Cognitive training boosts brain health after traumatic brain injury
New research from the Center for BrainHealth at The University of Texas at Dallas shows that certain cognitive training exercises can help reduce depression and improve brain health in individuals years after they have suffered a traumatic brain injury (TBI). The recent study, published in Human Brain Mapping, revealed significant reductions in the severity of depressive symptoms, increased ability to regulate emotions, increases in cortical thickness and recovery from abnormal neural network connectivity after cognitive training.
“Stress hormone” cortisol linked to early toll on thinking ability
The stresses of everyday life may start taking a toll on the brain in relatively early middle age, new research shows. The study of more than 2,000 people, most of them in their 40s, found those with the highest levels of the stress-related hormone cortisol performed worse on tests of memory, organization, visual perception and attention. Higher cortisol levels, measured in subjects’ blood, were also found to be associated with physical changes in the brain that are often seen as precursors to Alzheimer’s disease and other forms of dementia, according to the study published in Neurology.
Always procrastinating? Your brain may be wired that way
How strong is your tendency to procrastinate? Probably not too bad if you got far enough to click on this article instead of bookmarking it for later. Then again, you might be reading this article to put off doing something more important. Either way, it may have a lot to do with the structure of your brain, according to researchers from Germany. Over 250 people were recruited to have their brains scanned as a part of the study. In addition, they were asked to fill out a survey to measure their ability to control actions and impulses, known as decision-related action orientation. This helped the researchers determine which of the participants were procrastinators.