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Elephants show flair for arithmetic - Times Online

Sep 3, 10:04am    (3 reviews)  animals, research, memory, elephants, arithmetic  http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/wo...

Elephants show flair for arithmetic Under carefully controlled experimental conditions — essentially comprising a large cage and two buckets of assorted fruit — one elephant at Ueno Zoo in Tokyo managed to get its sums right 87 per cent of the time. A slightly less gifted pachyderm across the country in Kyoto scored a still respectable 69 per cent. The curiously accurate adding skills of Elephas maximus have been discovered by Naoko Irie, a behavioural ecologist at the University of Tokyo putting the finishing touches to her doctoral thesis. In her tests, three apples were dropped into one bucket and five into a second one next to it. Two more apples were added to each bucket, leaving the first with five and the second with seven apples. Unable to see inside the buckets or probe them with her trunk, 30-year old Ashiya selected the bucket with the more apples having, apparently, counted the contents of each as it was being loaded-up with fruit. Nothing spectacularly rare about that, say scientists – plenty of animals have been shown to possess basic counting abilities but most animals fail when the numbers get much bigger than three or four or the margin of difference between the available choices become too narrow. “I couldn’t believe it at first,” said Irie, “They could instantly compare numbers like six and five." The elephants she subjected to the fruit-based arithmetic tests were as good at telling the difference between five and six as they were at spotting that five is greater than one, she said. Speculation among scientists over why the elephant should have developed its limited but nonetheless impressive mathematical ability centres on the way in which the lumbering creatures move in herds. A basic counting ability, say experts, might act as a guarantee that no calf is left behind." .

Newswise Science News | Scientists Find Elephant Memories May Hold Key...

Aug 20, 12:01pm    (1 review)  animals, research, memory, elephants  http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/54...

Scientists Find Elephant Memories May Hold Key to Survival From the page: "In particular, experienced elephant matriarchs seem to give their family groups an edge in the struggle for survival in periods of famine and drought, according to a recently published paper in The Royal Society's Biology Letters. "Understanding how elephants and other animal populations react to droughts will be a central component of wildlife management and conservation," said Wildlife Conservation Society researcher Dr. Charles Foley, lead author of the study. "Our findings seem to support the hypothesis that older females with knowledge of distant resources become crucial to the survival of herds during periods of extreme climatic events." Dr Nathalie Pettorelli, ZSL researcher and co-author, added, "Climate change is expected to lead to a higher occurrence of severe drought in Africa and our study suggests that such extreme climatic events may act as a selection force on animal populations. As animals battle to cope certain individuals, such as these grand dames of the elephant kingdom, might become increasingly important." Specifically, the study examines patterns of calf mortality during the drought of 1993 in Tanzania's Tarangire National Park, the most severe drought in that region in the past 35 years. During a nine-month period of that year, sixteen out of 81 elephant calves in the three groups studied died, a mortality rate of 20 percent. The normal mortality rate of calves during non-drought years is a mere two percent. When compared with other data, researchers noted correlations in calf survivorship with the movements of the groups and, in particular, the ages of the female members within those groups. First, of the three elephant groups observed during the event, the two groups that left the park suffered lower mortality rates than the group that remained in the northern portion of the protected area. The researchers speculated that these elephants succeeded in finding sufficient food and water outside the protected area to keep themselves and their young alive. The group that stayed suffered 63 percent of the mortality for the year. Second, an examination of the ages of the individual elephants in the three herds was even more suggestive. The data indicated that the age of the mother elephants was an important predictor for calf survival. The two groups that left the park, presumably in search of food and water, had matriarchs that were ages 45 and 38 years of age respectively, whereas the group that remained had a matriarch that was only 33 years of age, the result of heavy poaching during the 1970's and 1980's that targeted older females with large tusks. Third, the researchers pointed out that the groups that left the park may have benefited from the specific experiences of their oldest matriarchs, which perhaps were able to draw upon memories of an earlier drought and how they survived it. The case is strengthened by the known life history of the oldest matriarchs in these groups, some of which were five years or older during the drought of 1958-61. The group that remained in Tarangire in 1993 had no individuals old enough to remember the event. "It's enticing to think that these old females and their memories of previous periods of trauma and survival would have meant all the difference," added Foley. "The data seem to support the speculation that the matriarchs with the necessary experience of such events were able to lead their groups to drought refugia."" .

Vegetarians warned that superfood tofu may harm your memory | Mail Online...

Jul 5, 9:15am    (1 review)  health, vegetarian, brain, memory  http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/articl...

