Category: mind

9/18/2013 - $33 Million Grant for Effort to Prevent Late-Onset Alzheimer’s

In a significant effort to discover a treatment to prevent Alzheimer’s disease, the federal government announced on Wednesday a $33.2 million grant for a project that will test a drug on people considered at greatest risk for developing the most common form of the disease. Read the full article at The New York Times.

9/16/2013 - Why delirium in people with dementia can be deadly

More than half of all hospital patients with pre-existing dementia will also experience delirium, a condition that can lead to a faster decline of both physical and mental health. Read the full article at Futurity.

9/14/2013 - Alzheimer's research at crossroads

Experiments targeting brain plaques known as beta amyloids have come up empty, but some researchers argue that treatment must be started earlier. Read the full article at USA Today.

9/12/2013 - Poetry Project Helps Dementia Patients Live in the Moment

In this new series, “Where Poetry Lives,” Natasha Trethewey, poet laureate of the United States, and Jeffrey Brown spends time at the Alzheimer’s Poetry Project in Brooklyn. The international program works with people with dementia to try to trigger memory by playfully engaging with language. Read the full article at PBS NewsHour.

9/12/2013 - Lessons from a good death

It seems to me that dying ranks up there as one of your most important life events, right alongside being born, getting married or meeting your life partner, and having children. Most likely you put a lot of time and effort into making these other life events positive experiences (with the possible exception of being… Read more 9/12/2013 - Lessons from a good death

9/9/2013 - Video games could help aging minds stay sharp

People will try just about anything to keep their memories sharp and their minds youthful. Now, a study suggests that regularly playing a video game that requires people to multitask can improve basic cognitive functions, such as their abilities to hold a thought in mind or pay attention. Read the full article at The Boston… Read more 9/9/2013 - Video games could help aging minds stay sharp

9/6/2013 - Polishing the Gems Who Are Alzheimer's Patients

After caring for people with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease for more than 30 years, occupational therapist Teepa Snow has gained a perspective on helping those with degenerative brain disorders that few others have. Read the full article at U.S. News and World Report.

9/6/2013 - Money matters: A road map for Alzheimer's patients

As many as 5.1 million Americans have Alzheimer’s, according to the National Institute on Aging. Unless the disease can be effectively treated or prevented, that number will rise with the aging population. The institute estimates that the number of people with Alzheimer’s doubles every five years after age 65. Read the full article at CNBC.

9/4/2013 - Inventing the Rest of Our Lives: A Glass-Half-Full Frame of Mind

With age, explains Laura Carstensen, founding director of the Stanford Center on Longevity, we “are more likely to experience mixed emotions, happiness and a touch of sadness at the same time. Having mixed emotions helps to regulate emotional states better than extreme emotions.” Read the full article at AARP.

9/4/2013 - Faulty internal recycling by brain’s trash collectors may contribute to Alzheimer’s

A defective trash-disposal system in the brain’s resident immune cells may be a major contributor to neurodegenerative disease, a scientific team from the StanfordUniversity School of Medicine has found. The team was led by Center on Longevity faculty affiliate Tony Wyss-Coray. Read the full article at Stanford School of Medicine.