Can listening to the Beatles improve your memory? New research says music just might stir the brain
When Paul McCartney wrote "Get Back," he never would have predicted how useful or relevant the song would become for music therapists.
The song's refrain—"Get back to where you once belonged"—might as well be a therapist encouraging a dementia patient to recall a distant memory. In new research, Psyche Loui, an associate professor of music, is attempting to do exactly that.
Published in Scientific Reports, Loui found that for older adults who listened to some of their favorite music, including The Beatles, connectivity in the brain increased. Specifically, Loui—and her multi-disciplinary team of music therapists, neurologists and geriatric psychiatrists—discovered that music bridged the gap between the brain's auditory system and reward system, the area that governs motivation.
The researchers had a group of older adults between the ages of 54 and 89 from the Boston area listen to a playlist for an hour every day for eight weeks and journal about their response to the music afterward. Loui and the team would scan the participants' brains before and after listening in order to measure their neurological response.
Playlists were highly personalized and featured a combination of the participants' self-selected songs, which ranged from The Beatles to Bruce Springsteen, and a preselected mix of classical pieces, pop and rock songs and new compositions.The most important lesson that we learned from the music therapist was that there is no one-size-fits-all for what kind of music works best," Loui said.
What the researchers found was striking: Music was essentially creating an auditory channel directly to the medial prefrontal cortex, the brain's reward center. Notably, the medial prefrontal cortex "is one of the areas to lose its activity and functional connectivity in aging adults, especially in folks with dementia," Loui said.
Music that was both familiar and well-liked tended to activate the auditory and reward areas more. However, the music that participants selected themselves provided an even stronger connection between these two areas of the brain.
DHA omega-3 linked to ‘significantly improved periodontal outcomes’: Harvard data
Harvard University, July 14 ,2022
Scientists from Harvard report that supplementation with DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) omega-3 may improve periodontal outcomes in people with periodontitis.
Periodontitis is a serious gum infection that destroys the soft tissue and bone supporting the teeth. It is reportedly the second most common disease worldwide, with 30–50% of the US population suffering from it.
Data published in the Journal of Dental Research indicated that DHA supplementation was associated with a decreased the average depth of the pockets between the teeth and the gums, and the gingival index, which is used to assess the extent of gum disease.
In addition, inflammatory biomarkers in the gum tissue were significantly reduced.
Participants were randomly assigned to receive either 2,000 mg per day of DHA or placebo (soy/corn oil) for three months. All of the participants also received 81 mg per day of aspirin.
Results showed DHA levels in red blood cell membranes increased between 3.6% to 6.2%, whereas no such increases were observed in the placebo group. In addition to the improvements in pocket depth and gingival index, the researchers reported that levels of the inflammatory biomarkers C-reactive protein (CRP) and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1beta) decreased significantly in the DHA group.
This “Holy Herb’ Shows Promise in Treating Alzheimer’s Disease
Yerba santa may also treat brain swelling in dementia patients
Salk Institute, July 14, 2022
A shrub known as Yerba santa, dubbed “holy herb” in Spanish, appears to show promise in treating Alzheimer’s disease, researchers say. It has the potential to reduce brain swelling in people with dementia.
Native to California, Yerba santa has long been used as a treatment for fevers, headaches, and other common ailments. But researchers at Salk’s Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory believe it could be used to treat much more serious health problems. In fact, millions of dementia patients stand to benefit from the natural treatment, they claim.
A molecule in the shrub called sterubin – the plant’s most active component – could be the key to transforming millions of lives. The team found that sterubin had a significant anti-inflammatory effect on brain cells called microglia, which are involved in the development of Alzheimer’s disease, among other ailments.
The researchers further found that sterubin effectively removes iron. This is an important discovery, as iron contributes to nerve cell damage in the aging brain and neurodegenerative diseases.
Sterubin was found to effectively reduce numerous causes of cell death in the nerve cells.
An inflammatory diet correlates with colorectal cancer risk
The risk of developing colorectal cancer for individuals that follow a pro-inflammatory diet is two times higher than usual
Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (Spain), July 15, 2022
Researchers from the Molecular Mechanisms and Experimental Therapy in Oncology program (Oncobell) of the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) and the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) published in Nutrients the results of a multicenter study that unveils a correlation between inflammatory and antioxidant diets and the risk of developing colorectal and breast cancer.
"We have observed an association between the risk of developing colorectal cancer and the inflammatory potential of the diet. That is, the participants who followed an inflammatory diet had almost twice the risk of developing colorectal cancer, which is the 4th most frequent cancer worldwide", explains Dr. Mireia Obón.
An inflammatory diet is usually characterized by the consumption of refined carbohydrates, red and processed meat, and saturated or trans fats. In an antioxidant diet, the consumption of vegetables, legumes, fruits and nuts predominates. "In this study we have focused on the role of diet, and specifically on its inflammatory and antioxidant capacity, as there is evidence that both chronic inflammation and oxidative stress influence the development of these two types of cancer", says Dr. Víctor Moreno.
"Following a pro-inflammatory and pro-oxidant diet is a very important risk factor for colon cancer. We should reorient our eating habits towards a Mediterranean diet, rich in fruits and vegetables, nuts, whole grains and healthy oils, such as olive oil and move away from a more pro-inflammatory diet", she argues.
