The Tangled Neuron

Ginkgo Fails Again

Late last year, initial results from GEMS, the Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory Study, showed that ginkgo did not prevent older people from developing Alzheimer’s or other dementias during a six year follow up period.

But did it help prevent smaller changes in memory and thinking in study participants?  What about the milder memory loss considered normal with aging?  In an analysis of GEMS data published this week, ginkgo failed to slow these smaller declines in memory as well.

Speaking Our Minds: Book Review

Thoughtful.  Dignified.  Funny.  That’s how I would describe the seven people profiled in the new edition of Lisa Snyder’s Speaking Our Minds: What It's Like to Have Alzheimer's.  Lisa is a clinical social worker at the University of California, San Diego’s Shiley Marcos Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, and the editor of the Perspectives newsletter.

There’s not a lot about loss of self or long goodbyes in the stories of these seven men and women.  In their own words, they tell how Alzheimer’s has changed their relationships, their daily routines and their philosophies.  Lisa’s own narrative, woven around each story, adds context.

You can read Lisa’s thoughts on what we can learn from people with Alzheimer’s and why she published this revised edition in our Q & A with Lisa Snyder.

More Evidence Linking Sports-Related Head Injury to Memory Loss

Today's New York Times has a good article on brain injury and memory loss in a professional hockey player.

Alzheimer's Clinical Trial Setbacks

A clinical trial of an Alzheimer’s treatment has failed, and another has been modified due to serious side effects.

Surgery and Memory Loss Revisited

Judging by the comments on my previous post on surgery, anesthesia and memory loss, it's common to have cognitive problems after surgery.  But a new study by researchers at University of Washington in St. Louis shows that surgery does not necessarily lead to memory loss.

These results conflict with those of other studies, and more research is needed.

Analyzing a Famous Brain

The Brain Observatory, a lab based at the University of California, San Diego, studies the structure of the human brain.   Its new project – analyzing the brain of a man who developed amnesia in 1957 after surgery to treat seizures – is generating a lot of publicity.