Vegetarians warned that 'superfood' tofu may harm your memory From the page: "Eating high levels of some soy products, including tofu and other so-called 'superfoods,' may increase memory loss, scientists say. Experts funded by the Alzheimer's Research Trust found a 20 per cent lower level of brain functioning compared with those eating very little of the product. They are warning older people, particularly women and vegetarians, of the possible risks of consuming tofu and similar foods too frequently. Researchers at Loughborough and Oxford Universities worked with Indonesian colleagues to investigate the effects of high soy consumption in elderly Indonesians living in urban and rural regions of Java. The researchers' findings, to be published in the journal Dementias And Geriatric Cognitive Disorders this month, found a high consumption of tofu was linked with worsening memory, particularly among those in their sixties. Tofu and other products such as soya fortified milk are made from the soya plant, which contains isoflavones, or plant hormones, believed to have beneficial effects on health. But there are fears that older people on a soy-rich diet may be getting an extra boost of oestrogen-like hormones at a time of life when they are likely to damage brain functioning rather than improve it. In the study, led by Professor Eef Hogervorst of Loughborough Universitythe dietary habits of 719 Javanese people aged between 52 and 98 were recorded, along with scores from memory tests. Those eating tofu more than once a day had a 20 per cent lower level of memory functioning than those eating the least. " .

Null Hypothesis | News

Jun 20, 12:39am    (1 review)  music, neuroscience, memory  http://www.null-hypothesis.co.uk/science...

Music In Your Ears From the page: "Movie music is meant to be emotive. Most people can recognise the soundtrack to Rocky as he climbs the steps at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Or the familiar trumpet fanfare of the `Raiders March' as Indiana Jones gears up for yet another adventure. But why does our brain associate film and music? Scientists claim to have found the answer. Writing in the journal BMC Neuroscience, they reckon our ability to recall certain tracks may be due to the strong emotions that a piece of music elicits in us. If it is played alongside imagery that evokes emotions such as anger or happiness, an association will be hard-wired in the brain."

The Memory Key

Jun 13, 6:37am    (5 reviews)  psychology, neuroscience, memory  http://www.memory-key.com/

Everything about memory at your fingertips, and the latest news on research. Learn about memory and what you can do to beef it up because looking smart is attractive too. About memory Learning about memory for permanent memory improvement

Memory loss linked to common sleep disorder

Jun 11, 8:56pm    (2 reviews)  science, neuroscience, memory  http://www.physorg.com/news132415354.htm...

Memory loss linked to common sleep disorder Brain scans reveal that the mammillary bodies (in box) of a sleep apnea patient (right) are smaller than those of a control subject (left). Credit: UCLA/Harper lab For the first time, UCLA researchers have discovered that people with sleep apnea show tissue loss in brain regions that help store memory. Reported in the June 27 edition of the journal Neuroscience Letters, the findings emphasize the importance of early detection of the disorder, which afflicts an estimated 20 million Americans.

Socializing Appears to Delay Memory Problems - Well - Tara Parker-Pope...

Jun 5, 12:00am    (2 reviews)  health, brain, memory, socializing, memory-problems  http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/04...

Socializing Appears to Delay Memory Problems - Well - Tara Parker-Pope - Health - New York Times Blog The gals who meet for coffee may have a leg up on maintaining their memory. (Joshua Lott for The New York Times) From the page: "An active social life appears to delay memory loss as we age, a new study shows. The finding, which appears in the July issue of The American Journal of Public Health, suggests that strong social ties, through friends, family and community groups, can preserve our brain health as we age and that social isolation may be an important risk factor for cognitive decline in the elderly. Researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health used data gathered from 1998 to 2004 from the Health and Retirement Study, a large, nationally representative population of American adults ages 50 and older. Participants took memory tests at two-year intervals during the study period. Testers read a list of 10 common nouns to survey respondents, who were then asked to recall as many words as possible immediately and again after a five-minute delay. The researchers also measured social integration based on marital status, volunteer activities, and contact with parents, children and neighbors. The results showed that individuals who in their 50s and 60s engaged in a lot of social activity also had the slowest rate of memory decline. In fact, compared to those who were the least socially active, study subjects who had the highest social integration scores had less than half the rate of memory loss. The researchers controlled for variables like age, gender, race and health status. Those who had the fewest years of formal education appeared to have the most to gain from an active social life as they aged. The study showed that the protective effect of social integration was greatest among individuals with fewer than 12 years of education."

Forget the suggestion age withers our minds - Telegraph

May 27, 7:50am    (1 review)  aging, health, psychology, memory, geriatrics  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnew...

