A new study published in Neurobiology of Learning and Memory reveals that intense intervals of exercise including weight training, in which the maximum aerobic potential is met, will consistently boost brain power. For example, it was found that two 3-minute sprints spaced 2 minutes apart to the point of maximum yields a 20% faster vocabulary [...]

The results of studies show that the prevalence and incidence of dimentia continue to rise Incident dimentia was almost identical in terms of the percentage of men and women. The number of people with dimentia has risen to 35 milion up from 24 million in 2004. A statistical analysis of the numbers shows that dimentia [...]

I am a video game lover. Not an addict-yet, a lover. For those who have seen SHUTTER ISLAND the world inside my head is like that inside the head of Leonardo DiCaprio. Worth seeing. I dream of games which will, by their sheer brilliance and capacity to understand societal dilemmas, lift us from our downward [...]

Two nights ago, I went to see Avatar. Although I had tempered expectation, in the end, I must admit that I became totally immersed in the film beginning to end. There were things about the film I did not like. The dialogue was riddled with clichés and the moralistic themes were over done.
There was, however, [...]

A Belgian man thought diagnosed as comatose for 23 years after a near-fatal crash was actually conscious and paralyzed the whole time. The false diagnosis case raises serious questions about those diagnosed as vegetative and for those removed from life support. Rom Houben could hear every word his doctors spoke but could not speak to [...]

In July 2009, a Beluga whale named Mila saved 26-year-old Yang Yun when her legs froze up during a free dive competition in Mila’s arctic aquarium home. When Yang tried to surface, she realized that she couldn’t move her legs and she began sinking. She thought “that was it for me – I was dead, [...]

Researchers have founf a molecular switch that can prevent the development of fatal Huntington’s in mice. Huntington’s is a neurological condition caused by a mutation of a gene that codes a brain protein known as huntingtin. It is characterized by uncontrolled jerking movements and stuttering. According to a study published in NEURON, a chemical modification [...]

The new Hollywood film EXTRAORDINARY MEASURES, starring Harrison Ford as a brilliant scientist, opens Friday and is based on a true story taking place at Genzyme Corporation in Cambridge. It is about the treatment developed for Pompe disease, a rare enzyme deficiency. Genzyme created Myozyme using in house research. Boston Globe staffer Geeta Anand [...]

According to the Journal of Neurology and Psychiatry, the niacin in peanuts, when eaten regularly, provides protection against Alzheimer’s disease. The study, conducted on 3000 men 65 or older found that those getting 22mgs of niacin a day were 70% less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease than those consuming 13 mgs. In addition, peanut butter [...]

Mounting evidence from rigorous scientific studies reveals that power napping boosts mental performance, information processing, learning, reduces burnout and increases test scores significantly. Studies funded by The National Institute of Mental Health, overseen by Alan Hobson M.D. at Harvard show that a midday nap reverses information overload and increases learning, memory and motor skill by over 20%. [...]