Treatment Effects of Acupuncture and Calligraphy Training on Cognitive Abilities in Senile Demented Patients

Purpose:This study compared the relative effectiveness of Chinese calligraphy handwriting(CCH)and acupuncture in the treatment of patients with senile dementia.Materials and Methods:A randomized controlled trial(RCT)with 17 mild-to-moderate dementia patients with an average age of 77.29 years were randomly assigned with 9 to the calligraphy handwriting group and 8 to the acupuncture treatment group for a month of consecutive treatment.The participants'cognitive abilities,as well as symptoms of senile dementia,were measured by the Chinese version of the Mini-mental State Examination(CMMSE)and the Chinese Medicine Quantitative Diagnostic Survey for Senile Dementia Symptoms,respectively,before and after the treatment.Results:The calligraphy group showed a significant increase in calculation and memory as well as a decline in the symptoms of senile dementia.Patients in the acupuncture group experienced a significant growth in total CMMSE scores and the subscales in orientation to time and place,behavioral operations,as well as reduced clinical symptoms.However,no significant changes were found in their memory and calculation abilities.Conclusion:Both CCH and acupuncture treatments were found significantly effective for,respectively,enhancing the patients'cognitive abilities and reducing their clinical symptoms.Further,calligraphy handwriting also improved the level of their attention and concentration,physical relaxation,and emotional stability.

Ginkgo biloba leaf extract improves the cognitive abilities of rats with D-galactose induced dementia

Standardized Ginkgo biloba leaf extract has been used in clinical trials for its beneficial effects on brain func- tions, particularly in dementia. Substantial experimental evidences indicated that Ginkgo biloba leaf extract （EGB） protected neuronal cells from a variety of insults. We investigated the effect of EGB on cognitive ability and protein kinase B （PKB） activity in hippocampal neuronal cells of dementia model rats. Rats received an intra- peritoneal injection of D-galactose to induce dementia. Forty-eight Spraque-Dawley rats were randomly divided into six groups, including the control group, D-galactose group （Gal）, low-dose EGB group （EGB-L）, mid-dose EGB group （EGB-M）, high-dose EGB group （EGB-H） and treatment group. The EGB-L, EGB-M and EGB-H groups were administered with EGB and D-galactose simultaneously. Y-maze, cresyl violet staining, TUNEL assays and immunohistochemistry staining were performed to detect learning and memory abilities, morpho- logical changes in the hippocampus, neuronal apoptosis and the expressing level of phospho-PKB, respectively. Rats in the Gal group showed decreased abilities of learning and memory, and hippocampal pyramidal cell layer was damaged, while EGB administration improved learning and memory abilities. The Gal group exhibited many stained, condensed nuclei and micronuclei, either isolated or within the cytoplasm of cells （39.5 ± 1.4）. Apoptotic cells decreased in the groups of EGB-L （35.9±0.9）, EGB-M （16.8± 1.0） and EGB-H （10.1±0.8）, and there were statistical significances compared with the Gal group. Immunoreactivity of phospho-PKB was localized diffusely throughout the cytosol of cells in all groups, while the immunoreactivity of the Gal group was weak. EGB signifi- cantly attenuated learning and memory impairment in a dose-dependent manner, while it could decrease the nmber of TUNEL-positive cells, and increase the activity of PKB. Our results demonstrated that EGB attenuated memory impairment and cell apoptosis in galactose-induced dementia model rats by activating PKB.

Grape Seed Proanthocyanidin Extract Ameliorates Streptozotocin-induced Cognitive and Synaptic Plasticity Deficits by Inhibiting Oxidative Stress and Preserving AKT and ERK Activities

Progressive memory loss and cognitive impairment are the main clinical manifestations of Alzheimer’s disease(AD).Currently,there is no effective drug available for the treatment of AD.Previous studies have demonstrated that the cognitive impairment of AD is associated with oxidative stress and the inhibition of AKT and ERK phosphorylation.Grape seed proanthocyanidin extract(GSPE)has been shown to have strong antioxidant effect and can protect the nervous system from oxidative stress damage.This study aimed to investigate the protective effect of GSPE on the cognitive and synaptic impairments of AD using a sporadic AD rat model induced by intracerebroventricular(ICV)injection of streptozotocin(STZ)(ICV-STZ).Rats were treated with GSPE(50,100,or 200 mg/kg every day)by intragastrical(ig.)administration for continuous 7 weeks,and ICV-STZ(3 mg/kg)was performed on the first day and third day of week 5.Learning and memory abilities were assessed by the Morris water maze(MWM)test at week 8.After behavioral test,hippocampal long-term potentiation(LTP)was recorded,and the levels of malondialdehyde(MDA),superoxide dismutases(SOD),glutathione(GSH)and the protein expression of AKT and ERK were measured in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex of rats.Our study revealed that ICV-STZ significantly impaired the working learning ability and hippocampal LTP of rats,significantly increased the levels of MDA,and decreased the activity of SOD and GSH in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex.In contrast,GSPE treatment prevented the impairment of cognitive function and hippocampal LTP induced by ICV-STZ,decreased the level of MDA,and increased the level of SOD and GSH.Furthermore,Western blot results showed that GSPE treatment could prevent the loss of AKT and ERK activities in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex induced by ICV-STZ.Our findings demonstrate that GSPE treatment could ameliorate the impairment of cognitive ability and hippocampal synaptic plasticity in a rat model of sporadic AD by inhibiting oxidative stress and preserving AKT and ERK activities.Therefore,GSPE may be an effective agent for the treatment of cognitive deficits associated with sporadic AD.