Forget the suggestion age withers our minds From the page: "Those little grey cells couldn't be better named. Scientists comparing the brain power of elderly and young people have discovered that the ability to concentrate remains undimmed by age. Researchers expected to find that pensioners struggle to concentrate on a series of tasks if they are distracted by competing sights and sounds. Instead, the study found that participants from 65 to 90 did almost as well as those under 40. The older group also did as well when it came to "multi-tasking", switching quickly from one job to another. Researchers at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, in North Carolina, said their study suggested that the brain's ability to engage in several senses simultaneously remained intact. Dr Lorna Layward, the research manager for Help the Aged, said that people feared most the loss of cognitive function. "The effects of ageing on the brain are very variable; while some aspects, such as memory, will be affected in some people, others, such as the ability to concentrate, can go unchanged," she added."

Mans rare ability may unlock secret of memory - CNN.com

May 22, 8:32am    (1 review)  memory, hyperthymestic-syndrome  http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/condition...

Man's rare ability may unlock secret of memory From the page: "Give Brad Williams a date, and he can usually tell you not only what he was doing but what world events happened that day. He can do this for almost every day of his life. Brad Williams has hyperthymestic syndrome, experts say, and remembers what he did on allmost every day of his life. Williams is one of only three people in the world identified with this off-the-charts autobiographical memory, according to researchers at the University of California-Irvine who gave the condition its name: hyperthymestic syndrome, from the Greek words for excessive (hyper) and remembering (thymesis). Unlike most people whose memories fade with time, much of Williams' life is etched indelibly in his mind. "It's just there," said Williams, 51, who reports the news for a family of radio stations in La Crosse, Wisconsin. The California researchers are studying Williams and the two others with hyperthymestic syndrome, a man in Ohio and woman in California, hoping to gain new insights into how a superior memory works. The goal of the study is to find a way to help people with failing memory."

CFP: Memory Limit Discovered: You Only Know Four Things

May 20, 3:52pm    (1 review)  psychology, research, memory  http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/art...

Another look at memory, and one that addresses nagging observations I have had for many years. Memory Limit Discovered: You Only Know Four Things From the page: "Research originally suggested that our working memory cut off point was around the seven items mark. However scientists are revising that idea, when adding the limitation of no memory tricks, such as repeating items over and over or grouping them together. Telephone numbers are a good way of looking at what scientists are referring to here. For example, Microsoft’s Corporate HQ telephone number is 800 642 7676. At first blush, remembering that number would suggest the ability to remember 7 or more items. However considering the blocking – 800 + 642 + 7676 – and the repetitive nature of the number, one cannot be so certain. “For example, when we present phone numbers, we present them in groups of three and four, which helps us to remember the list,” said University of Missouri-Columbia psychologist Nelson Cowan, who co-led the study with colleagues Jeff Rouder and Richard Morey. “That inflates the estimate. We believe we’re approaching the estimate that you get when you cannot group. There is some controversy over what the real limit is, but more and more I’ve found people are accepting this kind of limit.” The study had to take a new method in testing this revised theory, given the problems presented with numbers or letters. Thus, subjects in the study were presented with an array of different colored squares. The subjects were then shown an array of the same squares, but this time without the colors. Finally, they were shown a single colored square in one location, and asked whether the color matched that of the square in the same position at the beginning of the test. “What’s nice about this visual task that they used is that it really makes it difficult to use some of those common strategies that are helpful with verbal lists,” said Michael Kane, a psychologist at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, who was not involved in the new study. “I think Cowan’s work has really been convincing in this.” This new method does build upon previous research, but it allows for the most rigorous mathematical test of the three-to-four memory ability. Backing up the revised testing method was a computer model, programmed to assume that humans have a fixed number of memory slots in their working memory bank. Programmed to believe that each slot could only contain one piece of information, when the slots were filled, the model predicted that people would begin making random guesses. Subsequently, the model was able to predict with a surprising level of accuracy the results of the trials. “It is a pretty simple mathematical model but it predicted a very exquisite pattern of data,” Cowan said, speaking to LiveScience. “The results really were simple. With a single value of working memory capacity we could really account for all those different scenarios.” Naturally, there is a variation amongst some individuals, but the average cap does seem to hover around the 3 or 4 memory slot mark. Interestingly though, those individuals that have a higher level of working memory often do well at learning, reading comprehension and problem solving. “People accept that intelligence seems to be related to working memory,” Cowan said. “The information you can hold in your mind at one time is the information you can interrelate. If you have a better working memory we believe that your problem-solving abilities are better.” "