Ian Cooke, Cooperative Research Centre for Mental Health
The human brain is the location of personality, emotion, learning and wisdom in a unique individual. It contains 100 billion nerve cells – roughly the same number as there are galaxies in the observable…
OVER-DIAGNOSIS EPIDEMIC – David Le Couteur discusses recent changes in the definition of dementia and their ramifications. The pattern of over-diagnosis is the same for many diseases: we screen healthy…
The size and growing magnitude of the dementia epidemic has forced a welcome decision by health ministers to name the disorder as Australia’s latest national health priority area. Yet for researchers searching…
The discovery of a molecule that appears to regulate memory and learning in the brain could pave the way for treatments of early dementia, scientists at the University of Queensland’s Brain Institute (QBI…
People who eat greater amounts of blueberries and strawberries could delay their cognitive ageing by years, according to data from a large-scale study conducted over more than three decades. In a paper…
Genetic mutations are the cause of many incurable diseases and we now have tests to predict the likelihood of people developing inherited diseases. But predictive genetic tests for neurodegenerative diseases…
A routine test could triple the rate of detection of cognitive impairment and dementia, according to researchers who argue that screening should be mandatory for older people. The controversial proposal…
Most of us have no direct experience of psychiatry or severe mental illness. So our attitudes and experiences are shaped by what we are exposed to: mass media portrayals. Reality rarely makes good drama…
Dementia is among the largest cause of disability in Australians aged over 65 and affects memory, intellect, rationality, social skills and everyday activities. Alzheimer’s disease, which accounts for…