brain atrophy

Walking counteracts brain atrophy in older adults

February, 2011
  • Walking 40 minutes a day three days a week prevented ‘normal’ atrophy in the brains of older adults.

Another study has come out proclaiming the cognitive benefits of walking for older adults. Previously sedentary adults aged 55-80 who walked around a track for 40 minutes on three days a week for a year increased the size of their hippocampus, as well as their level of BDNF. Those assigned to a stretching routine showed no such growth. There were 120 participants in the study.

The growth of around 2% contrasts with the average loss of 1.4% hippocampal tissue in the stretching group — an amount of atrophy considered “normal” with age. Although both groups improved their performance on a computerized spatial memory test, the walkers improved more.

The findings are consistent with a number of animal studies showing aerobic exercise increases neurogenesis and BDNF in the hippocampus, and human studies pointing to a lower risk of cognitive decline and dementia in those who walk regularly.

Reference: 

[2097] Erickson, K. I., Voss M. W., Prakash R S., Basak C., Szabo A., Chaddock L., et al.
(Submitted).  Exercise training increases size of hippocampus and improves memory.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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Career choice may determine where frontotemporal dementia begins

October, 2010
  • An international review of patients with frontotemporal dementia has revealed that the area of the brain first affected tends to be the hemisphere least used in the individual’s occupation.

A review of brain imaging and occupation data from 588 patients diagnosed with frontotemporal dementia has found that among the dementias affecting those 65 years and younger, FTD is as common as Alzheimer's disease. The study also found that the side of the brain first attacked (unlike Alzheimer’s, FTD typically begins with tissue loss in one hemisphere) is influenced by the person’s occupation.

Using occupation scores that reflect the type of skills emphasized, they found that patients with professions rated highly for verbal skills, such as school principals, had greater tissue loss on the right side of the brain, whereas those rated low for verbal skills, such as flight engineers, had greater tissue loss on the left side of the brain. This effect was expressed most clearly in the temporal lobes of the brain. In other words, the side of the brain least used in the patient's professional life was apparently the first attacked.

These findings are in keeping with the theory of cognitive reserve, but may be due to some asymmetry in the brain that both inclines them to a particular occupational path and renders the relatively deficient hemisphere more vulnerable in later life.

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Vitamin B supplements could delay onset of Alzheimer's

September, 2010
  • Vitamin B supplements markedly reduced brain atrophy in older adults with MCI, offering hope that they may be effective in delaying the development of Alzheimer’s.

A two-year study involving 271 older adults (70+) with mild cognitive impairment has found that the rate of brain atrophy in those taking folic acid (0.8 mg/d), vitamin B12 (0.5 mg/d) and vitamin B6 (20 mg/d), was significantly slower than in those taking a placebo, with those taking the supplements experiencing on average 30% less brain atrophy. Higher rates of atrophy were associated with lower cognitive performance. Moreover those who with the highest levels of homocysteine at the beginning of the trial benefited the most, with 50% less brain shrinkage. High levels of homocysteine are a risk factor for Alzheimer’s, and folate, B12 and B6 help regulate it.

The finding that atrophy can be slowed in those with MCI offers hope that the treatment could delay the development of Alzheimer’s, since MCI is a major risk factor for Alzheimer’s, and faster brain atrophy is typical of those who go on to develop Alzheimer’s.

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Brain may age faster in people whose hearts pump less blood

September, 2010
  • A large study confirms that your cardiac health affects your brain, and provides evidence that the extent of this problem is greater than we think.

I have often spoken of the mantra: What’s good for your heart is good for your brain. The links between cardiovascular risk factors and cognitive decline gets more confirmation in this latest finding that people whose hearts pumped less blood had smaller brains than those whose hearts pumped more blood. The study involved 1,504 participants of the decades-long Framingham Offspring Cohort who did not have a history of stroke, transient ischemic attack or dementia. Participants were 34 to 84 years old.

Worryingly, it wasn’t simply those with the least amount of blood pumping from the heart who had significantly more brain atrophy (equivalent to almost two years more brain aging) than the people with the highest cardiac index. Those with levels at the bottom end of normal showed similar levels of brain atrophy. Moreover, although only 7% of the participants had heart disease, 30% had a low cardiac index.

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Larger head size may protect against Alzheimer's symptoms

August, 2010
  • Another study finding larger head size helps protect people with Alzheimer’s brain damage from cognitive impairment.

Confirming previous research, a study involving 270 Alzheimer’s patients has found that larger head size was associated with better performance on memory and thinking tests, even when there was an equivalent degree of brain damage. The findings are consistent with the theory of cognitive reserve. They also point to the importance of brain development early in life, since the brain reaches 93% of its final size at age six, and while partly determined by genes, brain growth is also influenced by nutrition, infections, and brain injuries.

