Students who study for many hours on end should take note of a new study done by David Foster and other researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The study supports the idea that taking regular breaks can improve learning and memory formation.

A natural chemical (flavonoid) found in strawberries has recently been shown to boost long-term memory formation in mice.

The chemical is called Fisetin

Have been reading lately about a substance derived from the Chinese club moss: Huperzia serrata- Huperzine A.

For many years, this compound has been used in China to treat patients with memory decline and Alzheimer’s disease.

As pharmaceutical companies come out with newer, more effective brain boosting pills (see an earlier post on ampakines), more and more people will be chiming in on the ethics of brain enhancement.

A new study published in the European Child Adolescent Psychiatry seems to indicate that pine bark extract is effective for treating attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

The extract is called Pycnogenol, which is derived from the bark of the French maritime pine.

Many students believe they don’t do well academically because they were “born with a bad memory”.

I’ve always believed, however, that memory ability depends in large part upon what strategies are being used. And since strategies are things that can be taught, a bad memory can easily be improved and good memory can be made great.

Dr. Marius Smuts from the Nutritional Internvention Research Center in South Africa found that primary school children given a daily spread of fish oil on bread showed improvements in learning and memory.

This student study tip is a good example of “better learning through neurochemistry”.

It comes from a new research study out of the University College London, and provides an interesting

I’ve made several posts over the last several months stressing the importance of keeping your blood vessels open and free of atherosclerosis in order to maintain optimal brain power.

Ampakines are a class of proprietary drugs that are being developed by Cortex Pharmaceuticals and its partners. These compounds are thought to be potentially useful in improving memory and concentration in people who have ADHD and Alzheimer’s disease. Many are hopeful that the drugs will help improve cognition and performance in those that are normal and healthy.

A study out of the University of Massachusetts indicates that there is something in apples that helps keep your brain sharp as you age.

The research was published in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease

About 2 weeks ago, I posted how an “empty stomach” can improve memory and boost brain power via a stomach-made hormone called ghrelin.

Ghrelin travels to the hippocampus, the memory engine of the brain, and causes new connections to form between brain cells.

Now, a study has been published that shows

This helpful bit should be of use to college students, busy executives, and anyone else who is dependent on high levels of concentration and brain power.

It turns out there is a growing body of research that shows, amazingly:

• Exposure to green outdoor settings (parks, trees, grassy backyards, etc…) can

Contrary to popular belief, the vast majority of strokes that occur in your brain are silent: most people do not realize they’re getting hit with one. And most remain blissfully unaware even after the fact.

A new study published in the May issue of The Lancet Neurology suggests that those who socialize with friends and family members are less likely to suffer the damaging effects of Alzheimer’s disease.

The study seems to indicate the larger your social network, the more your brain and its cognitive power is protected.

In the last several years, several small studies seem to indicate that chewing gum can help reduce stress and improve short- and long-term memory.

Is it the sugar or the chewing?

One study out of the University of Northumbria on 75 healthy volunteers found the improvement was present even when the gum was sugar-free.

It turns out that falling in love may be a powerful way to crank up the bodily chemicals that boost brain power and enhance learning ability.

According to a new research study done at the University of Pavia (Italy) and published in Psychoneuroendocrinology

A recent article published in Nature Neuroscience reveals that when the stomach is empty, it makes a special hormone called ghrelin.

Amazingly, ghrelin travels to the hippocampus portion of the brain and causes new connections to form between brain cells there. As discussed in previous posts, the hippocampus is the memory engine of your brain.

A study of 1,003 Japanese adults reveals that green tea may help keep your brain sharp as you get older.

The more green tea they drank, the less likely they were to develop cognitive problems.

The findings were reported in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

For a related post, see

A recent study published in the journal Nutrition (Vol. 22, pp.295-302) suggests that Concord grape juice has a beneficial effect on brain cells and can improve cognitive function.

In fact, the authors of the study suggest that the special compounds in grape juice can potentially

Two weeks ago, I posted a page debunking the popular myth "you cannot grow new brain cells". It turns out that the brain is constantly churning out new brain cells.

Just recently, however, I came across a new, related study:

• By cutting your sleep short, you

A 2006 study out of the Division of Neuroscience and The Brain Research Center at University of British Columbia Hospital nicely summarizes one of the core teachings of brain enhancement:

• Regular doses of exercise can “massively increase” the growth of new brain cells in your brain.

The best part of it all, however, is the specific location

If your ability to concentrate and pay attention is bad enough to the point you’ve been told you have ADHD, the results from this new study may offer you some hope of brain enhancement without amphetamines.

The 2006 article from the journal Prostaglandins, Leukotrienes, and Essential Fatty Acids found that:

For those want to improve memory, here is some important information on stress- a very, very powerful brain buster.

Chronic stress robs you of brain power. It literally shrinks and destroys

How often are you getting colds? How strong is your immune system?

Traditionally, we are taught that the immune system’s job is to police the body and fight off infections. However, by improving the status of the immune system, it may be possible for younger people to boost their brain power and for older folks to slow down age-related loss of memory and learning abilities.

Phytoestrogens appear to be a new class of brain food, as they have recently been shown to improve memory and cognition, as well as mood in postmenopausal women. (Fertil Steril 2006;85:972-978)