Do Long Commutes Affect Intelligence? A five-year British study of more than 500,000 people suggests that driving for more than two hours a day may impact memory and intelligence. In the study, adults who drove 2+ hours daily began with lower cognitive scores, and their performance worsened more quickly over five years when compared to people who drove less. Find out why that might be. Turning Mice into “Winners” What makes a mouse more dominant than others? As it turns out, it’s not strength but effortful, persistent behavior, what people sometimes call “grit.” Researchers in China identified brain activity related to that quality, then sought to create more successful mice by stimulating that part of the brain. It worked: mice that had been less dominant became more dominant. Learn more about the study and its implications. Serious Snoring May Affect Brain Function A new study of 1,700 older adults showed that people with sleep-breathing disorders (such as sleep apnea) scored worse on tests of memory and attention than those that did not. What’s more, this association was even more pronounced in the 20% of people with a genetic trait that raises risk of Alzheimer’s. Learn more. Do Concussions Affect Women in the Same Way as Men? Until recently, most research on concussions has been done almost exclusively on men. Even in mice models, the mice were male. But recently, the National Institutes of Health required that female subjects become included. That means scientists are learning more about how concussions among females differ from males. One difference: women may be more susceptible to concussions. Find out more. Pinpointing Dementia for Better Care When patients present with dementia symptoms, doctors don’t always know whether it’s Alzheimer’s, another form of dementia, or something else entirely. It matters because treatment can differ from one diagnosis to another. Now, a specialized PET scan can detect the amyloid plaques that mark Alzheimer’s, allowing doctors to make better diagnoses. But is it worth the cost? Learn more. A Chance to Help Our Team and Earn a Free BrainHQ Subscription We are looking for individuals (both BrainHQ users and people who have not used the program) to meet with us in person to answer questions and provide feedback on developing BrainHQ features. This session will take about 45-60 minutes. To participate, you must be in the San Francisco Bay Area, be willing to travel to our office in the Financial District, and not require assistive devices or software to use a computer, laptop, tablet or other mobile device. If you are interested in participating, please complete the following questionnaire: https://goo.gl/forms/Sw06JGPQNRF4vrnl2 Please note, space is limited and not everyone who applies will be selected. Selected participants who complete the session will be compensated with one-year free subscription to BrainHQ for themselves or a family member! Book of the Month Welcome to Your World: How the Built Environment Shapes Our Lives (2017) by Sarah Williams Goldhagen As our population expands, we will need to build houses, office buildings, parks, and other spaces, both public and private, to keep up. But what kinds of places should we build? Architecture critic Sarah Williams Goldhagen takes the reader on a trip to architectural treasures and horrors, calling on research in neuroscience, anthropology, and psychology to understand how our built environment shapes human perception and cognition. Goldhagen makes a strong case that as we look to construct our future, we should build carefully, so that our built environment enriches, rather than harms, our emotional state, cognitive function, and social relationships. Read an interview with the author or purchase on Amazon. |