how scientists identify and evaluate how infections contribute to or cause cognitive impairment and dementias, including Alzheimer’s disease.

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A new study from Mana Heshmati, assistant professor of strategy and entrepreneurship in the University of Washington Foster School of Business, found that strategy courses in MBA programs improve decision-making abilities, boost the amount of attention paid to broader industry concerns and expand the depth of mental representations.

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Researchers from the Center for Cognition and Sociality (CCS) within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS) recently announced the discovery of neurons that allow us to recognize others. The research team discovered that the neurons that deal with the information associated with different individuals are located in the CA1 region of the hippocampus.

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This study provides provides the first physiological evidence from inside the human brain supporting the dominant scientific theory on how the brain consolidates memory during sleep. Further, deep-brain stimulation during a critical time in the sleep cycle appeared to improve memory consolidation.

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In a recent study, a Johns Hopkins Medicine researcher and collaborators analyzed data on adults to determine if there is a link between having a heart attack and cognitive decline.

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Taking a daily multivitamin may help slow age-related memory decline, a study has found.

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We are quite good at spotting unexpected objects while focused on another activity if they are moving fast, reveals a new study by a team of New York University researchers.