age

Seniors’ Memories Might Not Be So Bad, After All

Forget everything you’ve heard about forgetfulness. Researchers at North Carolina State University believe that age-related declines in memory and cognitive functioning may not be as pronounced as once believed. Dr. Thomas Hess, professor of psychology at NC State, says pessimistic notions of changes in mental abilities associated with growing older may in part be attributed to how early studies into cognition and aging were conducted. His findings were outlined in a recent edition of the Journal of Gerontology and chronicled in Science magazine. Hess’ research is part of a three-year study into stereotype threat, aging and memory as part of a $403,000 grant from the National Institute on Aging.

Diabetes in the Elderly Linked to Fewer Cellular ‘Power Plants’

Elderly people may develop insulin resistance — one of the major risk factors for diabetes — because “power plants” in their muscle cells decline or fail with age, according to Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers at Yale University School of Medicine. In studies of young and elderly people, the researchers found that older people had lower levels of metabolic activity in their mitochondria, the “factories” that provide power to cells. The findings suggest that reduced mitochondrial activity underlies insulin resistance, which is a major contributor to type 2 diabetes in the elderly.

Researchers determine age of fossilized human ancestor

In a finding that could shed light on the earliest origins of mankind, fossil remains found in South Africa of an ancestral human species have proven far older than expected when evaluated by a Purdue University research team. Purdue’s Darryl Granger and Marc Caffee have determined the age of a fossilized skeleton thought to be an Australopithecus ? a genus of African hominids from which humanity is thought to have developed ? by measuring the radioactivity of the cave sediments in which the skeleton was buried millions of years ago. Their measurement technique, generally used to estimate the age of geological formations such as glaciated valleys and river terraces, has never before been used to date biological fossils.

Professor says volcanic eruptions in Costa Rica 'inevitable'

It might be 500,000 years or five years, but the Central Valley of Costa Rica will definitely experience major volcanic activity again, according to Phillip B. Gans, professor of geology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He presented a study of volcanic rocks of Costa Rica in his recent talk at the annual meeting of the Geological Society of America.

'White matter lesions' affect cognitive ability in elderly

Age-related changes in the brain — the appearance, starting around age 60, of “white-matter lesions” among the brain’s message-carrying axons — significantly affect cognitive function in old age. White-matter lesions are small bright patches that show up on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain. What’s more, hypertension may account for some of this cognitive impact. A full report on these relationships appears in the March issue of Psychology and Aging, which is published by the American Psychological Association (APA).