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From superfoods to brain training, the Internet is full of advice on how to improve cognitive health and boost brain power. But the science behind these claims is murky at best. This Nature Outlook investigates some of the strategies that can be used to keep our brains in top form when faced with social and biological factors that induce deterioration.
Future generations may have less to fear from cognitive decline thanks to microscopic insights into the ageing brain, and interventions from unexpected quarters.
As neuroscientists explore the therapeutic prospects of brain stimulation, the amateur community are hoping the technology will enhance their mental faculties or well-being.
Before data were so abundant, computer models of the brain were simple. Information is now much more plentiful — but some argue that models should remain uncomplicated.
This Review evaluates current techniques used to investigate human brain function, discusses the successes and limitations of these techniques to test hypotheses about causal mechanisms, and looks to future directions and implementation of these techniques in real-world problems.
It is a truism that the brain influences the body and that peripheral physiology influences the brain. Never is this clearer than during stress, where the subtlest emotions or the most abstract thoughts can initiate stress responses, with consequences throughout the body, and the endocrine transducers of stress alter cognition, affect and behavior. For a fervent materialist, few things in life bring more pleasure than contemplating the neurobiology of stress.
Aging is associated with cognitive impairment and degenerative processes in the brain. Here, Tony Wyss-Coray and colleagues report that exposure of aged mice to young blood improves learning and memory in aged mice. This effect is associated with structural improvements in dendritic spine density in the hippocampus and functionally with increased synaptic plasticity. These findings suggest that circulating factors in young blood can reverse impairments in learning, memory and synaptic plasticity in aged mice.