Commonly used cholesterol-fighting drugs called statins may protect against dementia and memory loss, according to a study published in the July 29, 2008, issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

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.

While discrediting Lipitor's link to memory loss, physicians say that even if Lipitor and other cholesterol-lowering drugs have mild cognitive side effects, the benefits of these drugs greatly outweigh their risks.

People with a devastating brain injury that has wiped out many of their personal memories may still be able to understand other people’s feelings and intentions, according to a joint study by the Rotman Research Institute at the Baycrest Centre for Aging and the Brain, and York University’s Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health.

People with more years of education lose their memory faster than those with less education in the years prior to a diagnosis of dementia, according to a study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, published in the October 23rd issue of the medical journal Neurology.

Insulin, it turns out, may be as important for the mind as it is for the body. Research in the last few years has raised the possibility that Alzheimer’s memory loss could be due to a novel third form of diabetes.

University of California, Irvine researchers have developed the first images of the physical changes in brain cells thought to underlie memory, a discovery that is already uncovering clues about memory loss linked to cognitive disorders.

Mice whose brains had lost a large number of neurons due to neurodegeneration regained long-term memories and the ability to learn after their surroundings were enriched with toys and other sensory stimuli, according to new studies by Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers. The scientists were able to achieve the same results when they treated the mice with a specific type of drug that encourages neuronal growth.

Scientists have known for more than a decade that individuals with a certain gene are at higher risk for developing Alzheimer's disease. Now a new study helps explain why this is so.

A study of herbal kelp supplements led by UC Davis public health expert Marc Schenker concludes that its medicinal use may cause inadvertent arsenic poisoning and health dangers for consumers, especially when overused. Schenker and two researchers evaluated nine over-the-counter herbal kelp products and found higher than acceptable arsenic levels in eight of them.

A compound found in blueberries shows promise of preventing colon cancer in animals, according to a joint study by scientists at Rutgers University and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.