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Specific hippocampal atrophy early sign of MCI & Alzheimer's

January, 2010
  • People with MCI who later developed Alzheimer's disease showed 10-30% greater brain atrophy in two specific regions.

A three-year study involving 169 people with mild cognitive impairment has found that those who later developed Alzheimer's disease showed 10-30% greater atrophy in two specific locations within the hippocampus, the cornu ammonis (CA1) and the subiculum. A second study comparing the brains of 10 cognitively normal elderly people and seven who were diagnosed with MCI between two and three years after their initial brain scan and with Alzheimer's some seven years after the initial scan, has confirmed the same pattern of hippocampal atrophy, from the CA1 to the subiculum, and then other regions of the hippocampus.

Reference: 

Apostolova, L.G. et al. In press. Subregional hippocampal atrophy predicts Alzheimer's dementia in the cognitively normal. Neurobiology of Aging, Available online 24 September 2008.

[392] Apostolova, L. G., Thompson P. M., Green A. E., Hwang K. S., Zoumalan C., Jack, Jr C. R., et al.
(2010).  3D comparison of low, intermediate, and advanced hippocampal atrophy in MCI.
Human Brain Mapping. 9999(9999), NA - NA.

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Losing muscle mass early sign of Alzheimer’s

April, 2010
  • Previous research has found that unexplained weight loss is an early sign of Alzheimer's. Now a new study has revealed that it is not the overall weight or fat levels that are important, but the loss of lean mass (weight of an individual's bones, muscles and organs without body fat).

Previous research has found that unexplained weight loss is an early sign of Alzheimer's. Now a study involving 140 older adults (60+), of whom half had early-stage Alzheimer's disease, has revealed that it is not the overall weight or fat levels that are important, but the loss of lean mass (weight of an individual's bones, muscles and organs without body fat). This directly correlated with reductions in the volume of the whole brain and of white matter only, along with declines in cognitive performance. The finding is consistent with research suggesting that brain pathology contributes to a decline in body composition, perhaps by disrupting the regulation of energy metabolism and food intake, perhaps through behavioral changes (there is a strong association between loss of muscle mass and reductions in physical activity), or perhaps through a common underlying mechanism, such as inflammation.

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Mental activity may protect against memory problems in MS

July, 2010
  • A new study points to the importance of cognitive reserve to protect sufferers of multiple sclerosis for cognitive impairment.

Memory and learning problems often occur in multiple sclerosis, but bewilderingly, are only weakly associated with the severity of the disease. A study involving 44 people around the age of 45 who had MS for an average of 11 years has found that those with a mentally active lifestyle had good scores on the tests of learning and memory even if they had higher amounts of brain damage. The findings suggest that, as with Alzheimer’s disease, 'cognitive reserve' protects against cognitive impairment. Differences in cognitive reserve may explain why some people have memory problems early in the disease, while others do not develop memory problems until much later, if at all.

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Alzheimer's expressed differently in carriers and noncarriers of the Alzheimer’s gene

July, 2010
  • A new study reveals that having the 'Alzheimer's gene' doesn't simply increase your risk of developing Alzheimer's, but affects how the brain is damaged.

A comprehensive study reveals how the ‘Alzheimer's gene’ (APOE ε4) affects the nature of the disease. It is not simply that those with the gene variant tend to be more impaired (in terms of both memory loss and brain damage) than those without. Different parts of the brain (and thus different functions) tend to be differentially affected, depending on whether the individual is a carrier of the gene or not. Carriers displayed significantly greater impairment on tests of memory retention, while noncarriers were more impaired on tests of working memory, executive control, and lexical access. Consistent with this, carriers showed greater atrophy in the mediotemporal lobe, and noncarriers greater atrophy in the frontoparietal area. The findings have implications both for diagnosis and treatment.

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Personality may influence brain shrinkage in aging

March, 2010
  • An imaging study involving 79 volunteers aged 44 to 88 has found more brain atrophy and faster rates of decline in brain regions particularly affected by aging, among those ranked high in neuroticism traits.

An imaging study involving 79 volunteers aged 44 to 88 has found lower volumes of gray matter and faster rates of decline in the frontal and medial temporal lobes of those who ranked high in neuroticism traits, compared with those who ranked high in conscientious traits. These are brain regions particularly affected by aging. The idea that this might occur derived from the well-established effects of chronic stress on the brain. This is the first study to investigate whether the rate and extent of cognitive decline with age is influenced by personality variables. Extraversion, also investigated, had no effect. The study does not, however, rule out the possibility that it is reduction in brain tissue in these areas that is affecting personality. There is increasing evidence that people tend to become more neurotic and less conscientious in early-stage Alzheimer's.

Reference: 

[174] Jackson, J., Balota D. A., & Head D.
(Submitted).  Exploring the relationship between personality and regional brain volume in healthy aging.
Neurobiology of Aging. In Press, Corrected Proof,

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