Effects of oxygen concentration and flow rate on cognitive ability and physiological responses in the elderly

The supply of highly concentrated oxygen positively affects cognitive processing in normal young adults. However, there have been few reports on changes in cognitive ability in elderly subjects following highly concentrated oxygen administration. This study investigated changes in cognitive ability, blood oxygen saturation （%）, and heart rate （beats/min） in normal elderly subjects at three different levels of oxygen [21% （1 L/min）, 93% （1 L/min）, and 93% （5 L/min）] administered during a 1-back task. Eight elderly male （75.3 ＋ 4.3 years old） and 10 female （71.1 ＋ 3.9 years old） subjects, who were normal in cognitive ability as shown by a score of more than 24 points in the Mini-Mental State Examination-Korea, participated in the experiment. The experiment consisted of an adaptation phase after the start of oxygen administration （3 minutes）, a control phase to obtain stable baseline measurements of heart rate and blood oxygen saturation before the task （2 minutes） and a task phase during which the 1-back task was performed （2 minutes）. Three levels of oxygen were administered throughout the three phases （7 minutes）. Blood oxygen saturation and heart rate were measured during each phase. Our results show that blood oxygen saturation increased, heart rate decreased, and response time in the 1-back task decreased as the concentration and amount of administered oxygen increased. This shows that administration of sufficient oxygen for optimal cognitive functioning increases blood oxygen saturation and decreases heart rate.

On the Apriority and Self-renewal of Cognitive Ability

Human cognition ability comes from sensory experience or gift concept.This is the difference between empiricism and rationalism in the two major factions of Western European philosophy in the 16th and 18th centuries.The weakness of empiricism is that it is impossible to obtain knowledge with universal necessity from complicated experience,and the inability to obtain new knowledge is the weakness of theory.How to reconcile the contradiction between the two has become a new theme.This paper will cut into the three aspects of philosophy,geometry,and modern business economy,and explore the innate nature of cognitive ability and the characteristics of human self-renewal that are manifested in the process of self-development of cognitive ability.Its significance is not only to explore the essence of human beings,but also to give hope to the multiple possibilities of human beings.

Construction of Structural Elements and Characteristic System of Athletes’Cognitive Ability

Cognitive ability is important component of competitive ability of athletes,an important content of winning elements in sports,and an important topic of modern sports training and scientific research.These problems will restrict the improvement of athletes’cognitive ability and mental level.Based on the theory of psychology,use multiple hierarchical thinking,research cognitive theory of sports and the characteristics of cognitive ability of elite athletes,research the structure element system of cognitive ability,construct a two-level structure model of the cognitive ability of excellent athletes,summarize specific characteristics of the first level elements,and apply psychological cognitive theory to the training of modern Olympic Games mobilization,so as to provide valuable cognitive training,psychological training,and intelligence training for athletes theoretical guidance.

County-level USA:No Robust Relationship between Geoclimatic Variables and Cognitive Ability

Using a sample of~3,100 U.S.counties,we tested geoclimatic explanations for why cognitive ability varies across geography.These models posit that geoclimatic factors will strongly predict cognitive ability across geography,even when a variety of common controls appear in the regression equations.Our results generally do not support UV radiation(UVR)based or other geoclimatic models.Specifically,although UVR alone predicted cognitive ability at the U.S.county-level(β=-.33),its validity was markedly reduced in the presence of climatic and demographic covariates(β=-.16),and was reduced even further with a spatial lag(β=-.10).For climate models,average temperature remained a significant predictor in the regression equation containing a spatial lag(β=.35).However,the effect was in the wrong direction relative to typical cold weather hypotheses.Moreover,when we ran the analyses separately by race/ethnicity,no consistent pattern appeared in the models containing the spatial lag.Analyses of gap sizes across counties were also generally inconsistent with predictions from the UVR model.Instead,results seemed to provide support for compositional models.

