Memory and Cognition. Anthony Mander Lancaster House Oldham

Transcription

1 Memory and Cognition Anthony Mander Lancaster House Oldham

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3 Three stages of memory Encoding Put in memory Storage Maintain in memory Retrieval Recover from memory

4 Memory Short-Term Long-Term Encoding Storage Retrieval Encoding Storage Retrieval acousti c visual Fades quickly Limited capacity 7chunks +/- 2 displacement And decay Adding meaningfull connections Consolidation Retrieval failures Interference; Search and activation models Role of hippocampus

5 Memory Short-Term Encoding Storage Retrieval acoustic visual Fades quickly Limited capacity 7chunks +/- 2 displacement And decay

6 SRUOY YLERECNIS

7 SINCERELY YOURS

8 Memory Long-Term (Explicit) Encoding Storage Retrieval Adding meaningfull connections Retrieval failures Interference; Search and activation models Consolidation Role of hippocampus

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10 The Great Divide

11 Anterior Commisure The anterior commissure a more primitive connection between hemispheres links unconcious areas only

12 The Sexual Brain he INAH3 ypothalamic Nucleus.5 x male/female

13 The Corpus Callosum A thick band of Axons - approx 80 million which connect the brain cells in one hemisphere to those in the other. The two sides keep up a constant communication via this neural bridge

14 Different Cognitive Styles Women Score better then men on some language tests Show a faster rate of language development Have a lower risk of developmental dysphasia Score better then men on some tests of social judgement, empathy and co-operation Are better at matching items Are better at test that involve generating ideas

15 Early cognitive impairment [E C I] This condition involves a loss of brain function that steadily progresses over the years, ending in Alzheimer s disease or other forms of dementia. Affects around 500,000 Britons???

16 Early cognitive impairment [E C I] tests available, effective measures to prevent or postpone further impairment before the damage is done

17 Early cognitive impairment [E C I] cognitive function tests computerized cognitive function tests

18 Automation of Cognitive Tests Is the only way to definitively assess attention and recognition memory Increases sensitivity Rules out inter-rater reliability problems Permits automatic collection of responses Maximises integrity of data Saves time and effort in reporting

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20 Early cognitive impairment [E C I] There are no prescription drugs as yet to treat ECI

21 Enhancement to memory with a ginkgo/ginseng combination Combination shown to selectively and significantly enhance ability to store and retrieve information in working and secondary memory. No effects on attention or speed of retrieval from memory Effects seen in 4 acute and chronic dosing trials conducted in UK, Holland and Sweden in healthy young and middle aged volunteers Wesnes K, Faleni RA, Hefting NR, et al (1997). The cognitive, subjective and physical effects of a Ginkgo biloba/panax ginseng combination in healthy volunteers with neurasthenic complaints. Psychopharmacology Bulletin 33, Wesnes KA, Ward T, McGinty A, Petrini O. (2000) The memory enhancing effects of a Ginkgo biloba/panax ginseng combination in healthy middle aged volunteers. Psychopharmacology, 152: Kennedy DO, Scholey AB and Wesnes KA (2001). Differential, dose dependent changes in cognitive performance following acute administration of a Ginkgo biloba / Panax ginseng combination to healthy young volunteers. Nutritional Neuroscience, Vol 4 : Kennedy DO, Scholey AB, Wesnes K (2002). Modulation of cognition and mood following administration of single doses of Ginkgo biloba, Ginseng and a Ginkgo/Ginseng combination to healthy young adults. Physiology & Behaviour 75: 1-13.

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23 Early cognitive impairment [E C I] EITHER avoid many of the factors that can potentially damage memory smoking, drinking, eating the wrong food OR ENCOURAGE factors that are are good for memory dietary and nutritional use it or loose it

24 Early cognitive impairment [E C I] ways of alleviating or postponing age-related memory loss all about keeping as much of your hippocampus as possible Oxford Project To Investigate Memory and Ageing (OPTIMA), where the cognitive function of hundreds of healthy and impaired volunteers has been intensively studied since the late Eighties

25 Early cognitive impairment [E C I] By exercising and challenging your memory, you can postpone agerelated memory loss.

26 Early cognitive impairment [E C I] It s this part of the brain that controls memory. While normal ageing involves shrinking of the hippocampus by 1% a year from our forties onwards, it can become as much as 15% for Alzheimer s sufferers.

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29 maintain a robust hippo-campus. tango dancing as an activity which reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer s by an astonishing 75% the same being true of playing either chess or the piano. These, it seems, demand an unusual combination of multi-tasking-- mixing mental and physical activities, thereby helping to maintain a robust hippo-campus

30 Early cognitive impairment [E C I] Testosterone body of evidence to suggest that men with low testosterone levels are more at risk of the disease

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32 Early cognitive impairment [E C I] homocysteine levels high homocysteine levels normally only occur in people with low vitamin B levels one in 10 people inherit a gene, MTHFR, that reduces the body s ability to process homocysteine whatever the level of B vitamins

33 The New Bad Boy - Homocysteine a decade ago, little interest in homocysteine. Now rivals elevated blood cholesterol as a major contributor to heart disease. Stroke cognitive function, alzheimer s,dementia. fractures

34 Homocysteine Before 1993, most cases of high circulating homocysteine were thought to be of genetic origin

35 Homocysteine Most mildly elevated homocysteine in elderly populations is linked to low vitamin B status. The body requires folate, vitamin B 6, and vitamin B12 to convert homocysteine to other amino acids that aren t toxic to the lining of blood vessels. Blood folate levels appeared to have the most influence on homocysteine levels.

36 Homocysteine high levels relate to: low vitamin B 6 a riboflavin (B2) intake, high alcohol intake high caffeine intake smoking hypertension

37 Homocysteine Men and women who had blood homocysteine levels over 12 mmol/l were more than twice as likely to have experienced a heart attack or stroke. third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, NHANES III

38 Homocysteine BUT- homocysteine not related to heart attack or stroke in pre-menopausal women, whereas the relationship was strong in men of the same age. Conversely, the relationship faded among the older men and surfaced among postmenopausal women

39 Homocysteine Estrogen helps keep homocysteine levels down. Pre menopausal women, those who use oral contraceptives, and pregnant women all have lower blood homocysteine than men and post menopausal women except those who take estrogen replacement!!

40 Homocysteine 8,400 people ranging in age from 17 to over 70 years (NHANES III.) higher estrogen status is associated with a decreased mean serum homocysteine concentration Estrogen may explain the previously reported differences in homocysteine concentrations between males and females.

41 Homocysteine association between memory loss and elevated homocysteine levels high folate levels appeared to protect from memory loss even if homocysteine levels are high

42 Homocysteine & Bone The quarter of men whose homocysteine concentrations were highest were nearly four times as likely to later break a hip as were the quarter of men with lowest blood homocysteine. Women with the most homocysteine were about twice as likely to break a hip as were women with the least ( Framingham Study.) Men and women with the highest homocysteine concentrations were roughly twice as likely to have broken a hip or other bone frequently fractured in elderly people as were those with lower homocysteine People with the highest and lowest homocysteine readings don t have appreciably different bone densities, even though the high homocysteine group have more fractures. WHY? effect on collagen - a possible explanation. In vitro studies indicate that homocysteine weakens the cross-linking between collagen fibers in bone, ligaments and tendons,

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44 maintain a robust hippo-campus. tango dancing as an activity which reduces the risk of developing Alzheimer s by an astonishing 75% the same being true of playing either chess or the piano. These, it seems, demand an unusual combination of multi-tasking-- mixing mental and physical activities, thereby helping to maintain a robust hippo-campus

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