Study: Financial Exploitation Connected to Brain Changes in Healthy Older Adults
Older adults with otherwise healthy brains sometimes develop biological changes that could put them at risk for financial exploitation, according to a study published earlier this year by researchers from Cornell and York universities. Previous studies had identified a link between brain disease (mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer’s disease ) and increased risk of financial exploitation, but this is the first study to look for biological risk factors among otherwise healthy adults who are aging normally. What the Study Reveals …
This Valentine’s Day, Skip the Chocolate and Give Out Hugs
If there’s one food that people associate with Valentine’s Day, it’s chocolate. More than half of those celebrating are expected to give candy this year, spending 1.8 billion dollars on sweet treats, according to the National Retail Federation. Although studies that find chocolate is good for your brain grab headlines, this Valentine’s Day consider skipping the candy and instead spending quality time with loved ones. A recent Global Council on Brain Health (GCBH) report on nutrition and brain health found …
Oliver Sacks: He Explained the Mind’s Oddities to Us
Oliver Sacks was perhaps the only neurologist to inspire a hit Hollywood film, 1990’s Awakenings starring Robin Williams. The movie was based on Sacks’ 1973 memoir about his work with encephalitis patients, one of 14 books by the physician and professor turned author, who passed away Aug. 30 at age 82 in New York City having helped millions of readers understand the myriad peculiarities and wonders of the human brain. Famous People We’ve Lost in 2015 » Sacks himself had more …
Why Our Young Adults Do the Things They Do
About a decade ago, Frances Jensen’s sweet-natured 15-year-old son returned home from a friend’s house with his hair dyed black and announced he was planning to add red streaks. Jensen’s reaction was typical of countless parents who suddenly confront a stranger living in their house. “I was gobsmacked. Is this really my child?” she writes. While many of us would just start ranting, Jensen, then a Harvard Medical School neurology professor and researcher, was inspired by the incident to start …
Are You a Saver or a Spender? Find Out Why
What makes one person focus on saving for his or her future, while another is totally oblivious and winds up hopelessly in debt? It turns out that our relationship with money is much more complex than we think. Debunking conventional wisdom In the 1996 best-selling book, The Millionaire Next Door, authors Thomas Stanley and William Danko revealed some little-known behaviors of the majority of millionaires. While millionaires, of course, were often high income earners, they were also hoarders who rejected the big-spending lifestyle. They tended to …
Are Your Ears Trying to Protect Themselves?
En español |Our senses have warning systems to alert us to possible dangers. A bitter taste warns us away from poisons. A putrid smell alerts us that food may not be safe to eat. Our eyes close automatically when exposed to a flash of light. Pain receptors in our skin warn us to pull away from something hot. But what about hearing? We all know that noise damages our hearing, and most of us have thought of hearing as an …
