A new focus on technology for caregivers is generating a wide range of interesting tools and services for this long-neglected market. The inaugural HLTH conference in Las Vegas included several discussions on the aging-in-place trend, and how (for the most part) family caregivers will continue to shoulder the bulk of elder caregiving roles. A panel… Read More »
The part of your brain that is crucial for self-motivation also serves as a center for understanding the preferences and motivations of other people. Getting yourself motivated towards achieving a goal, and understanding what other people might want in order to help you achieve your goals often go hand-in-hand. Recent research by a neuroscience team… Read More »
The same reward circuits in our brains that we use for survival also leave humans perpetually vulnerable to addiction. Our brains are wired for survival. The human brain is finely tuned to seek out rewards like food, sex, and money, and to avoid painful experiences like being killed by dangerous predators, large and small. Called… Read More »
How well you learn new information might depend in part on the type of environment you’re in. Fascinating research from the Duncan Lab at University of Toronto suggests that novelty as a strategy for learning could work as a more reliable and faster way to learn. Think of the “novelty” learning concept as a more… Read More »
Sleep is a vital biological function for humans – we spend about 30% of our lives sleeping. Good sleep is important for memory consolidation (processing newly learned information). It’s also important for clearing out metabolic debris from the brain each day — including amyloid beta protein, one of the markers of Alzheimer’s disease. Sleep… Read More »
Some good news in the ongoing battle with Alzheimer’s disease: several recent studies indicate that rates of Alzheimer’s and other types of dementia have decreased significantly in the past 15 to 20 years. Alzheimer’s disease is the most common form of dementia, a general term for memory loss and loss of other cognitive abilities serious… Read More »