Some memory problems are inevitable over the years. When the decline becomes marked, however, it can complicate the performance of the most mundane daily activities, and can reveal the harbingers of extremely serious ailments, such as Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.
The problem is destined to have an ever greater impact on our societies with the constant aging of the population expected in the coming years, and therefore science has long been working to find new strategies with which to keep memory healthy in old age.
A new study, just published in Nature Neurosciencedescribes one extremely promising: AC transcranial stimulation, a non-invasive therapeutic protocol that seems capable of considerably improving the memory skills of the elderly in just a handful of sessions, and for a long period of time.
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The treatment in this case basically consists in wearing a helmet equipped with electrodes, which administer a low voltage electric current in some specific brain areas involved in memory processes.
The areas in question had been identified by scientists from Boston University in some previous research, and in the experiment described in the new study, the researchers decided to test whether to modulate the activity of these areas of the brain with transcranial AC stimulation. allows us to improve the performance of the two types of memory we are equipped with: the working one, in which information is stored for short periods of time, and the long-term one, where memories are kept for much longer periods.
60 volunteers over 70 participated in the experiment, undergoing transcranial stimulation for four consecutive days and at the same time performing a mnemonic test designed to evaluate their short and long-term memory abilities. Participants’ performance was also carefully assessed outside the experiment, both before they began to undergo the treatment, and one month later.
According to the results, the protocol appears to be working. Indeed, transcranial stimulation independently improved both working and long-term memory performance, with more marked effects in participants who had the worst cognitive performance at the start of treatment.
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It is unclear how long the benefits last, as participants were only evaluated for one month. And it is not possible to say whether the effects would also be confirmed in patients with cognitive impairments, neurodegenerative diseases or forms of dementia, for whom an improvement in memory skills could be really important.
Net of these limitations, which will have to be resolved with further research, the results of the study nonetheless confirm that the use of non-invasive methods of modulating brain activity, such as transcranial AC stimulation, is a promising way to improve health. cognitive in old age.