About 5.8 million people in the U.S. have Alzheimer’s disease, and this number is expected to swell to 14 million by 2050. Numerous older adults are concerned about memory loss. Many Americans, including four out of five older adults, routinely use dietary supplements, such as vitamins, minerals, or herbs. The dietary supplement market is now an… Continue reading →

Studies have shown numerous benefits of dark chocolate, especially for brain health. Dark chocolate may protect the brain against aging, oxidation, and inflammation. Because they boost blood flow, the compounds in dark chocolate improve memory, attention span, reaction time, and problem-solving skills. Cocoa’s flavonoids penetrate and accumulate in the brain regions involved in learning and… Continue reading →

Art can take us on an internal journey through sensation and strong emotion, or it can simply amaze us with its beauty. Our reactions to a piece of art may be varied, but there is no denying its ability to have an impact. Art may be good medicine for the soul, but it is also… Continue reading →

In a recent study that reviewed factors linked to dementia, researchers estimated that 35% could be attributed to potentially controllable risk factors. Rates of dementia have fallen by up to 20% in high-income countries such as the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada, over the past twenty years. The theory is that this decline is… Continue reading →

Researchers at Dartmouth-Hitchcock and the University of Massachusetts Boston have received a 4-year, $1.2 million grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to study if voice and language patterns captured by voice assistants, like Alexa, can be used to identify people in an early stage of dementia or cognitive impairment. They are experimenting to… Continue reading →

Dr. Peter Snyder, a professor of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Rhode Island, has been conducting research into retinal scanning technology that could detect signs of Alzheimer’s as early as 20 years before symptoms appear. Scientists are interested in the retina because it is an extension of the brain. As part of our nervous system it… Continue reading →

Mah Jongg, for those who are not familiar with it, is a game involving tiles of various “suits” and a card showing possible arrangements of tiles. In order to win, you must complete one of these arrangements before your opponents do. You need to strategize to choose one arrangement as your goal and then decide… Continue reading →

Recent research looking at the impact of lifestyle practices on dementia shows that even in people with high genetic risk, good nutrition, regular exercise, minimal alcohol intake, and not smoking lowered their likelihood of developing dementia later in life. The article, published in JAMA, described a study of almost 200,000 people which found a statistically… Continue reading →

Did you know that bacteria in our gastrointestinal tract can influence our cognitive function? In other words, what we eat and how it is digested can affect how well we think and remember! Research shows that our intestinal microbiome, which is comprised of over 100 trillion microbes (plus their genes), affects the brain. Studies of… Continue reading →