HealthyLife Articles

Tag: memory

  • Ways To Improve Brain Health

    MEDICAL NEWS

    Image of older couple dancing.

    Dancing

    Dancing offers social interaction and a distraction from the day’s stress. It’s also a great way to get aerobic exercise. Dancing challenges the mind, which supports a healthy brain.

    Running

    Studies have shown aerobic exercise like running reduces anxiety and depression. Being active may also reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

    Sleeping

    Lack of sleep hurts reasoning and problem-solving skills. Some studies suggest that sleep helps clear out toxins from the brain, helping it to stay healthy and sharp.

    Relaxation

    Deep breathing, prayer and meditation can help relax the mind and lower stress levels. Long-term stress can damage how the brain works, so coping with stress in healthy ways gives your brain a boost.

    Sources: National Institutes of Health, Alzheimer’s Association, National Alliance on Mental Illness

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • Why Memories Change

    MEDICAL NEWS

    Image of older man looking out a window thinking.

    Memory is like the old telephone game, according to researchers at Northwestern University School of Medicine. You remember when kids took turns whispering a message into the ear of the next person in line? By the time the last person spoke it out loud, the message had radically changed. It’s been altered with each retelling.

    Every time you remember an event from the past, your brain networks change in ways that can alter the later recall of the event. Thus, the next time you remember it, you might recall not the original event but what you remembered the previous time. The Northwestern study is the first to show this.

    “A memory is not simply an image produced by time traveling back to the original event-it can be an image that is somewhat distorted because of the prior times you remembered it,” said Donna Bridge, lead author of the study published in the Journal of Neuroscience. “Your memory of an event can grow less precise even to the point of being totally false with each retrieval.”

    The reason for the distortion, Bridge said, is the fact that human memories are always adapting. Take note, lawyers and eyewitnesses.

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine