Religion and attention allocation

Cognition — Tags: , — 7:30 am
Religion and attention allocation
The Netherlands and UK researchers reported their results of attention task studies (Religion and the Attentional Blink: Depth of faith predicts depth of the blink. Frontiers in Cognition, September 2010). They worked with two groups similar in cultural upbringing, with no group differences for age, mood, personality traits and IQ. One groups consisted of Atheistic, the other of Dutch Calvinists. The tool researchers measured what they called “Attention Allocation” was Attention Blink (AB):
Participants had to identify and report two digits presented in a rapid stream of letter distractors. The second digit was presented wither immediately after the first, or could be separated by several distraction cards.
The First digit was reported equally well by both groups with more correct results when the two digits were separated by longer time lags. However, the second digit, though equally well reported by short and long lags, was correct in 75% presentations in the Atheist group but only in 60% presentations in the Dutch Calvinists group.
The authors offer a very interesting discussion from the standpoints of East-West, collectivistic-individualistic, and wholistic-reductionistic cognitive differences between theri experimental groups.

The Netherlands and UK researchers reported their results of attention task studies (Religion and the Attentional Blink: Depth of faith predicts depth of the blink. Frontiers in Cognition, September 2010).

They worked with two groups similar in cultural upbringing, with no group differences for age, mood, personality traits and IQ. One groups consisted of Atheistic, the other of Dutch Calvinists. The tool researchers measured what they called “Attention Allocation” was Attention Blink (AB):

Participants had to identify and report two digits presented in a rapid stream of letter distractors. The second digit was presented wither immediately after the first, or could be separated by several distraction cards.

The First digit was reported equally well by both groups with more correct results when the two digits were separated by longer time lags. However, the second digit, though equally well reported by short and long lags, was correct in 75% presentations in the Atheist group but only in 60% presentations in the Dutch Calvinists group.

The authors offer a very interesting discussion from the standpoints of East-West, collectivistic-individualistic, and wholistic-reductionistic cognitive differences between theri experimental groups.

How can calorie restriction improve brain function?

Age-protection, Calorie restriction — Tags: , , — 8:32 am
How can calorie restriction improve brain function
Researchers at the Internal Medicine & Gerontology and INSERM, Toulouse, France pointed to an array of ways that hopefully can lead to real managing of age-related diseases of the brain. They all concern calorie restriction. Thus, according to the review published by the Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care, calorie restriction (CR) can protect the brain by the following mechanisms:
1. It’s a new way to improve brain health via induction of neurogenesis
2. It affects the risk for neurodegenerative disorders by increasing resistance to oxidative, metabolic or excitotoxic injuries
3. It results particularly in the upregulation of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in hippocampal and cortical neurons of rats and mice, which may protect neurons against excitotoxic, oxidative and metabolic insults
4. It may prevent beta-amyloid neuropathology
5. It promote neuronal plasticity
The authors conclude: “It is now well established that caloric restriction could be used to promote successful brain aging. Data from randomized controlled trials in humans are limited. No positive effect on cognitive impairment was found probably due to methodological limitations. The long-term effects of caloric restriction in adults must be clarified before engaging in such preventive strategy. Additional animal studies must be conducted in the future to test the effects of ‘multidomain’ interventions (caloric restriction plus regular exercise) on age-related cognitive decline”
Source:
S. Gillette-Guyonneta, and B. VellasaCaloric restriction and brain function. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care 2008, 11:686–692

Researchers at the Internal Medicine & Gerontology and INSERM, Toulouse, France pointed to an array of ways that hopefully can lead to a real management of age-related diseases of the brain. They all concern calorie restriction. Thus, according to the review published by the Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care, calorie restriction (CR) can protect the brain by the following mechanisms:

1. It’s a new way to improve brain health via induction of neurogenesis

2. It affects the risk for neurodegenerative disorders by increasing resistance to oxidative, metabolic or excitotoxic injuries

3. It results particularly in the upregulation of the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in hippocampal and cortical neurons of rats and mice, which may protect neurons against excitotoxic, oxidative and metabolic insults

4. It may prevent beta-amyloid neuropathology

5. It promotes neuronal plasticity

The authors conclude: “It is now well established that caloric restriction could be used to promote successful brain aging. Data from randomized controlled trials in humans are limited. No positive effect on cognitive impairment was found probably due to methodological limitations. The long-term effects of caloric restriction in adults must be clarified before engaging in such preventive strategy. Additional animal studies must be conducted in the future to test the effects of ‘multidomain’ interventions (caloric restriction plus regular exercise) on age-related cognitive decline”

Source:

S. Gillette-Guyonneta, and B. VellasaCaloric restriction and brain function. Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition and Metabolic Care 2008, 11:686–692

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