Down syndrome, the most commonly identified cause of cognitive impairment, occurs in approximately 1-in-700 births in the United States. Additionally, nearly 80 percent of fetuses with Down syndrome are lost before birth.

Estrogen treatments may sharpen mental performance in women with certain medical conditions, but University of Florida researchers suggest that recharging a naturally occurring estrogen receptor in the brain may also clear cognitive cobwebs.

Relatives of patients with Parkinson’s disease may have an increased risk of developing dementia or cognitive impairment, according to a report in the October issue of Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

A hallmark of human nature is the ability to share information and to comprehend the thoughts and intentions of others. This capability involves social cognition (the cognitive processes involved in social interaction) and makes a significant contribution to the foundations for language development, as well as social competence. It also sets us apart from other primates.

A new study reports important evidence for a potential new treatment approach for those diagnosed with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is considered one of the most devastating of the major psychiatric disorders, which has three distinct facets, often referred to as “positive” (hallucinations, delusions), “negative” (blunted emotions, reduced capacity for pleasure), and “cognitive” (impairments in attention, memory, and problem-solving) symptoms.

Mice genetically engineered to have a disease like Alzheimer’s have “silent” seizures that appear related to cellular changes involving the excess accumulations of the protein amyloid beta, said researchers from the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease and Baylor College of Medicine in a report that appears in today’s issue of the journal Neuron.

Long-term use of histamine2 receptor antagonists (H2A), one class of drugs that blocks stomach acid, may be associated with cognitive impairment in older African-American adults. According to an Indiana University School of Medicine and Regenstrief Institute study published in the August issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, the risk for showing signs of cognitive impairment is 2.5 times greater for patients using these medications long-term.

Long-term use of histamine2 receptor antagonists (H2A), one class of drugs that blocks stomach acid, may be associated with cognitive impairment in older African-American adults. According to an Indiana University School of Medicine and Regenstrief Institute study published in August issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, the risk for showing signs of cognitive impairment is 2.5 times greater for patients using these medications long-term.