Glucose And Memory

c) Age-related cognitive impairment (or mild cognitive impairment MCI) – is when an elderly person’s memory starts to wane and they have problems recalling their short term memories, they have difficulty learning new things, their thinking process starts to become reduced and have difficulty concentrating. It is thought that MCI can develop due to alcohol abuse and cognitive decline (poor diet, chronic inflammation, vascular disease and

A persons memory begins to deteriorate as early as their twenties and tends to pick up speed as they reach their fifties. Generally, older people have more difficulty learning new things, retrieving old information, and multitasking. To begin to understand what causes this weakening of the memory system, we must first understand how the human memory works. When the senses perceive something, several parts of the brain, including the hippocampus and frontal cortex, determine whether it will be encoded as a memory. Based on numerous factors, including how interested we are in it, if we are paying attention, and whether we are consciously trying to remember. Electric impulses in the brain carry the information to be stored in various sections. These impulses carry the information across the synapses between neurons from the release of neurotransmitters. If more cells send messages to one another, then the connections between the synapses become stronger. This explains how a repetition of an action allows us to remember it. One example is going over information multiple times while

It’s important to mention that brain health can also be impacted by frequent blood sugar spikes. For this reason a diet low in sugar, especially processed sugars and refined flours, is important to maintain proper glucose levels.

Biologically, sugar effects the brain very dramatically than what they knew around the 1700- 1900’s. When sugar is in your bloodstream the body reacts the same way as if

A topic I learned more of this semester in regards to the older population was dementia. Some loss in memory function is an inevitable consequence of aging, and as one ages, it takes more time to process information and retrieve memories. However, "Dementia is a general term that refers to progressive, degenerative brain dysfunction, including deterioration in memory, concentration, language skills, visuospatial skills, and reasoning, that interferes with a person's daily functioning" (Mauk, 2014, p. 377). This loss of mental skills affects the ability to function over time, causing problems with memory and how one thinks, impacting these individual's overall quality of life.

Age associated declines in cognitive processes are important to the understanding of the human mind. This study investigates the relationship between ageing and short term memory in particular, by first exploring current cognitive and neuroscientific research involving concepts such as short term/working memory, long term memory and ageing, and secondly, by means of a short term memory experiment involving verbal and numerical stimuli, that was administered to two age groups- 20 to 40 year old adults and 50 to 70 year olds. The results of the experiment were then analysed using the ANOVA statistical software programme. The results did not conclusively show age related decline

Quadagno (2014) discusses ways cognitive abilities differ from young-adults, middle-old adults and oldest old adults. Cognitive decline can also be affected by conditions such as stroke, depression, diabetes, auditory, and vision problems. Older adults may also encounter age related cognitive decline in their daily lives. Cognitive abilities such as processing speed, episodic memory, working memory and dual task processing are abilities that researchers are aiming to improve in older adults (Basak, et al, 2008; Quadagno, 2014).

Diabetes mellitus is associated with lower cognitive performance and increased risk for dementia. The incidence of cognitive function was found to be declined by 40% in people with diabetes. It was reported that there is an overall 50-100% increase in the incidence of dementia in diabetic subjects ).

A group of German researchers tested memory and blood sugar tests on over a hundred adults (Heid). From the results, the conclusion was that “The most drastic memory issues are related to long-term markers of elevated blood sugar” (Flöell). In 2012, a different group of researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles tested fructose on animals. (Edwards). They had the same result as the German researchers. This experiment that the essay is about is different, but has the same concept as previous tests.

The hippocampus, in the limbic system of the brain, controls long-term memory and emotions. With the high sugar diets, inflammation markers within the hippocampus increased, but the immunomodulatory gene expression decreased. The inflammation markers directly correlate with the decrease in memory on these high sugar diets. Memory deficiency happened within short term exposures of sugar to the diet. Rats tested showed lower exploration ratios than control rats. These animals fed "sugar for less than 2 weeks (showed) impaired hippocampal-dependent place recognition memory compared to control and PUFA fed rats." (Beilharz, Kaakoush, Maniam, and Morris, 2016, p. 309). Place recognition tests confirmed the effects on memory with the sugar fed group being considerably lower in their scores. Sugar was the factor that proved to be "crucial for the memory deficits." (Beilharz et al., 2016, p. 309). The gut microbiome also has significant effects on emotions. Depression and anxiety, including anhedonic-like behaviors were found in direct relation to the sugar intake.

During the time of late adulthood, there are many stereotypes that are simply untrue in many cases. The notion that we age and lose our memory, or unable to fall in love, or become poor and lonely are not true (Berk, 2014). While these incidents certainly do happen, they are not part of the aging process. Some of the more interesting stereotypes suggest that elderly men and women lose their memory and are unable to recollect the past (Berk, 2014). Elderly do tend to develop memory slower or have to think more about the past recall memories of the loss of memory suggest an underlying illness, like Alzheimer's disease or dementia. It can also be a warning sign of an infection.

More distinctively, it is fructose that is detrimental to our health. Lustig indicates that American’s weighed twenty-five pounds more in 2009 than they did thirty years before as the result of ingesting more calories. The excess calories being consumed were said to come from simple carbohydrates like fructose, causing the pancreas to create more insulin to satisfy the needs of the liver. Consequently, increased insulin levels interfere with the brains receipt of signals from the hormone created by fat cells, known as leptin. Leptin aid the brain in recognizing when the appetite has been satisfied. Therefore, the increase release of insulin, inhibits leptin from communicating to the brain that hunger is no longer present.

Alzheimer’s is increasing and those 65 and up has a greater chance of being possibly diagnosed with this hopeless disease in later adulthood because learning and long term memory abilities decreases. (Kroner, 2009) Diabetes is a well-known risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease that effects the elderly and individually are appalling diseases. The connection between Alzheimer’s and diabetes has yet to be determined, therefore studies are being completed to find the connection between the two diseases. Diabetes is the condition in which the body does not produce enough insulin to function properly, in which food is not processed properly for energy causing elevated levels of glucose in the blood. Simply, not enough insulin equals glucose (used for

Sugars are carbohydrates that provide the body with energy, our body’s fuel. Sugar receives a negative stigma in the media due to the vast obesity problem in Australia but the intake of sugar is a requirement for a healthy diet due to glucose being the preferred fuel or energy source for cells, and therefore sugar being highly nourishing. The nervous system, brain and red blood cells have a compulsory need for glucose as a source of energy. Even when sleeping, the human body still requires energy to function. Sugar will always be present in today’s society so it is up to the consumer to monitor and regulate the amount of daily intake.

Many studies have been broad, studying the vocabulary, reasoning, memory, and speed of the person, but zoning in on one thing specific may lead to further understanding. Studying the effects of cognitive aging in relation to memory possibly will open so many more areas of study. Studying specific age groups could also be helpful when attempting to understand cognitive aging as a whole. Learning about how speed, memory, vocabulary, and reasoning all work within a child, 10-15 years old, might be helpful when comparing that data to that information of an adult. between 50-60 years