Playing for time: Can music stave off dementia?

[BlueGin]

Keep your mind active...learn to play an instrument

*****************************************************************


(CNN) -- At 101, Frank Iacono still plays the violin. The concertmaster for the Providence Civic Orchestra of Senior Citizens in Rhode Island, he particularly enjoys playing polkas and jigs.

"It keeps my mind active, and it gives me a lot of pleasure," Iacono said.

The orchestra's executive director and co-founder, Vito Saritelli, said Iacono is extremely sharp for his age.

"Music has played a good part of his longevity," said his wife, Mary Iacono, 94. "We're blessed that we're both in good health."
Music meets medicine Music meets medicine

As scientists race to figure out how to promote healthy aging of the brain, and prevent dementia, their preliminary advice for senior citizens has become a chorus of voices: "Stay active! Have hobbies! Be socially engaged!"

Playing music, for some people, is a natural answer to all of those recommendations. Frank Iacono, for instance, has been playing violin since he was 13 -- just because he loves it.

But does music playing in particular stave off dementia? What about just listening to music? How many years do you need to engage in music before it benefits your brain?

Researchers are exploring these questions in the face of staggering statistics about the aging population. The number of Americans 65 and older with Alzheimer's is expected to triple nearly by 2050 -- 13.8 million from 5 million now. The annual cost of dementia in the United States in 2050 will be $1.2 trillion, according to the Alzheimer's Association.

Early research suggests playing music may hold back dementia symptoms by about five years -- which would be significant if it proves to be true, said Brenda Hanna-Pladdy, assistant professor of neurology at Emory University, who studies cognitive functioning among musicians.

Playing for time: Can music stave off dementia? - CNN.com

 

[whitehall]

Judging by the condition of some of the old performers in heavy metal bands it's possible that music can cause dementia.

 

[BlueGin]

Judging by the condition of some of the old performers in heavy metal bands it's possible that music can cause dementia.

That's probably just the drugs and booze.

 

[waltky]

Poverty's affect on intelligence...

Study Finds Poverty Reduces Brain Power
August 29, 2013 > Poverty and the all-consuming fretting that comes with it require so much mental energy that the poor have little brain power left to devote to other areas of life, according to the findings of an international study published on Thursday.

The mental strain could be costing poor people up to 13 IQ (intelligence quotient) points and means they are more likely to make mistakes and bad decisions that amplify and perpetuate their financial woes, researchers found. “Our results suggest that when you are poor, money is not the only thing in short supply. Cognitive capacity is also stretched thin,” said Harvard economist Sendhil Mullainathan, part of an international team that conducted the study.

In a series of experiments, researchers from Harvard, Princeton and other universities in North America and from Britain's University of Warwick found that pressing financial worries had an immediate impact on poor people's ability to perform well in cognitive and logic tests. Far from signaling that poor people are stupid, the results suggest those living on a tight budget have their effective brain power, or what the researchers called “mental bandwidth,” dramatically limited by the stress of making ends meet.

IQ dip

On average, someone weighed down by money woes showed a drop in cognitive function in one part of the study that was comparable to a 13 point dip in IQ, and similar to the performance deficit expected from someone who has missed a whole night's sleep. “Previous views of poverty have blamed [it] on personal failings, on an environment that is not conducive to success,” said Jiaying Zhao, an assistant professor of psychology at the University of British Columbia in Canada. “We are arguing that the lack of financial resources itself can lead to impaired cognitive function,” she said.

Eldar Shafir, a professor of psychology and public affairs at Princeton who worked on the research team, said it was not stress in general, but financial worries in particular, that led to a reduced ability to make sound decisions. “The poor are often highly effective at focusing on and dealing with pressing problems,” he said. “But they don't have leftover bandwidth to devote to other tasks. “So, if you live in poverty, you're more error prone and errors cost you more dearly -- it's hard to find a way out.”

Different groups, same results

See also:

Statins Could Extend Life
August 30, 2013 > Statins, long prescribed to those with high cholesterol, may actually prevent aging and extend lifespan, according to new research in the September 2012 issue of The FASEB Journal.

The research indicates that statins reduce the speed at which telomeres shorten, a key factor in the aging process. A telomere is a region of DNA strand at the end of a chromosome that protects the end of the chromosome from deterioration.

“Statins may represent a new molecular switch able to slow down senescent [aging] cells in our tissues and be able to lead healthy lifespan extension," said Giuseppe Paolisso, M.D., Ph.D., a researcher involved in the work from the Department of Internal Medicine, Surgical, Neurological Metabolic Disease and Geriatric Medicine at Second University of Naples in Naples, Italy.

Researchers worked with two volunteer groups to test statins’ effects on telomeres. One group was under statin therapy, while the second group did not use the drugs. The group using statins had higher telomerase activity in their white blood cells, which was associated with less shortening of the telomeres.

The researchers say higher telomerase activation prevents the excessive accumulation of short telomeres. "The great thing about statins is that they reduce risks for cardiovascular disease significantly and are generally safe for most people. The bad thing is that statins do have side effects, like muscle injury," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., editor-in-chief of The FASEB Journal. "But if it is confirmed that statins might actually slow aging itself—and not just the symptoms of aging—then statins are much more powerful drugs than we ever thought."

Statins Could Extend Life

 

[BlueGin]

Money woes, relationship woes,health woes etc...

Anything that is distracting you from concentrating on your daily work routine. Obviously the very wealthy have more down time and outside help than those of us in the middle of the daily grind every day. So it makes sense.

 

[waltky]

Uncle Ferd always lets Granny win when dey play a game - or she'll bop him onna head...

Video Game Boosts Brain Power of Older Adults
September 05, 2013 ~ Scientists have developed a video game for older adults that appears to improve their short-term memory and long-term focus. Seniors who play the so-called multi-tasking game develop neurological improvements rivaling those of 20-year-olds.

Peoples’ short and long-term cognitive abilities decline with each passing decade. But there is growing scientific evidence that the human brain, with the right stimulation, can be reprogrammed to counteract the effects of age. The latest research comes out of the University of California San Francisco, where researchers developed a video game for seniors called NeuroRacer. The game study involved more than a dozen 60 to 80-year-old participants, who were asked to maneuver a video-screen car at the same time that signs flashed in front of them on a screen. The signs were either relevant or irrelevant to the game play. The participants followed signs they deemed relevant and disregarded those they thought were unimportant.

Researchers began their investigation by measuring how well participants performed on one task and compared it to how well they did when a second task was added. Compared with young people who played the game once, study lead author Adam Gazzaley said in a telebriefing with reporters there was a striking improvement in multi-tasking after seniors practiced at home for one month. “Before training, they had a 65 percent drop in performance when they do the two tasks versus one task. After training, they only had a 16 percent drop in performance. And that’s better than the 20-year-olds that had a performance drop in the 27 percent range," said Gazzaley.

In this undated image provided by The Gazzaley Lab of the University of California, San Francisco, a study participant plays NeuroRacer in San Francisco.

Most striking to Gazzaley was that improvements in the seniors' brain power carried over for six months into other mental areas and without any additional game play... “..like sustained attention, which is vigilance, ability to hold your attention to something that is very boring and respond to it rapidly and accurately, that improved selectively in this group. And also working memory, their ability to hold something in mind for a short period of time and respond to it accurately and rapidly; that also improved," he said.

Although he’s reluctant to endorse commercially available video games, Gazzaley says some shooter games that focus players’ attention on a particular target could have a similar benefit. Gazzeley says his lab is in the process of developing other video games for people with attention deficit disorder and depression. An article on a video game that boosts the brain power of older individuals is published in the journal Nature.

Video Game Boosts Brain Power of Older Adults

 

[waltky]

Shortage of dementia patient caregivers...

Global Rise in Dementia Creates Caregiver Shortage
September 19, 2013 — A global rise in cases of the mind-robbing Alzheimer's disease is creating a chronic shortage of caregivers, with the number of old people dependent on care set to rise to 277 million by 2050, according to a report by a leading dementia charity.

Half of all older people who need personal care have dementia, the report by Alzheimer's Disease International (ADI) said, and governments should make dementia a priority by implementing national plans and starting urgent debate on how to ensure long-term care for future generations. Alzheimer's is a fatal brain disease that has no cure and few effective treatments. It affects memory, thinking and behavior and is placing an increasingly heavy burden on societies and economies across the world.

Cabinet magnets at the Alzheimer's Association Headquarters advertise the group's help line, Chicago, Illinois

Even now, the worldwide cost of dementia care is more than $600 billion, or around 1.0 percent of global gross domestic product, and that can only increase, ADI's report said. As the world population ages, the traditional system in the United States, Europe and around the world of "informal" care by family, friends, and community will require much greater support, it said. Globally, 13 percent of people aged 60 or over currently require long-term care. But between 2010 and 2050, the total number of older people with care needs will rise from 101 to 277 million, according to the report.

