While the men who either didn't drink, stopped drinking or drank in moderation showed no changes in cognition, the men whose intake exceeded 2.5 drinks per day showed cognitive declines.
The light appeared to reduce cognitive declines and symptoms of depression.
Not surprisingly, those who had eight hours of sleep hardly had any attention lapses and no cognitive declines over the 14 days of the study.
Dr. Ola A. Selnes, a neuropsychologist at Johns Hopkins, who wrote an editorial in the same issue, said other studies had shown cognitive declines in elderly patients who had operations not involving the heart; the stress of anesthesia and major surgery may have been too much for them.
In a world in which human workspans and lifespans are increasing, cognitive-enhancement tools - including the pharmacological - will be increasingly useful for improved quality of life and extended work productivity, as well as to stave off normal and pathological age-related cognitive declines.
As these mice age, a certain group of neurons deep in their brains dies off, and they experience cognitive declines.
It may also protect against memory loss and other cognitive declines even in people who don't develop Alzheimer's disease.
Healthy aging is associated with cognitive declines typically accompanied by increased task-related brain activity in comparison to younger counterparts.
There is a fairly consistent, albeit non-universal body of research documenting cognitive declines after cancer and its treatments.
The older players in this study could be defined as old seniors (older than 75, on average) who suffer from physical and cognitive declines.
If the findings translate to humans, they may one day lead to drugs that stave off dementia or even the normal cognitive declines of old age.
