Cognitive Science

The latest breakthroughs, innovations, and cool happenings at the cutting edge of the world of cognitive science. Updated daily.

Exercise, Dopamine, and Cognition in Older Age

Jonasson et al. investigated whether individual differences in human dopamine receptors (D2R) were related to cognitive performance before and after a 6-month aerobic exercise intervention (compared with active control). While D2R decreased (perhaps counterintuitively) with exercise, there was no relationship between D2R and working memory at baseline or following exercise. Read Full Article (External Site) Dr. […]

Published on November 6, 2019

Rapid Cortical Plasticity Supports Long-Term Memory Formation

The standard systems consolidation account posits that recently formed memories are initially dependent on the hippocampus and only gradually become instantiated in neocortical networks over a period of weeks to years. However, recent animal and human research has identified rapid formation of cortical engrams at the time of learning that can support hippocampal-independent memories within […]

Published on November 6, 2019

The Ventricular System Enlarges Abnormally in the Seventies, Earlier in Men, and First in the Frontal Horn: A Study Based on More Than 3,000 Scans

Objectives: To detect on computed tomography (CT) brain scans the trajectories of normal and abnormal ventricular enlargement during aging.Methods: For each 1-year age cohort, we assessed in 3,193 axial CT scans the Evans’ index (EI) in the anterior frontal horns and the parieto-occipital (POR) and temporal ratio (TR) in the posterior and inferior horns. Cut-off […]

Published on November 5, 2019