December 18, 2007 – It is normal for some of the brain functions of an aging person to tend to decline even in the absence of senility or Alzheimer’s disease. This is what the results of a study indicate1 conducted by Harvard University researchers among 55 adults aged 60 to 93 and 38 others aged 18 to 35.
None of the 93 participants had Alzheimer’s disease or any other disorder that could affect cognitive faculties. Scientists in the United States have used medical magnetic resonance imaging tools to observe the normal changes that occur in the brain of a healthy aging person.
The results show that the changes seen in the brains of healthy elderly people are very slight when compared to those that occur in people with Alzheimer’s disease. “Although an 80-year-old’s brain does not work like a 20-year-old’s, that does not prevent seniors from doing very well when compared to people who suffer from real illness. clinical brain degeneration, ”says lead study author Dr.r Randy Buckner.
The authors of the study report that they observed a deterioration in synchronism between the anterior and posterior regions of the brain in older subjects, a phenomenon absent in younger participants. According to the researchers, this decline in synchronization could be explained by the normal deterioration of white matter, a brain structure made of nerve fibers responsible for carrying information between different parts of the brain.
Pierre Lefrançois – PasseportSanté.net
According to Reuters
1. Andrews-Hanna JR, Snyder AZ, et al. Disruption of large-scale brain systems in advanced aging. Neuron. 2007 Dec 6; 56 (5): 924-35.
