In an eight-year study of older people, those who had held mentally demanding, stimulating jobs tended to retain their mental agility better than people whose work was less stimulating.
Our sense of smell isn't simply a powerful trigger. It's a draw to scientists — and to a flourishing subculture in Los Angeles, where amateur perfumers collect fragrances like others collect stamps.
During sleep, the brain locks in existing memories and can even form new ones. Scientists say they are starting to understand how that happens. A midnight snack may interfere.
For those who think there are not enough hours in the day, researchers may have just offered you a solution. The brain can continue tasks even while asleep, a study finds. Texting not included, alas.
Childhood amnesia descends gradually — and later than you might think, researchers say. Many 7-year-olds have robust memories of experiences from when they were 3 or even younger.
Scientists have identified special cells in the brain's hippocampus that mimic a trick of some digital cameras. These cells automatically 'tag' the memory of each event in our lives with information about where that event took place — the better to recall, perhaps, where we left our lost keys.
Age-related fumbles of memory are often feared as early signs of Alzheimer's dementia, but recent research confirms an important difference. The underlying biology of the two sorts of memory loss aren't the same. And the age-related form may be reversible someday.
Research into why some people have strong memory well into old age suggests that their brains are different from their peers. Some parts of the brains of "superagers" responsible for attention, thinking and memory seem to be spared the typical age-related shrinkage.
Feeding on flowers with caffeinated nectars gives bees a memory boost, new research shows. Turns out, other studies have found humans can get a similar boost in short-term memory with caffeine — if they're exhausted.