New research suggests that surges in a brain protein after exercise may play a particular role in improving memory and recall.
As I ready myself to partake in my daily exercise this piece in the The New York Times why exercise benefits the brain caught my attention:
For some time, scientists have believed that BDNF helps explain why mental functioning appears to improve with exercise. However, they haven’t fully understood which parts of the brain are affected or how those effects influence thinking. The Irish study suggests that the increases in BDNF prompted by exercise may play a particular role in improving memory and recall. link to read more
How can we begin to understand the way the brain works? The same way we begin to understand a city: by making a map. In this visually stunning talk, Allan Jones shows how his team is mapping which genes are turned on in each tiny region, and how it all connects up.
If future research can pinpoint why an excessive number of brain cells are there in the first place, it will have a large impact on understanding autism, and perhaps on developing new treatments, said Courchesne.
Andrew Carnie, Autumn Twist
. Having a big brain may seem like an advantage at first thought, but new research indicates that it may be one symptom of autism. Boys with autism displayed an abnormally large number of neurons in the prefrontal cortex, the area of the brain involved in social, communication, and cognitive development, according to lead researcher Eric Courchesne, Ph.D., of the University of California, San Diego. Courchesne and colleagues reported in the November 9 JAMA that the brains of seven boys with autism contained 67 percent more cortical cells than brains of boys without autism. Those cells develop in great numbers early in fetal development but are normally removed during the last trimester.
How can a good night’s sleep improve your memory? Why does the answer to a crossword clue suddenly appear first thing in the morning after a night’s rest? In this week’s All in the MindClaudia Hammond talks to psychologist, Kimberly Fenn about what happens in the brain when we sleep and why it can significantly improve our memory. Hysteria or conversion disorder is surprisingly, not confined to medical history. Nearly 1 in 5 patients seen by neurologists will have symptoms like paralysis, fits or loss of vision which can’t be explained neurologically. Claudia talks to neurologist, Mark Edwards and psychiatrist, Richard Kanaan about the history of conversion disorder, how common it is today, the best way to treat it and its complex causes. Also in the programme, Claudia meets the carers getting involved in mental health research and why their input is making a a difference to research projects exploring mental health across the country. Listen now
New research suggests that surges in a brain protein after exercise may play a particular role in improving memory and recall.
