What You Can do to Improve Memory (and Why It Deteriorates in Old Age)

As a regular columnist for the newsletter, Sharp Brains - The Brain Fitness Authority, I have just posted an article that might interest those of you whose slipping memory reminds you that you are getting older. The article summarizes research that explains why memory often deteriorates with old age. But it does not have to decline, and the article suggests things you can do to delay or even prevent memory decline. "Eat your blueberries" is only a part of the answer. I present the evidence that as you get older your thinking style has to change. The article suggests ways to do that.

Click here to see the article. Searching on "Klemm" will lead you to other articles I have written for the brain fitness newsletter. And don't forget to order my book, which is pre-requisite to getting the most out of these blog and newsletter posts. The Website now sells it for less than Amazon.

Working Memory Training Raises IQ of Adults

I have pointed out in an earlier post how training young children to increase their working memory capacity will increase their IQ. This same phenomenon has now been demonstrated in young adults (mean age = 25.6 years).

Subjects were pre-tested on an IQ test involving visual analogy problems of increasing difficulty. Each problem presented a matrix of patterns in which one pattern was missing. The test was to identify the missing pattern from a set of alternatives. After training or a control without training, the test was repeated and scores compared.

The working memory task consisted of presenting at the same time two short series of stimuli, one visual and one auditory. The visual stimuli consisted of a small white square positioned at one of eight locations on a black screen and presented sequentially every three seconds. After seeing the series, the subject was tested with a test screen and asked to say if it matched the screen that was presented some n-number of screens earlier. This is a standard n-back paradigm often used to test working memory capacity. The n was adjusted to performance level and increased as subjects became proficient at remembering 2, then 3, etc. prior screens. A similar protocol was used for the auditory task, which involved hearing a recording of the sounds of a sequence of alphabet letters, with subjects asked to tell if a target test sound was the same as one they had heard 2, 3, or more sounds earlier.

Both working memory capacity and IQ improvements were seen in as little as 8 daily training sessions, and subjects steadily improved as training was extended to 19 days of training.

Source:

Jaeggi, S. M. et al. 2008. Improving fluid intelligence with training on working memory. Proc. Natl. Acad. Science. www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0801268105

Memory Consolidation Issues

I am one of the columnists for Sharp Brains. I just posted a review article on some key issues for memory consolidation. These deal with such subjects as over-training, forgetting of things you once knew extremely well, and the learning effects of testing. Check it out at http://www.sharpbrains.com/blog/2008/07/09/improve-memory-with-sleep-practice-and-testing/

I just released a new book, Blame Game. How To Win It. Although it is based more on general psychological principles, one of the five chapters explains how learning and memory changes the brain, chemically and structurally, and thus provides a way to change behavior permanently. The book's thesis is a five-step program for living the good life. Think of it as "debt relief" for the high costs of excuse-making. Prominent psychologists have endorsed the pre-publication version. Check it out at Amazon or at your local bookstore (official release date is July 24).

Updating Existing Memories Also Requires Consolidation

As a newly forming memory develops (see chapter on memory consolidation in my book), it is susceptible to disruption by mind wandering, other stimuli, distractions, etc. When a new memory is retrieved, a re-consolidation process will be required if updated information needs to be incorporated. Such re-consolidation involves a new round of protein synthesis in brain cells, similar to that which is needed to make the initial learning a lasting memory. Likewise, a re-consolidation process must be protected from disruptive influences if the updated information is to be integrated and consolidated with the original learning.

There is good news and bad news here. The good news is that new information can update and be integrated with old memories. Recall also my earlier post on the possible use of this principle with treatment of Post-traumatic Stress Syndrome. The bad news is that old memories become vulnerable to corruption with each new re-consolidation, leading perhaps to false memories. My book has a whole chapter on false memory.

Source: Rodriguez-Ortiz, C. J. et al. 2005. Spatial memory undergoes post-retrieval consolidation only if updating information is acquired. Soc. Neuroscience Abstract 654.20.