Martin Prince, a professor at King's College London's Institute of Psychiatry and author of the report, said health and social care authorities needed to recognize quickly that "people with dementia have special needs." "Compared with other long-term care users they need more personal care, more hours of care, and more supervision, all of which is associated with greater strain on caregivers, and higher costs," he said in a statement. "Their needs for care start early in the disease course, and evolve constantly over time, requiring advanced planning, monitoring, and coordination." ADI says research budgets for work on dementia, its causes, treatment and care, need to increase ten-fold to mitigate the impact of the rise in cases.

Global Rise in Dementia Creates Caregiver Shortage

 

[waltky]

There's a lotta things Granny don't find funny anymore...

Changes in sense of humor may be early sign of dementia
Nov. 11, 2015 - Preferences for slapstick, satirical, absurdist and nonexistent comedy were seen to indicate the development of dementia years before a diagnosis in a new study.

Already aware that dementia-related diseases cause changes in sense of humor, researchers at University College London found changes to what people find funny may indicate specific types of dementia years before other symptoms become apparent. Alzheimer's disease is the most well-known and leading cause of dementia, bringing with it behavioral changes and memory problems. In patients with Alzheimer's, shifts in what patients laugh at are known to happen, as is typical in most diseases that cause dementia. UCL researchers found differences in the complexity of comedy -- think Jim Carrey's slapstick humor compared to the more information- and language-based comedy of George Carlin -- appreciated by patients indicates differences between Alzheimer's disease and behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia, or FTD.

Nearly all patients in a study on comedy preferences in dementia patients were not fans of satirical or aburdist comedy such as "Monty Python," the cast of which is seen above in a 2005 curtain call for the Broadway musical "Spamalot."​

Researchers said the findings could eventually factor into methods of diagnosis, but already should "ring alarm bells" among family and clinicians who observe similar personality changes. "As sense of humor defines us and is used to build relationships with those around us, changes in what we find funny has impacts far beyond picking a new favorite TV show," said Dr. Camilla Clark, a researcher at University College London, in a press release. "Subtle differences in what we find funny could help differentiate between the different diseases that cause dementia. Humor could be a particularly sensitive way of detecting dementia because it puts demands on so many different aspects of brain function, such as puzzle solving, emotion and social awareness."

The researchers used surveys of friends and family to compare 21 healthy people with 48 who had one of four types of dementia: 15 had behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia (bvFTD); 7 had semantic dementia (SD); 10 had progressive nonfluent aphasia (PNFA), and 16 were diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD). The series of questionnaires given to friends and family asked them to rate the participants' appreciation for different types of comedy, specifically referring to popular British television shows such as the slapstick "Mr. Bean," satirical comedy shows like "Yes, Minister," and absurdist comedy such as "Monty Python." Researchers also asked about current comedy preferences, instances of inappropriate humor, and shifts in preference during the previous 15 years.

MORE

 

[Delta4Embassy]

Keep your mind active...learn to play an instrument

*****************************************************************


(CNN) -- At 101, Frank Iacono still plays the violin. The concertmaster for the Providence Civic Orchestra of Senior Citizens in Rhode Island, he particularly enjoys playing polkas and jigs.

"It keeps my mind active, and it gives me a lot of pleasure," Iacono said.

The orchestra's executive director and co-founder, Vito Saritelli, said Iacono is extremely sharp for his age.

"Music has played a good part of his longevity," said his wife, Mary Iacono, 94. "We're blessed that we're both in good health."
Music meets medicine Music meets medicine

As scientists race to figure out how to promote healthy aging of the brain, and prevent dementia, their preliminary advice for senior citizens has become a chorus of voices: "Stay active! Have hobbies! Be socially engaged!"

Playing music, for some people, is a natural answer to all of those recommendations. Frank Iacono, for instance, has been playing violin since he was 13 -- just because he loves it.

But does music playing in particular stave off dementia? What about just listening to music? How many years do you need to engage in music before it benefits your brain?

Researchers are exploring these questions in the face of staggering statistics about the aging population. The number of Americans 65 and older with Alzheimer's is expected to triple nearly by 2050 -- 13.8 million from 5 million now. The annual cost of dementia in the United States in 2050 will be $1.2 trillion, according to the Alzheimer's Association.

