breakthroughs training your brain
A cutting edge , non-invasive brain stimulation technique could improve cognitive control for people with conditions such as schizophrenia and autism .
Researchers at The University of Queensland ’ s Centre for Clinical Research have found the technique – which applies high-definition transcranial direct current stimulation to a particular area of the brain – improves cognitive and conflict control .
PhD candidate Oyetunde Gbadeyan said the study provides the basis to explore potential benefits for people with impaired cognitive control associated with schizophrenia , autism spectrum disorder or attention deficit hyperactivity disorder .
“ Cognitive control is the collective term for the processes by which people take in relevant information , but tune out distracting or irrelevant information to achieve goal-directed behaviour ,” Mr Gbadeyan said .
“ The smaller electrodes allowed researchers to better pinpoint the target region , in this case the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex .
“ The improvement was greater with active brain stimulation than with placebo stimulation and , for the first time , established a direct causal involvement of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex in cognitive control in humans .
“ This method could improve the way people with impaired cognitive control process conflicting information but more research is needed to better understand the mechanisms of how it works .”
The study included 120 healthy young adult participants , with each person receiving active and placebo stimulation on separate days while completing behavioural tasks on-screen .
“ Active stimulation to the selected target region improved conflict adaptation ,” Mr Gbadeyan said .
“ These findings also lend support to the theory that the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex region of the brain is central to behavioural adjustment following conflict detection .”
Designed by Harryarts - Freepik . com pass the chilli
If you like spicy food you may live longer , say researchers at the Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont , who found that consumption of hot red chilli peppers is associated with a 13 % reduction in total mortality – primarily in deaths due to heart disease or stroke – in a large prospective study .
Using national health data collected from more than 16,000 Americans who were followed for up to 23 years , researchers examined the baseline characteristics of the participants according to hot red chili pepper consumption .
“ Although the mechanism by which peppers could delay mortality is far from certain , Transient Receptor Potential ( TRP ) channels , which are primary receptors for pungent agents such as capsaicin ( the principal component in chili peppers ), may in part be responsible for the observed relationship ,” say the study ’ s authors .
One possible explanation for red chili peppers ’ health benefits is the fact that capsaicin is believed to play a role in cellular and molecular mechanisms that prevent obesity and modulate coronary blood flow , and also possesses antimicrobial properties that “ may indirectly affect the host by altering the gut microbiota ”.
“ Chili pepper – or even spicy food – consumption may become a dietary recommendation and / or fuel further research in the form of clinical trials ,” says Chopan . linkonline . com . au breakthroughs
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