New research shows that spicy food—chili in particular—might lead to a greater risk of dementia. Participants who ate more than 50 grams of chili a day had a higher risk of experiencing cognitive decline with age. Researchers analyzed 4582 Chinese individuals over the age of 55 for 15 years: the…
There are two main categories of memory: short and long-term memory, which differ in what information is stored and how. Short-term memory is essentially responsible for storing temporary information and deciding what to do with it: throw it away or pass it to our long-term memory. Long-term memory, on the…
A cardinal feature of depression, like other mental health conditions such as anxiety or trauma, is difficulty with memory: remembering, recalling, and—sometimes in severe cases—recognizing people, things, tasks, memories, events, and to-dos. Often, people with depression will have great difficulty remembering where things in the house or at work may…
A recent study says emotional or traumatic events can create false memories, despite the widespread belief that traumatic events are more vivid and, therefore, reliable. The latter belief is called flashbulb memory, which says that emotional events cause us to completely capture the context of the event and our reaction…
Implicit memory is easily recalled without much effort, helping us with tasks like walking, talking, and driving a car on a regular basis, all without much effort. An Implicit Association Test was created to test our associations with particular individuals; it urges subjects to make quick judgments and often indicates…
Cognitive decline is a major concern for older adults. But those who continue to socialize and challenge their brains don’t have to worry as much. Researchers from the University of Alberta analyzed data from 882 older adults to identify factors for maintaining a healthy mind in old age. They found…
People remember more while still intoxicated than they do a week later. A University of Gothenburg study recruited 136 participants and divided them into twogroups. One group drank vodka, while the other drank juice. Participants then watched ashort film that depicted a verbal and physical altercation. Half of the participants…
Losing a loved one is always difficult, but there is a more severe form of grief—called complicated grief—which makes it hard for an individual to ever move forward with life. Complicated grief is marked by debilitating feelings that don’t resolve or improve with time; instead, they can haunt an individual…
Ever hear the expression “You can’t trust anyone but yourself”? Well, according to the research of Harvard Professor Dr. Daniel Schacter, you probably can’t trust yourself either. Schacter’s research demonstrates that there are seven problems with our abilities to recall, which he calls the “seven sins of memory.” Our memories…
This week’s theme is all about making our minds thrive, so we will first examine ways to improve your memory. No matter what age you are, memorization is an invaluable skill that needs constant care, though we don’t always think much of it. Thankfully, there are numerous ways you can…
