Brain Health & Aging

The Cardiovascular System and the Brain: How Inflammation May be Linked to Heart Disease and Depression

Research shows that people who have a heart attack are at a significantly higher risk for experiencing depression. Scientists are now further investigating whether these conditions share common genetic factors or shared environmental factors. To determine the connection between the two conditions, Dr. Golam Khandaker and Dr. Stephen Burgess led a team of r...

Exploring New Ways to Detect the Onset of Alzheimer’s Disease

Diagnosing Alzheimer's Disease before the onset of debilitating symptoms like cognitive decline could transform the lives of millions of people worldwide. However, researchers are faced with a major challenge: To develop viable treatments, they need to study patients who are in the early stages in order to determine the efficacy of a proposed intervention. Ho...

How Light and Sound Therapy May Reverse Signs of Alzheimer’s

Given that the burden of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) in the U.S. is expected to double by 2060, many scientists are trying to find ways to reverse the key signs of Alzheimer’s in the brain. Researchers at MIT are exploring how a noninvasive treatment that induces brain waves known as gamma oscillations might help. At MIT’s Picow...

Mediterranean-Style Diets and Cognitive Function in Older Adults

Researchers consider the Mediterranean diet and the MIND diet (Mediterranean‐DASH diet Intervention for Neurodegeneration Delay), two of the healthiest choices for older adults due to their connection with enhanced cognitive function. A study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society compared the cognitive performance of those who ate the ...

Can Kirtan Kriya Meditation Improve Memory and Cognitive Function in Older Adults?

Some people believe that forgetfulness is a part of the aging process, while others think it could be a sign of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). However, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) disproves the myth that memory loss is a normal part of aging and the National Institute on Aging (NIA) confirms that not all people with memory problems have ...

Minorities are expected to have the largest increase in Alzheimer’s disease, related dementias by 2060

The burden of Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) is expected to double by 2060, with minorities having the largest projected increase, according to a new study from the Center for Disease Control (CDC). ADRD affected 5 million people as of 2014 in the U.S., which was 1.6 percent of the population. By 2060, this figure is projected to grow ...

September is World Alzheimer's Month

September 2018 is the seventh annual World Alzheimer’s Month, an international campaign to raise dementia awareness and challenge stigma. According to Alzheimer’s Disease International, someone in the world develops dementia every three seconds. Worldwide, there are over 50 million people living with dementia in 2018; if effective risk-reduction strategi...

Exercise and Aging: You're Never Too Old to Benefit

Do you think you’re too old to exercise? According to Dr. John Ratey, Harvard psychiatrist and author of Go Wild and Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, it's never too late to get in shape. At the 2017 BrainFutures conference, Dr. Ratey confirmed that you can stave off the aging process and prevent chronic diseases by exercising regu...