brain-structure

Large neuroimaging study finds social isolation to be an early indicator of increased dementia risk

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Why do we get a buzz from being in large groups at fes­ti­vals, jubilees and oth­er pub­lic events? Accord­ing to the social brain hypoth­e­sis, it’s because the human brain specif­i­cal­ly evolved to sup­port social inter­ac­tions. Stud­ies have shown that belong­ing to a group can lead to improved well­be­ing and increased sat­is­fac­tion with life.

Unfor­tu­nate­ly though, many peo­ple are lone­ly or social­ly iso­lat­ed. [Read more…] about Large neu­roimag­ing study finds social iso­la­tion to be an ear­ly indi­ca­tor of increased demen­tia risk

Don’t worry, be happy: How excessive worrying may influence the rate of neurodegeneration

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Wor­ry­ing and the Aging Brain (Dana Foundation):

Over the past decade, sci­en­tists and clin­i­cians have not­ed a sig­nif­i­cant asso­ci­a­tion between com­mon men­tal health con­di­tions and accel­er­at­ed brain aging—the changes to brain struc­ture, phys­i­ol­o­gy, and func­tion that are thought to lead to lat­er cog­ni­tive decline. Both depres­sion and anx­i­ety dis­or­ders, for exam­ple, are strong­ly cor­re­lat­ed with the devel­op­ment of demen­tias includ­ing Alzheimer’s dis­ease lat­er in life, yet it has been unclear why. Neu­ro­sci­en­tists and geron­tol­o­gists around the globe have dili­gent­ly worked to inves­ti­gate which par­tic­u­lar symp­toms might con­tribute to age-relat­ed cog­ni­tive decline. [Read more…] about Don’t wor­ry, be hap­py: How exces­sive wor­ry­ing may influ­ence the rate of neurodegeneration

Growing concern (and hope) about astronauts’ cognitive health during spaceflight

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NASA astro­naut Scott Kel­ly checks out the Microsoft HoloLens aboard a space sta­tion on Feb­ru­ary 20, 2016. (Pho­to by NASA via Get­ty Images)

About the con­cern: Brain MRI scans may help NASA plan safer mis­sions to space (Health Imaging):

“Not a lot is known about cog­ni­tive impair­ment in humans dur­ing space­flight,” Don­na R. Roberts, MD, Med­ical Uni­ver­si­ty of South Carolina’s Depart­ment of Radi­ol­o­gy, said in a state­ment [Read more…] about Grow­ing con­cern (and hope) about astro­nauts’ cog­ni­tive health dur­ing spaceflight

Neuroimaging study finds significant changes in brain structure during long-duration space flight

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Before (Pan­el A) and After (Pan­el B) long term space flight. Cred­it: The New Eng­land Jour­nal of Medicine.

MRI reveals brain changes dur­ing space mis­sions (Med­ical Physics):

“Astro­nauts liv­ing and work­ing in space will expe­ri­ence the detri­men­tal effects of micro­grav­i­ty on the human body. Astro­nauts aboard the Inter­na­tion­al Space Sta­tion, for exam­ple, have expe­ri­enced altered vision and increased pres­sure inside their heads, symp­toms termed as [Read more…] about Neu­roimag­ing study finds sig­nif­i­cant changes in brain struc­ture dur­ing long-dura­tion space flight

Study: Mindful meditation works. Now, how to navigate the most popular options?

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mindfulness class—–

Many begin­ner med­i­ta­tors, myself includ­ed, start out with a mind­ful breath­ing med­i­ta­tion: one breath in, one breath out, the mind wan­ders, you bring it back.

Armed with an app guid­ing me through [Read more…] about Study: Mind­ful med­i­ta­tion works. Now, how to nav­i­gate the most pop­u­lar options?

New Nevada regulation requires professional fighters to undergo regular computerized cognitive testing

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brain_craniumNeva­da offi­cials to require brain health test­ing for fight­ers (Las Vegas Review-Journal):

“The Neva­da Ath­let­ic Com­mis­sion will require all licensed fight­ers in the Sil­ver State, includ­ing pro­fes­sion­al box­ers and mixed mar­tial ath­letes, to under­go reg­u­lar brain health test­ing, offi­cials announced Tues­day in Wash­ing­ton, D.C. [Read more…] about New Neva­da reg­u­la­tion requires pro­fes­sion­al fight­ers to under­go reg­u­lar com­put­er­ized cog­ni­tive testing