Building cognitive reserve helps delay memory and thinking decline regardless of genetic or childhood markers

Wel­come to a new edi­tion of Sharp­Brains’ e‑newsletter, fea­tur­ing time­ly brain news and a few fun brain teasers to test your per­cep­tu­al and cog­ni­tive skills. #1. Study: Build­ing cog­ni­tive reserve helps delay mem­o­ry and think­ing decline regard­less of genet­ic or child­hood mark­ers “While our child­hood can influ­ence our mem­o­ry and think­ing skills lat­er in life,…

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Debunking the “chemical imbalance” theory yet not throwing out the antidepressant baby with the bathwater

A recent study found incon­sis­tent evi­dence link­ing the neu­ro­trans­mit­ter sero­tonin to depres­sion. In an arti­cle for The Con­ver­sa­tion, the authors of the study con­clud­ed that it is impos­si­ble to say that tak­ing SSRI anti­de­pres­sants is worth­while. But is it safe to con­clude that sero­tonin is not involved in depres­sion or that mod­ern anti­de­pres­sants aren’t helpful…

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Study: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT), not medication, drives long-term rewiring of the brain to help reduce psychosis symptoms

Talk­ing ther­a­py changes the brain’s wiring, study reveals for first time (Sci­enceDai­ly): “A new study from King’s Col­lege Lon­don and South Lon­don and Maud­s­ley NHS Foun­da­tion Trust has shown for the first time that cog­ni­tive behav­iour ther­a­py (CBT) strength­ens spe­cif­ic con­nec­tions in the brains of peo­ple with psy­chosis, and that these stronger con­nec­tions are associated…

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