Early research suggests playing music may hold back dementia symptoms by about five years -- which would be significant if it proves to be true, said Brenda Hanna-Pladdy, assistant professor of neurology at Emory University, who studies cognitive functioning among musicians.

Playing for time: Can music stave off dementia? - CNN.com

Crossword puzzles, I think Tetris type games have an effect, gingko biloboa supplements. Lots of easy things that can be done to stave off mental decline. Also, learning random things continuously forms new neural connections. So tv shows like how it's made are good

 

[waltky]

Granny says, "Dat's right - get yer blood sugar checked so ya don't go goofy...

Study: Diabetes Increases Dementia Risk
December 29, 2015 - Diabetes appears to increase the risk of dementia, which affects cognition and memory, according to Australian researchers who reviewed the results of 14 studies involving more than two million people. The analysis also included data on 100,000 dementia patients.

People with Type II diabetes were found to be 60 percent more likely than people without diabetes to develop any form of dementia. In particular, they were at increased risk of vascular dementia, which affects blood flow to the brain. Experts say vascular dementia is usually the result of a series of small brain strokes. The investigators found that diabetic women were two times more likely than non-diabetics to be diagnosed with vascular dementia. The rate for women also was higher than for men with diabetes.

A woman with diabetes walks on a treadmill as part of an exercise program to help control the disease. Researchers who recently linked diabetes with cognitive and memory issues say keeping fit can help decrease the risk of vascular dementia in diabetics.​

The most common cause of dementia is Alzheimer's disease, which is marked by an accumulation of protein debris in the brain. Vascular dementia is caused by impaired blood vessels to the brain, and is more common in diabetics. The authors of the study suggest that women may be more at risk of vascular dementia because they are not treated as often as men for conditions such as high blood pressure. Elevated blood pressure contributes to heart disease.

More research is needed to understand how excess blood sugar affects blood vessels, particularly in women, according to the scientists. They emphasized that keeping fit through exercise and diet, and not smoking, can help decrease the risk of vascular dementia in diabetics. The findings were published in the journal Diabetes Care.

Study: Diabetes Increases Dementia Risk

 

[Gracie]

I'd love to learn to play the piano but I don't think my hands could handle it. I used to play one song when I was a kid...with both hands. Ma taught it to me and sis but that was when I was around 8 years old. Then they sold the old pump organ she taught us on. I don't think I can handle a guitar either. But I can play games on the playstation2! Sorta. And I play online games that are in the puzzle genre', which is good mind exercise.

 

[waltky]

Sounds like Granny at times...

Loss for words can be a rare brain disorder, not Alzheimer's
14 Feb.`16 | WASHINGTON (AP) — A mysterious brain disorder can be confused with early Alzheimer's disease although it isn't robbing patients of their memories but of the words to talk about them.

It's called primary progressive aphasia, and researchers said Sunday they're finding better ways to diagnose the little-known syndrome. That will help people whose thoughts are lucid but who are verbally locked in to get the right kind of care. "I'm using a speech device to talk to you," Robert Voogt of Virginia Beach, Virginia, said by playing a recording from a phone-sized assistive device at a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. "I have trouble speaking, but I can understand you." Even many doctors know little about this rare kind of aphasia, abbreviated PPA, but raising awareness is key to improve care — and because a new study is underway to try to slow the disease by electrically stimulating the affected brain region.

Robert Voogt uses the communication device MiniTalk to answer questions during a news conference in Washington, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016. Voogt cannot speak because he suffers from primary progressive aphasia, a brain disorder sometimes confused with Alzheimer's.​

PPA wasn't identified as a separate disorder until the 1980s, and while specialists estimate thousands of Americans may have it, there's no good count. Families may not even seek care because they assume a loved one's increasingly garbled attempts to communicate are because of age-related dementia, said Dr. Argye Elizabeth Hillis of Johns Hopkins University. Often, it's when those people reach neurologists who realize they aren't repeating questions or forgetting instructions that the diagnosis emerges. "Nobody's talking to them, nobody's involving them. It's very sad," said Dr. Margaret Rogers of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. Yet for many, "they can handle their own finances, they can drive, they can appreciate music. There's a lot that still works for them."

