Lifelong brain-stimulating habits linked to lower Alzheimer's protein levels

Lifelong brain-stimulating habits linked to lower Alzheimer's protein levels: People who have made mental engagement a lifelong habit have lower levels of a key protein linked to Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study by neuroscientists. The findings could provide support for cognitive therapies to help prevent the onset of a debilitating disease.

Rodrigo y Gabriela Return to Mexico City in Triumph

Rodrigo y Gabriela Return to Mexico City in Triumph: The Mexican-born guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela, after honing skills and an eclectic style abroad, are welcomed by fans in their hometown, Mexico City.

Solar Eruption Triggers Strongest Radiation Storm in 7 Years - Mashable

Solar Eruption Triggers Strongest Radiation Storm in 7 Years - Mashable:

National Geographic

Solar Eruption Triggers Strongest Radiation Storm in 7 Years Mashable A huge eruption on the Sun has caused the strongest radiation storm since 2005, which is due to hit Earth on Tuesday, Jan 24, possibly causing widespread communications interference. The eruption occurred late on January 22, 2012 sending a burst of ... Huge solar eruption to reach Earth todayTG Daily Largest Solar Radiation Storm in Six Years Headed Toward EarthBusinessWeek Astronauts in Space Safe from Huge Solar Radiation StormSpace.com Fox News -Los Angeles Times -USA TODAY all 690 news articles »

Genetic contributions to stability and change in intelligence from childhood to old age

Genetic contributions to stability and change in intelligence from childhood to old age:

Genetic contributions to stability and change in intelligence from childhood to old age

Nature advance online publication 18 January 2012. doi:10.1038/nature10781

Authors: Ian J. Deary, Jian Yang, Gail Davies, Sarah E. Harris, Albert Tenesa, David Liewald, Michelle Luciano, Lorna M. Lopez, Alan J. Gow, Janie Corley, Paul Redmond, Helen C. Fox, Suzanne J. Rowe, Paul Haggarty, Geraldine McNeill, Michael E. Goddard, David J. Porteous, Lawrence J. Whalley, John M. Starr & Peter M. Visscher

Understanding the determinants of healthy mental ageing is a priority for society today. So far, we know that intelligence differences show high stability from childhood to old age and there are estimates of the genetic contribution to intelligence at different ages. However, attempts to discover whether genetic causes contribute to differences in cognitive ageing have been relatively uninformative. Here we provide an estimate of the genetic and environmental contributions to stability and change in intelligence across most of the human lifetime. We used genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data from 1,940 unrelated individuals whose intelligence was measured in childhood (age 11 years) and again in old age (age 65, 70 or 79 years). We use a statistical method that allows genetic (co)variance to be estimated from SNP data on unrelated individuals. We estimate that causal genetic variants in linkage disequilibrium with common SNPs account for 0.24 of the variation in cognitive ability change from childhood to old age. Using bivariate analysis, we estimate a genetic correlation between intelligence at age 11 years and in old age of 0.62. These estimates, derived from rarely available data on lifetime cognitive measures, warrant the search for genetic causes of cognitive stability and change.

Learning the Exception to the Rule: Model-Based fMRI Reveals Specialized Representations for Surprising Category Members

Learning the Exception to the Rule: Model-Based fMRI Reveals Specialized Representations for Surprising Category Members:

Category knowledge can be explicit, yet not conform to a perfect rule. For example, a child may acquire the rule "If it has wings, then it is a bird," but then must account for exceptions to this rule, such as bats. The current study explored the neurobiological basis of rule-plus-exception learning by using quantitative predictions from a category learning model, SUSTAIN, to analyze behavioral and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data. SUSTAIN predicts that exceptions require formation of specialized representations to distinguish exceptions from rule-following items in memory. By incorporating quantitative trial-by-trial predictions from SUSTAIN directly into fMRI analyses, we observed medial temporal lobe (MTL) activation consistent with 2 predicted psychological processes that enable exception learning: item recognition and error correction. SUSTAIN explains how these processes vary in the MTL across learning trials as category knowledge is acquired. Importantly, MTL engagement during exception learning was not captured by an alternate exemplar-based model of category learning or by standard contrasts comparing exception and rule-following items. The current findings thus provide a well-specified theory for the role of the MTL in category learning, where the MTL plays an important role in forming specialized category representations appropriate for the learning context.