Aging and Brain Research

Neurons generate electric currents. Synchronized rhythmic patterns of electrical activity produced by neurons in the brain, aka large-scale neural oscillations also known as "brainwaves", can be monitored and graphically documented by an electroencephalogram (EEG). Each brain has its own natural rhythm. The functional role of neural oscillations is still not fully understood, but they have been shown to correlate with emotional responses, motor control, and a number of cognitive functions including information transfer, perception, and memory. Brainwave entrainment , also referred to as brainwave synchronization or neural entrainment, refers to the observation that brainwaves naturally synchronize to the rhythm of periodic external stimuli, such as flickering lights, speech, music, or things that can be felt with your skin - like feeling the air on a windy day or the warmth of a hug. As simplified by  ELI5 powered by ChatGPT, brain entrainment is a special kind of music that...

Memory decline is common in aging and significantly worsens quality of life, but there are few, if any, effective interventions to improve episodic memory recall in older adults. And there are no effective interventions specifically targeting autobiographical episodic memory. A smartphone app called HippoCamera allows users to create memory cues of specific events that they personally value and hope to remember. These cues consist of a short verbal description and a short video recording of the event. The approach was shown to be effective tool for improving the recall of episodic memories in older adults. Seniors were able to improve their ability to recall episodic memories, increase the differentiation of hippocampal activity, and better remember the personal past. These findings suggest that using mobile phone technologies to record and replay episodic memories may be a feasible, low- cost, and effective way to improve memory recall in older adults (Adapted from SpinnerChef:...

Aging is a natural process that all living things have to go through. It is characterized by the gradual loss of function and stability at the molecular, cellular, tissue, and organ levels. This process is often accompanied by the development of age-related diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal issues, neurodegenerative diseases, and cancer. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the relationship between aging and the immune system became particularly important, as older individuals have a higher risk of developing serious complications and death from the virus compared to younger people. However, there have also been reports of 100-year-old individuals who have successfully survived COVID-19 (some mentioned in our recent paper ). The rate of aging and life expectancy can be influenced by various factors, including genetics, which is believed to account for up to 30% of the variation in human lifespan. It has been found that siblings of people who have lived beyond the age o...