Exploration of Children's Language Acquisition and Teaching Based on Piaget's Theory of Cognitive Development

This paper explores children's language acquisition process and its application in educational practice based on Piaget's theory of cognitive development.Piaget's theory emphasizes that children's cognitive abilities develop progressively through different stages,from sensorimotor to concrete operational stages.Children's language acquisition progresses from simple to complex and from concrete to abstract during these stages.The paper integrates theoretical discussions on how to design effective language teaching strategies according to children's cognitive development characteristics to promote their language proficiency and overall cognitive development.

A Study on the Explanation of Conceptual Metaphor in English Business News

In English business news discourses, there are numerous financial words or terms which are quite difficult for readers to under-stand, especially those ones built on the basis of metaphorical mechanism. Conceptual Metaphor has a strong power to explain the cor-rect meaning of these words with their specific types of metaphors. Through the explanation of the meaning construction of the metaphori-cal words, it can be a great help for the news readers to master the accurate and deep-seated messages in the discourse. Simultaneously,it gives the reader an insight into the English culture in order to grasp the international economic trends and makes them accomplishcross-cultural communication task with ease.

DISCOURSE COMPETENCE VS. COGNITIVE ABILITY: DO SECOND LANGUAGE LEARNERS WRITE THE WAY THEY THINK?

This is a replication of Tyler and Bro's study (1992) on the effect of discourse level phenomena on audience perception of comprehensibility. 53 Chinese students of English and 10 native English speakers were taken as informants to a questionnaire, in which orders of ideas, discourse miscues and other types of errors (e.g. cohesion and redundant ideas, etc.) were used as variables to see whether they could affect the comprehensibility of texts. Strong resemblances were found between the two groups. Order of ideas (i.e. deductive or inductive) seems not to have affected text comprehensibility much, but the interactive cumulating miscues at the discourse level played an important role in discourse comprehension. As disparities are found between what nonnative speakers do and how they react to what they have done, the paper discusses whether people think the way they write, and if linguistic competence correlates with cognitive ability. The paper suggests that knowing and doing are two aspects of learning; teachers of English, therefore, have to understand the perplexities second language learners face and try to help them write as effectively as possible in the target language.

Large-brained birds display lower extra-pair paternity

Extra-pair paternity(EPP)benefits to improve the reproductive success via extra-pair fertilizations without the costs of parental care in males and through improved offspring quality with additional food and parental care in females among species of birds.Variations in the EPP appear to link to behavioral and ecological factors and sexual selection.According to the“relationship intelligence hypothesis”,the cognitive abilities of the birds play an important role in maintaining long-term relationships.Here,we undertook thefirst comparative test of the relationships between extra-pair paternity and brain size,testis size,and life histories among 315 species of birds using phylogenetically controlled comparative analyses and path analysis.After controlling for the effects of shared ancestry and body mass,the frequency of EPP was negatively correlated with relative brain size,but positively with testis size across species of birds.However,the frequency of EPP was not linked to life-history traits(e.g.incubation period,fledging period,clutch size,egg mass,and longevity).Ourfindings suggest that large-brained birds associated with enhanced cognitive abilities are more inclined to maintain long-term stable relationships with their mates and to mutualism with them than to increase the frequency of EPP.

Major achievements in relation to dyslexia in Chinese characters

Objective To review the major achievements in dyslexia in Chinese characters, hoping to give some clues for future studies. Data sources Both Chinese and English language literature search using PUBMED, and original articles published in main Chinese and international journals. Study selection After reviewing the literature, 54 articles were selected that specifically addressed the stated purpose. Results The results of studies about the subtypes, cerebral basis, reading processing model, event-related potential （ERP） and saccadic features between English and Chinese dyslexia are different. Conclusions in the last ten years, great progress has been made in the study of dyslexia in Chinese characters. However, there are still many problems and shortcomings which need to be investigated.

The therapeutic prospects and challenges of human neural stem cells for the treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease(AD)is a multifactorial neurodegenerative disorder associated with aging.Due to its insidious onset,protracted progression,and unclear pathogenesis,it is considered one of the most obscure and intractable brain disorders,and currently,there are no effective therapies for it.Convincing evidence indicates that the irreversible decline of cognitive abilities in patients coincides with the deterioration and degeneration of neurons and synapses in the AD brain.Human neural stem cells(NSCs)hold the potential to functionally replace lost neurons,reinforce impaired synaptic networks,and repair the damaged AD brain.They have therefore received extensive attention as a possible source of donor cells for cellular replacement therapies for AD.Here,we review the progress in NSC-based transplantation studies in animal models of AD and assess the therapeutic advantages and challenges of human NSCs as donor cells.We then formulate a promising transplantation approach for the treatment of human AD,which would help to explore the disease-modifying cellular therapeutic strategy for the treatment of human AD.