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Using memory techniques can help the brain develop new pathways for learning and improve memory, even for people with early signs of Alzheimer's disease, a new study suggests. People with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) improved their scores on a memory assessment by 33 percent after learning how to properly use memory devices like mnemonics and word lists, the study said.
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed that the memory techniques increased activity in certain regions of their brain associated with processing language, learning skills and remembering space and objects, said study researcher Sylvie Belleville, director of research at the University Institute of Geriatrics of Montreal. The learning improvements are likely a cause of brain plasticity, Belleville said. Brain plasticity is the brain's ability to change the way it learns in response to external influences, but health experts had long thought plasticity decreased in people with mild cognitive impairment. But the study shows that even the brains of people with MCI have plasticity, a promising discovery for delaying the effects of Alzheimer's disease, Belleville said. "We have evidence, here, that there's a lot of potential for brain plasticity in this early stage" of memory loss, Belleville told. Read more: msnbc.msn.com
A diet that has a beneficial effect for the brain
What has the brain got to do with breakfast? Or lunch? Or anything you eat? Perhaps more than you'd think. "Nutrients go from the stomach to the blood stream and then to the brain," explains Dr. Nikos Scarmeas, a neurologist who studies the connection between dementia and Alzheimer's Disease and the Mediterranean diet. Read more: chealth.canoe.ca
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