Mind & Mood Archive

The holidays are supposed to be filled with love, laughter, and good cheer. Unfortunately, joyous celebration often deteriorates into discord when family and friends gather during the season. But you don't have to get drawn into arguments if you plan ahead and stay alert for potential triggers.

A 2022 study of 78,000 healthy people (ages 40 to 79) who wore fitness trackers found that people who walked about 9,800 steps per day (about five miles) were 51% less likely to develop dementia, compared with people who didn't walk much at all.

A study found that people with mild cognitive impairment who did crossword puzzles regularly showed modest improvement in cognition and less brain shrinkage. Will doing crossword puzzles be helpful to people whose thinking and memory are normal?

The prescription drug Adderall has been in short supply for months. How widespread is this problem, and what are the consequences, and possible solutions, for adults who rely on this medication to manage ADHD?

Automatic negative thoughts are reactions that compel people to interpret many situations in unbalanced, upsetting ways. But with practice, people can learn to recognize and disarm distorted thinking.

A recent study found that older adults who took a multivitamin daily for three years had improved scores on tests of executive function, memory, and overall brain function, but the study wasn't large enough, long enough, or diverse enough to rely on its conclusions alone.

Mindfulness is the act of paying attention and focusing on the moment. Research has long shown mindfulness can help lower anxiety, but new studies suggest additional benefits. These include feeling less pain, making fewer mistakes, and being more resilient. Many people confuse meditation with mindfulness. Although there is some overlap, meditation is a practice that leads to being more mindful. Both meditation and mindfulness aim to help people stay present and nonjudgmental.

A 2022 study suggests that following certain healthy habits throughout life can create a "cognitive reserve" that may protect the brain from dementia. People in their 60s and 70s can still build up their reserve by pursuing a combination of brain-stimulating activities.

People who ate large amounts of ultra-processed foods had a greater risk of later developing dementia compared with people who ate little of these foods, according to a 2022 study. Researchers estimated that switching out even 10% of ultra-processed foods for healthier options might lower one's risk.

There are many misconceptions about dementia. One is that it's a disease. In fact, dementia is a general term describing thinking and memory skills that have deteriorated to the point of experiencing problems with daily activities. Another myth is that dementia is part of normal aging. It isn't; dementia is simply more common as people get older — just like heart disease, stroke, and cancer. Other common myths about dementia include the notions that it always appears as memory loss, it's always genetic, it causes the loss of all memories, and it's never reversible.