Latest news with #Chinese Academy of Sciences
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Playing an instrument may help protect brain against ageing, study finds
Playing a musical instrument could help protect the brain against age-related decline, new research has suggested. Older adults with long-term musical training performed better at understanding speech in noisy environments and showed brain connectivity patterns closer to younger people, according to a study published in the journal PLOS Biology. Researchers from Baycrest Academy for Research and Education in Canada and the Chinese Academy of Sciences used functional MRI scans to compare brain activity in 25 older musicians, 25 older non-musicians and 24 young non-musicians. The participants were asked to identify syllables masked by background noise, a task that typically becomes harder with age. While older non-musicians showed the usual age-related increase in neural activity and connectivity - a sign that the brain is working harder to compensate for decline - older musicians maintained a more 'youth-like' pattern. The strength of connections in certain brain networks also correlated with better performance on the speech-in-noise task, the study found. Older adults with long-term musical training performed better at understanding speech in noisy environments and showed brain connectivity patterns closer to younger people (Getty Images) The findings support what the researchers call the 'Hold-Back Upregulation' hypothesis. This is when the cognitive reserve built through musical training helps the brain hold onto its younger functional features, instead of simply compensating for loss. Dr Yi Du, co-author of the study, said: 'Just like a well-tuned instrument doesn't need to be played louder to be heard, the brains of older musicians stay finely tuned thanks to years of training. 'Our study shows that this musical experience builds cognitive reserve, helping their brains avoid the usual age-related overexertion when trying to understand speech in noisy places.' The authors said that although the study cannot prove cause and effect, it adds to growing evidence that positive lifestyle choices, such as musical training, higher education and bilingualism, can help the brain cope better with ageing. Dr Lei Zhang, another co-author, added: 'A positive lifestyle helps older adults cope better with cognitive ageing, and it is never too late to take up, and stick with, a rewarding hobby such as learning an instrument.' The scientists are now planning to explore whether other activities, such as exercise and multilingualism, could offer similar benefits.
South China Morning Post
3 days ago
- Science
- South China Morning Post
Chinese team says carbon dioxide can turn to sugar, offering solution to global problems
Chinese scientists have developed a method to turn the alcohol methanol into white sugar, which they say could allow captured carbon dioxide to be converted into food. The team's biotransformation system produces sucrose without the need to grow sugar cane or sugar beets – crops that require large amounts of land and water resources. Their method to convert methanol – which can be derived from industrial waste or made by hydrogenating carbon dioxide – into sucrose using enzymes was also adapted to make other complex carbohydrates, including fructose and starch. 07:58 Why is the Chinese government so concerned about food security? Why is the Chinese government so concerned about food security? 'Artificial conversion of carbon dioxide into food and chemicals offers a promising strategy to address both environmental and population-related challenges while contributing to carbon neutrality,' the team said in a paper published in the peer-reviewed journal Science Bulletin in May. Reducing carbon dioxide to less complex molecules has proven successful, though the researchers said that generating long-chain carbohydrates – the most abundant substances in nature – has proven to be a challenge for scientists. 'In vitro biotransformation (ivBT) has emerged as a highly promising platform for sustainable biomanufacturing,' the team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology wrote. 'In this work, we successfully designed and implemented an [ivBT] system for sucrose synthesis from low-carbon molecules'. Sucrose, or white sugar, is mainly obtained from sugar cane grown in warmer climates, such as Southeast Asia. The second major source is sugar beets grown in colder northern regions.
