Page 19 - BBC Focus - August 2017

AUGUST 2017

THE FORGETFUL
Do you often find it difficult to remember what
you had for dinner last night? You might be a
genius. Canadian researchers have found that
jettisoning unimportant memories helps us to
focus on the most important information.

COFFEE DRINKERS
Make mine a quadruple espresso! People who
drink two to three cups of coffee a day are 18 per
cent less likely to die from heart disease, cancer,
stroke, diabetes and kidney disease, a team at the
University of California has found.

GOOD MONTH

BAD MONTH

SMARTPHONE ADDICTS
studied, and its enhancement allows us to better If you break out in a sweat when your
process objects in our visual field, selecting those smartphone’s out of reach, it may be time to
which are relevant and ignoring the rest. rethink your habits. A University of Texas team
Attention improvements have a positive effect on has found that having a smart device in sight
BELOW: In some hospitals, ‘executive functions’, mental processes involved reduces our ability to focus and perform tasks.
video games are already in controlling behaviour, solving problems and
used to help rehabilitate
stroke patients facilitating learning – functions that are closely TEENAGERS
linked to intelligence. So much for the vitality of youth! Researchers at
Visuospatial skills – our the University of Baltimore have found the
capacity to process visual activity levels of the average 19-year-old are the
and spatial information same as those of people in their sixties.
– are also improved.

Can games be useful?
Video games contribute to
the correct functioning of
our brain, and can even
improve it. So we have to
get rid of our prejudices
and accept them as valid
entertainment. This also
opens the door to using
games as a form of training
in clinical settings,
especially for those with
cognitive deficits.

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