Brain training increases dopamine release

Brain training increases dopamine release 

Source: http://www.domain-b.com/technology/biotech_pharma/20110806_brain_training.html

06 August 2011

It is known that training can improve working memory. In a new study in Science, researchers from Karolinska Institutet, Umeå University, Åbo Akademi University, and the University of Turku show for the first time that working-memory training is associated with an increased release of the neurotransmitter dopamine in specific brain regions.

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"Working-memory training resulted in increased dopamine release in the caudate, a region located below the neocortex, in which the dopaminergic influx is particularly large", says Lars Bäckman, Professor at Karolinska Institutet, and one of the scientists behind the study. "This observation demonstrates the importance of dopamine for improving working-memory performance."

In the study, 10 young Finnish men were trained in updating working memory for five weeks by means of a letter-memory task. The participants were presented with 7 to 15 letters during 45 minutes three times per week on a screen that was turned off after presentation. The task was to remember the last four letters in the sequence in correct order.

Compared to a control group that did not receive any training, the trained group showed a gradual improvement of working-memory performance.

Results from a PET scan demonstrated an increased release of dopamine in the caudate after training. In addition, dopamine release was seen during the letter-memory task also before training; this release increased markedly after training.

"These findings suggest that the training improved working memory generally", says Professor Lars Nyberg at Umeå University.

The study emanates from a collaborative project among the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet, Umeå Center for Functional Brain Imaging (UFBI) at Umeå University, Sweden, Åbo Akademi University, and University of Turku, both in Finland, within a 'Nordic Center of Excellence in Cognitive Control'.

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Fewer Synapses, More Efficient Learning: Molecular Glue Wires the Brain

Fewer Synapses, More Efficient Learning: Molecular Glue Wires the Brain

Yale University researchers have found that a single molecule not only connects brain cells but also changes how we learn. The findings, reported in the December 9 issue of the journal Neuron, may help researchers discover ways to improve memory and could lead to new therapies to correct neurological disorders.
The junctions between brain cells over which nerve pulses pass -- called synapses -- are crucial for regulating learning and memory and how we think. Aberrations in the structure and function of synapses have been linked to mental retardation and autism, while synapses are lost in the aging brains of Alzheimer's patients.
However, the mechanisms that organize synapses in the living brain remain a puzzle. Yale scientists identified one critical piece of this puzzle, a molecule called SynCAM 1 that spans across synaptic junctions.
"We hypothesized that this molecule might promote new synapses in the developing brain, but were surprised that it also impacts the maintenance and function of these structures," said Thomas Biederer, associate professor of molecular biophysics and biochemistry and senior author of the study. "We can now define how this molecule supports the brain's ability to wire itself."
The Yale team focused on SynCAM 1, an adhesion molecule that helps to hold synaptic junctions together. They found that when the SynCAM 1 gene was activated in mice, more synaptic connections formed. Mice without the molecule produced fewer synapses.
When we learn, new synapses can form. However, the strength of synaptic connections also changes during learning, based on the amount of stimuli received -- a quality scientists termed "plasticity." Together with a group in Germany led by Valentin Stein, the team was surprised to find that SynCAM 1 controls an important form of synaptic plasticity.
Unexpectedly, Biederer and colleagues also found that mice with high amounts of SynCAM 1 are unable to learn while mice lacking SynCAM 1 -- and having fewer synapses -- learn better. Apparently an excess of the molecule can be damaging. This builds on recent theories suggesting that having too many connections isn't always better and that the balance of synaptic activity is crucial for proper learning and memory.
"Synapses are dynamic structures. It appears that SynCAM 1 ties synapses together; some of this molecule is needed to promote contact but too much glues down the synapse and inhibits its function. It may act a bit like a sculptor who helps give synapses their shape." Biederer also said that the molecule is almost identical in mice and man, and likely has the same roles in human brains.

[image source: Cornell University: Imagining the Brain]

Other Yale authors on the paper are Elissa Robbins and Karen Perez de Arce.
The work was funded by the National Institutes of Health and the March of Dimes Foundation.
[source: ScienceDaily: Fewer Synapses, More Efficient Learning: Molecular Glue Wires the Brain (Dec. 9, 2010)]

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Brain games key to maintaining mental clarity

SIMPLE computer games can help older people improve their memory and attention, Sydney researchers have found.

People who thought declining memory and brain function were inevitable as they aged gave up too easily, said clinical psychologist Maurice Finn.

People with mild cognitive impairment, often a precursor to dementia, could improve their brain function with computer games, said Mr Finn, who works at the memory clinic at Royal North Shore Hospital's department of aged care and rehabilitation.

Advertisement: Story continues below After 30 sessions the elderly people with mild cognitive impairment got better at playing computer games designed to improve memory and concentration.

The skills they developed also seemed to help them perform better at other, similar tasks, said Mr Finn, who will present his findings at the Australian Association of Gerontology conference in Tasmania this week [Read more ...].

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Running Improves Memory: Steps to a Better Brain

"According to a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, voluntary running can improve synaptic plasticity and, as a result, spatial memory."

Reference: CurrentProtocols.com: Running Improves Memory: Steps to a Better Brain