Tag: memory

Why it’s time to forget about online dementia tests

Computer - failYou probably remember a time when nobody dared talk about dementia. Comedians would joke about ‘mad granddad’ but no-one seriously wanted to contemplate a life without memory. Thankfully, Alzheimer’s disease charities have started to wake us up to the reality of the 850,000 people who live with dementia in the UK.. Stigmatisation is waning but dementia is still greatly misunderstood and is feared more than cancer or even death. So when the headline “Test to STOP Alzheimer’s: Simple 20-minute quiz could be key to beating the disease” made the front cover of the Daily Express last week, it struck a chord with a great many of us. Promising to “halve the risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease”, I decided to try it out to discover just how well it could ease fears of dementia. Read more

Smells can help restore memories

Sniff by Smabs Sputzer, on FlickrFreshly cut grass, rain falling on sun-baked tarmac, the cologne of your first love… we all have smells that stir up special, personal memories. For me, the smell of wood smoke evokes memories of camping as a child. A close friend told me that, for him, even the faintest whiff of a burning mosquito coil reminds him of living in Africa when he was five. Smelling is the most primitive of all our abilities and is the first sense we use from the moment we are born. Yet for people whose faculties are failing with age, an aroma can be the key to unlocking memories long forgotten. Read more

Nostalgia: Why we think things were better in the past

HotlineThey just don’t write blogs like they used to. Back in the good old days there was none of this Twitter or Facebook piffle. Web pages were once simple and images didn’t instantly appear but – like a photo being developed – gradually formed out of a pixelated mess. In the 1990s, receiving an email was still a fun novelty. Ah, the how things were better back then. You kids don’t know you’re born.

Contrary to what you might think, it’s not senior citizens who are the experts in nostalgia. At the tender age of thirty, I’m as adept at reminiscing as anyone. I can fondly remember a bygone era where social engagements weren’t cancelled on the whim of a text-message. Foolish sentimentality? We rose-tinted nostalgics are perhaps the ones most capable of dealing with modern-day life. Today’s blog post is for everyone who thinks things were better when they were a kid… Read more

Blue Lights Shown to Give a Brain Boost! But is a Better than Coffee?

This post was chosen as an Editor's Selection for ResearchBlogging.org

Can anything possibly beat the first coffee of the day?

It’s 6 am and the alarm sounds. Mornings aren’t a friendly place until you’ve had a coffee.

Loathed by some but loved by many more, caffienated drinks are the world’s most popular drug. Effective as a stimulant, a mood-booster and an learning-enhancer, caffeine is an indispensable part of modern-day living for 90% of Westerners. Coffee consumption has a variety of health benefits but is not without its problems; including addiction, withdrawal symptoms and adverse effects in children.

Now it seems, there could be a new kid on the block that threatens to topple the office coffee machine. It’s safe, legal and cheaper than a Starbuck’s. Move over Mr Drinks Dispenser and make way for invigorating power of the Blue Light Bulb! Read more

Decisions Decisions… Memory and Choice

I seem to spend a considerable amount of my life in supermarkets; probably because I can never decide what to buy. There seem to be too many choices! If you ever happen upon me in a supermarket, I’ll probably be in the breakfast cereal aisle pacing up and down, scrutinising different packets –  completely unable to make a decision

Do you ever find it difficult deciding what to buy?

Do you ever struggle like me to make decisions when shopping? Perhaps it’s not the supermarket for you – maybe it’s choosing new shoes or what to wear in the morning; We all struggle with making decisions from time to time; This blog might shed some light on why you find it so hard. The last time I looked at whether we can really ever trust our memory. This is the second in a series on memory, and shows how memory affects our ability to make good decisions… Read more