Dr. Argye Elizabeth Hillis of John Hopkins Hospital, with her patient Robert Voogt, left, speaks to The Associated Press during an interview in Washington, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016. Voogt suffers from primary progressive aphasia, a brain disorder. Families may not even seek care because they assume a loved one's increasingly garbled attempts to communicate are because of age-related dementia, said Hillis.​

Speech and language are hugely complex. Just to speak requires activating 100 muscles between the lungs and lips to produce at least 14 distinct sounds per second, said Dr. Joseph Duffy of the Mayo Clinic. Stroke or brain injury patients often have trouble making sounds or retrieving words. PPA occurs for a different reason, because the brain regions that control language become diseased and degenerate, resulting in communication difficulties that may mimic broader dementia. Special MRI scans can tell the difference, Hillis said. They also can help identify whose aphasia will worsen faster, and who has a subtype that can morph to become Alzheimer's-like, where they eventually do lose memory and the ability to understand language.

[center][img]http://l3.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/20nxqoCmIy_eUZxXT5DWxw--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3NfbGVnbztmaT1maWxsO2g9Njc1O2lsPXBsYW5lO3B5b2ZmPTA7cT03NTt3PTk2MA--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/ap_webfeeds/e9490d8b2a5b7508900f6a7067000bd5.jpg
Dr. Argye Elizabeth Hillis of John Hopkins Hospital, talks to her patient Robert Voogt, left, as she speaks to The Associated Press during an interview in Washington, Sunday, Feb. 14, 2016. Voogt suffers from primary progressive aphasia, a brain disorder. Families may not even seek care because they assume a loved one's increasingly garbled attempts to communicate are because of age-related dementia, said Hillis.[/center]

Standard language therapy has patients match pictures to the correct word, to keep the wiring involved as active as possible. Now, Hillis' team is testing if a kind of brain stimulation that sends electrical signals through the skull can rev up the effects of that treatment. In the first 19 patients tested, people did better retrieving the right words for about two months after receiving the electrical stimulation than when they received sham zaps with their regular therapy, Hillis reported Sunday. They were more able to name objects they hadn't practiced, and brain scans showed better connectivity in the affected region. But it will take far more study to prove if the treatment produces lasting effects, she cautioned.

MORE

 

[waltky]

Worsening depression 'link to dementia'...

Worsening depression 'may predict dementia risk'
Sat, 30 Apr 2016 - Increasing symptoms of depression in older age could indicate early signs of dementia, say scientists.

Other patterns of symptoms, such as chronic depression, appear not to be linked, a study found. Dutch researchers looked at different ways depression in older adults progressed over time and how this related to any risk. They concluded worsening depression may signal the condition is taking hold. The research, published in The Lancet Psychiatry, followed more than 3,000 adults aged 55 and over living in the Netherlands. All had depression but no symptoms of dementia at the start of the study.

A link between depression and dementia has been known for some time​

Dr M Arfan Ikram of the Erasmus University Medical Center in Rotterdam said depressive symptoms that gradually increase over time appear to be a better predictor of dementia later in life than other paths of depression. "There are a number of potential explanations, including that depression and dementia may both be symptoms of a common underlying cause, or that increasing depressive symptoms are on the starting end of a dementia continuum in older adults," he said. Only the group whose symptoms of depression increased over time were found to be at increased risk of dementia - about one in five of people (55 out of 255) in this group developed dementia. Others who had symptoms that waxed and waned or stayed the same were not at increased risk. For example, in those who experienced low but stable levels of depression, around 10% went on to develop dementia.

Prevention strategies?

The exact nature of depression on dementia risk remains unknown. They often occur together, but the Dutch study is among the first to look at different patterns of depression symptoms. Dr Simone Reppermund from the Centre for Healthy Brain Ageing at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, said more studies were needed to understand the link. "A focus on lifestyle factors such as physical activity and social networks, and biological risk factors such as vascular disease, neuroinflammation, high concentrations of stress hormones, and neuropathological changes, might bring new treatment and prevention strategies a step closer," she wrote in a linked editorial in the journal. Depression varies greatly from one person to another. Some experience depressive symptoms only briefly, others have remitting and relapsing depression and some people are depressed all the time.

Dr Simon Ridley, director of research at Alzheimer's Research UK, said anyone concerned about either condition should seek help. "The findings suggest that low levels of depression or fluctuating symptoms may not affect dementia risk but that a worsening of symptoms in the over-55s may be an early indicator of diseases like Alzheimer's," he said. "It's important to remember that only a relatively small number of people experiencing symptoms of depression went on to develop dementia during this 11-year study, but anyone concerned about either condition should talk to their GP."

Worsening depression 'may predict dementia risk' - BBC News