Omega 3 May Reduce Odds of Alzheimer’s Disease

In mice, rats, and cultured human cells, an omega-3 fatty acid found in algae called docosahexaenoic acid, or DHA, was found to decrease an important risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease. DHA increases the production of a protein vital to clearing the brain of the enzymes that make the beta amyloid plaques found in Alzheimer's disease.

Alzheimer's patients are known to have reduced levels of this protein that normally would clear the plaque-making enzymes. This data suggest that long-term use of DHA supplements might help people reduce the odds of developing Alzheimer’s disease.

The National Institutes of Health is now funding a multi-million dollar clinical study on the effects of vegetarian DHA from microalgae in slowing the progression of Alzheimer's disease. This DHA is a vegetarian form of omega-3, which supports brain, eye and cardiovascular health throughout life. I have mentioned the value for omega 3 in an earlier blog. Most people don’t get enough omega 3 in their diet. But it is not just the amount of DHA that is important, but also its ratio to another fatty acid, omega 6. A typical Western diet produces a ratio ranging from 1:10 to 1:30, where ideally it should be 1:5 to 1:3.

Fish oil is the usual source of DHA, but the algae source is vegetarian and may have fewer ocean contaminants. It is made by the Martek Biosciences Corporation (http://www.martek.com/).

Source:

Ma, Qie-Lan, et al. 2007. Omega-3 fatty acid docosahexaenoic acid increases SorLA/LR11, a sorting protein with reduced expression in sporadic Alzheimer's Disease (AD): Relevance to AD prevention. Journal of Neuroscience, 27(52):14299-14307.

Help Your Working-memory Capacity

I just read a fascinating book on increasing teacher awareness of the importance of working-memory capacity for teaching and learning strategies. Many youngsters have working memory limitations, and they usually do not grow out of them. This is a major and serious cause of low grades, poor learning skills, poor confidence, and life-long diminished motivation to learn.

Limited working-memory capacity impairs the ability to think and solve problems. I was told once by a middle-school teacher that her “special needs” students could do the same math as regular students, but they just can’t remember all the steps. This clearly reflects a limited working-memory capacity. If the demands made on working memory could be lessened, better thinking could result.

Certain strategies can help to reduce the load on working memory. Teachers should model and students should employ the following devices:

• Provide help, cues, mnemonics, reminders.

• KISS (Keep It Simple, Stupid!)(example: use short, simple sentences, present much of the instruction as pictures/diagrams).

• Don’t present so much information. Less can be more.

• Facilitate rehearsal, using only relevant information and no distractors.

• Get engaged, by taking notes, and creating diagrams and concept maps.

• Attach meaning from what is already known. (The more you know, the more you can know).

• Organize information in small categories.

• Break down tasks into small chunks. Master each chunk sequentially, one at a time.

Doing these things not only helps the thinking process, but will also promote the formation of lasting memories. The process of converting working memory into permanent form is called consolidation, and I will explain that next time.

Source:

Gathercole, Susan E., and Alloway, Tracy P. 2008. Working memory and learning. Sage Publications,. 124 pages.

Core Neuroscience Ideas

Readers of this blog who want to have a fuller understanding on how the brain achieves learning and memory may want to know about my new e-book on Core Ideas In Neuroscience.

This modular e-book is a new kind of neuroscience textbook that can liberate professors and students from the boredom of traditional lectures. The book is designed for psychology, medical, allied health, and biology students and professionals who are tired of textbooks that tell them more than they want to know and who don’t want to spend over $100 for their neuroscience book.

This is the fast and inexpensive way to get up to speed on the core ideas in neuroscience.

Benefits for students include: important things are made explicit. Less material is easier to comprehend quickly and to remember. Book’s focus on ideas promotes active learning, critical thinking, insight and understanding. Benefits for professors include: no need to worry about students missing the important information; key concepts are succinctly presented in the book. Class time can be used for more engaging material, such as discussion and debate, clinical case studies, journal club, or design of new experiments. Each of the 75 core ideas is generally treated as a 3-5 page module in which the idea is succinctly stated and explained, with key terms defined. Then, a couple of examples are given, followed by contemporary and classic references. The book has 174 study questions, 96 figures, 545 references (including 306 citation classics), and 566 e-pages. It costs only $11.95, just 16 cents per idea.