Author Archives: Dr. Pascale Michelon

Dr. Michelon is a Cognitive Psychologist with a profound interest in brain fitness. She is an adjunct faculty at Washington University in St Louis.
She is also the owner and director of The Memory Practice, a company developing paper and pencil brain exercises.
The goal of The Memory Practice is to help individuals in their home stay cognitively fit and to help retirement facilities organize brain support group for their residents.
www.thememorypractice.com

Stay Connected to Improve Brain Function

January 27, 2009 – 3:21 pm

They say that human beings are social animals. It seems intuitive (even for introverts!) that social contact has benefits. Obviously we need other people to fulfill basic needs such making sure that our genes outlive us. Maybe less obviously, we seem to need other people to maintain adequate levels of mental well-being and motivation. Even [...]

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Exercise to get new neurons!

January 16, 2008 – 10:28 am

It is now well known that, for rodents, physical exercise is beneficial for brain health. Indeed, mice allowed to freely run on an exercise wheel grow more new neurons that mice not allowed to move freely. Importantly, these new neurons grow in an area crucial for memory formation: the hippocampus.
Neurogenesis (the birth and development of [...]

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Adult brains can change!

December 7, 2007 – 4:02 pm

Young brains are plastic. This means that they can change and reorganize to adapt to deficits. Is it the case for older brains as well? Recent research suggests that the answer is yes!
Dilks, from John Hopkins University, and his colleagues, studied the brain of a stroke patient (B.L.). Behavioral and brain imaging evidence showed that [...]

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Why Emotion Boosts Memory

October 19, 2007 – 8:45 am

Have you ever wondered why you remember so vividly that argument you had with your boss 3 months ago or the first time you kissed your husband or wife?
If yes, you may have thought that your memory for these events was vivid because they occurred when you were experiencing a strong emotion: anger or happiness.
And [...]

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Bilinguals stay sharp longer

October 3, 2007 – 11:01 am

Canadian researcher published earlier this year a study showing that people who regularly used two languages showed signs of dementia 4 years later than people who used only one language!
It looks like bilingual brains are more resistant to the effects of cognitive decline. Previous studies by the same researchers had established that bilingual people were [...]

Posted in Alzheimers, Brain Fitness Websites, Brain exercises, Brain health, Health & Wellness, Language, Lifelong learning, Memory | Comments (0)