Published: January 6, 2010
Neuroscientists are developing drugs to help improve cognition among people with dementia and Alzheimer’s, but increasingly these drugs and other cognitive enhancers are being taken by healthy individuals keen to improve their performance. Barbara Sahakian, Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology, believes it’s time for an open debate about the ethical issues surrounding the use of new types of drugs which could in the future be used to make us all clever, well-behaved and sociable.
Listen now (45minutes)to BBC Radio 4’s Start the Week Andrew Marr talks to 4 leading scientists , and which includes a discussion of the ethics of cognitive enhancers
Published: December 15, 2009
Half a million pensioners will spend Christmas Day alone, while nearly three in five people over 55 will be wishing they could see more of their family. At any given time, around one in five Americans – 60 million people – feel so isolated that it makes them seriously unhappy
A new book called Loneliness: Human Nature and the Need for Social Connection
is co-written by John Cacioppo, a neuroscientist. He says social pain is akin to physical pain. Chronic loneliness can do real physical damage and can lead to increased stress, levels, high blood pressure and disrupted sleep. Link to read the rest of this article by Aditya Chakrabortty in today’s Guardian.
You can help – spread a little kindness, bring back a sense of community. If you know someone who lives alone make a point of visiting them, take them a few special treats, better still invite them to eat with you.
Source: The Guardian
Published: December 15, 2009
Volunteer service, such as tutoring children, can help older adults delay or reverse declining brain function, according to a study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), the researchers found that seniors participating in a youth mentoring program made gains in key brain regions that support cognitive abilities important to planning and organizing one’s daily life. The study is the first of its kind to demonstrate that valuable social service programs, such as Experience Corps—a program designed to both benefit children and older adults’ health—can have the added benefits of improving the cognitive abilities of older adults, enhancing their quality of life. The study is published in the December issue of the Journals of Gerontology: Medical Sciences.
About 78 million Americans were born from 1946 to 1964. Individuals of retirement age are the fastest-growing sector of the U.S. population, so there is great interest in preserving their cognitive and physical abilities, especially given the societal cost of the alternative. [continue reading…]
Published: December 14, 2009
I‘m 56……. (shock horror) with a birthday looming… there I said it! As the year comes to a close just like many I contemplate the passage of time. I reflect on the positives and negatives in my life . So this feature in the New York Times peaked my interest. Find out what lies in store for you as you age……. link to read more
Source: New York Times
