One of the most common complaints among healthy older adults relates to a decline in memory performance. This decline has been linked to an inability to ignore irrelevant information when forming memories. In order to ignore distracting information, the brain should act to suppress its responses to distractions, but it has been shown that in older adults there is in fact an increase in brain activity at those times. In a new study published in the April 2010 issue of Elsevier’s Cortex (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/cortex) researchers at the University of California San Francisco have shown that even prior knowledge of an impending distraction does not help to improve the working memory performance of older adults. [continue reading…]
Memory Loss
Here is another post that follows through with this mornings theme:
In a world first, researchers at the Western Australian Centre for Health and AgeingI have discovered that a hormone controlling the release of testosterone is linked to poor memory in older men
According to a study published in this month’s issue of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, men with high levels of luteinising hormone (LH) had worse memory than those with lower levels. [continue reading…]
We have all had the embarrassing experience of seeing an acquaintance in an unfamiliar setting. We know we know them but can’t recall who they are. But with the correct cues from conversation or context, something seems to click and we can readily access very rich and vivid memories about the individual. [continue reading…]
Then yours probably will! Thinking your memory will get worse as you get older may actually be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Researchers at North Carolina State University have found that senior citizens who think older people should perform poorly on tests of memory actually score much worse than seniors who do not buy in to negative stereotypes about aging and memory loss. [continue reading…]
