(Press-News.org) At least one part of the human brain may be able to process information the same way in older age as it does in the prime of life, according to new research conducted at the University of Adelaide.
A study compared the ability of 60 older and younger people to respond to visual and non-visual stimuli in order to measure their "spatial attention" skills.
Spatial attention is critical for many aspects of life, from driving, to walking, to picking up and using objects.
"Our studies have found that older and younger adults perform in a similar way on a range of visual and non-visual tasks that measure spatial attention," says Dr Joanna Brooks, who conducted the study as a Visiting Research Fellow with the University of Adelaide's School of Psychology and the School of Medicine.
"Both younger (aged 18-38 years) and older (55-95 years) adults had the same responses for spatial attention tasks involving touch, sight or sound.
"In one task, participants were asked to feel wooden objects whilst blindfolded and decide where the middle of the object was – participants' judgements were significantly biased towards the left-hand side of the true object centre. This bias is subtle but highly consistent," Dr Brooks says.
"When we think of ageing, we think not just of the physical aspects but also the cognitive side of it, especially when it comes to issues such as reaction time, which is typically slower among older adults. However, our research suggests that certain types of cognitive systems in the right cerebral hemisphere – like spatial attention – are 'encapsulated' and may be protected from ageing," she says.
Dr Brooks, who is now a Research Fellow in Healthy Ageing based at the Australian National University, recently presented her results at the 12th International Cognitive Neuroscience Conference in Brisbane. Her project is part of an international collaboration with scientists at the University of Edinburgh and Queen Margaret University in Scotland to better understand spatial attention in the human brain.
"Our results challenge current models of cognitive ageing because they show that the right side of the brain remains dominant for spatial processing throughout the entire adult lifespan," Dr Brooks says. "We now need to better understand how and why some areas of the brain seem to be more affected by ageing than others."
Dr Brooks' research could also be helpful in better understanding how diseases such as Alzheimer's affect the brain.
INFORMATION:
Media contact:
Dr Joanna Brooks
Visiting Research Fellow
School of Medicine
The University of Adelaide
Research Fellow in Healthy Ageing
Australian National University
Phone: +61 2 6125 8772
joanna.brooks@adelaide.edu.au
Part of the brain stays 'youthful' into older age
2014-08-07
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
Dimethyl fumarate for MS: Added benefit is not proven
2014-08-07
Dimethyl fumarate (trade name: Tecfidera) has been approved since January 2014 for adults with relapsing remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). In an early benefit assessment pursuant to the Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal Products (AMNOG), the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) has examined whether this new drug for MS offers an added benefit over the appropriate comparator therapy specified by the Federal Joint Committee (G-BA). However, no added benefit can be determined, as no suitable data are available, neither for the direct ...
Growing human GI cells may lead to personalized treatments
2014-08-07
AUDIO:
Washington University scientists have developed a method to grow human intestinal epithelial cells from tiny biopsies that are collected from patients during routine screening procedures like colonoscopies. They say the...
Click here for more information.
A method of growing human cells from tissue removed from a patient's gastrointestinal (GI) tract eventually may help scientists develop tailor-made therapies for inflammatory bowel disease and other GI conditions.
Reporting ...
Can a new species of frog have a doppelganger? Genetics say yes
2014-08-07
LAWRENCE — Recently, Malaysian herpetologist Juliana Senawi puzzled over an unfamiliar orange-striped, yellow-speckled frog she'd live-caught in swampland on the Malay Peninsula.
She showed the frog to Chan Kin Onn, a fellow herpetologist pursuing his doctorate at the University of Kansas. They wondered — was this striking frog with an appearance unlike others nearby in the central peninsula an unidentified species?
Poring over records to find out, the researchers saw that a comparable frog had been collected in the area 10 years earlier, but written off then as a ...
Losing weight won't make you happy
2014-08-07
Weight loss significantly improves physical health but effects on mental health are less straightforward, finds new UCL research funded by Cancer Research UK.
In a study of 1,979 overweight and obese adults in the UK, people who lost 5% or more of their initial body weight over four years showed significant changes in markers of physical health, but were more likely to report depressed mood than those who stayed within 5% of their original weight.
The research, published in PLOS ONE, highlights the need to consider mental health alongside physical health when losing ...
Poor hearing confines older adults to their homes
2014-08-07
Vision and hearing problems reduce the active participation of older people in various events and activities. This was observed in two studies carried out by the Gerontology Research Center.
Impaired vision and hearing make it difficult to interact in social situations. However, social relationships and situations in which there is an opportunity to meet and interact with other people are important for older adults' quality of life.
– Sensory impairments are common among older adults. About one third of Europeans aged 50 and older were found to have impairment in hearing, ...
NASA sees Typhoon Halong approaching Japan
2014-08-07
NASA's Terra satellite grabbed a look at Typhoon Halong as it was nearing the Japanese islands of Minamidaito and Kitadaito and headed for a landfall in the main islands of southern Japan.
The MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) instrument aboard NASA's Terra satellite captured a visible image of Typhoon Halong on August 7 at 02:35 UTC, as it continued approaching southern Japan. The image showed thunderstorms tightly wrapped around the center of circulation. In addition there was a large, thick band of thunderstorms that wrapped into the center from ...
Caffeine intake associated with lower incidence of tinnitus
2014-08-07
Boston, MA – New research from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) finds that higher caffeine intake is associated with lower rates of tinnitus, often described as a ringing or buzzing sound in the ear when there is no outside source of the sounds, in younger and middle-aged women. This research is published in the August issue of the American Journal of Medicine.
In this prospective study, which followed more than 65,000 women in the Nurses' Health Study II, researchers tracked self-reported results regarding lifestyle and medical history from these women, aged 30 to ...
UTHealth researchers find infectious prion protein in urine of patients with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
2014-08-07
HOUSTON – (August 7, 2014) – The misfolded and infectious prion protein that is a marker for variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease – linked to the consumption of infected cattle meat – has been detected in the urine of patients with the disease by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) Medical School.
The results of the international study, led by Claudio Soto, Ph.D., professor of neurology at the UTHealth Medical School, are published in the Aug. 7 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease ...
Study shows Asian carp could establish in Lake Erie with little effect to fishery
2014-08-07
According to a study published in the journal Conservation Biology by a group of scientists from the University of Notre Dame, Resources for the Future, U.S. Forest
Service, University of Michigan and the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Laboratory,
if bighead and silver carp were to establish in Lake Erie, local fish biomass is not likely
to change beyond observations recorded in the last 3 decades.
"Bighead and silver carp will continue to have access to the Great Lakes—
it is important understand what the consequences could be if they were to establish"
Marion ...
Should women 'man up' for male-dominated fields?
2014-08-07
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Women applying for a job in male-dominated fields should consider playing up their masculine qualities, indicates new research by Michigan State University scholars that's part of a series of studies on bias in the hiring process.
In a laboratory experiment, women who described themselves using masculine-like traits (assertive, independent, achievement oriented) were evaluated as more fitting for the job than those who emphasized female-like traits (warmth, supportiveness, nurturing).
"We found that 'manning up' seemed to be an effective strategy, ...