A small study of “Super Agers” has found a key difference between them and typical older adults: an unusually large anterior cingulate (involved in attention), with four times as many von Economo neurons.
Key attention region may underlie ‘super agers’ cognitive powers
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Metabolic syndrome linked to memory loss in older people
The new label of ‘metabolic syndrome’ applies to those having three or more of the following risk factors: high blood pressure, excess belly fat, higher than normal triglycerides, high blood sugar and low high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol (the "good" cholesterol). Metabolic syndrome has been linked to increased risk of heart attack.
Memory problems may be more about interference than forgetting
We have thought of memory problems principally in terms of forgetting, but using a new experimental method with amnesic animals has revealed that confusion between memories, rather than loss of memory, may be more important.
Walking counteracts brain atrophy in 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.
Predicting memory loss in healthy older adults
In a study in which 78 healthy elders were given 5 different tests and then tested for cognitive performance 18 months later, two tests combined to correctly predict nearly 80% of those who developed significant cognitive decline. These tests were a blood test to identify presence of the ‘Alzheimer’s gene’ (APOE4), and a 5-minute fMRI imaging scan showing brain activity during mental tasks.
Vascular disease underlies cognitive decline in healthy aging
More evidence that vascular disease plays a crucial role in age-related cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s comes from data from participants in the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative.
More evidence that older adults become less able to ignore distraction
A study involving young (average age 22) and older adults (average age 77) showed participants pictures of overlapping faces and places (houses and buildings) and asked them to identify the gender of the person. While the young adults showed activity in the brain region for processing faces (fusiform face area) but not in the brain region for processing places (parahippocampal place area), both regions were active in the older adults.
Protein in the urine: A warning sign for cognitive decline
A six-year study involving over 1200 older women (70+) has found that low amounts of albumin in the urine, at levels not traditionally considered clinically significant, strongly predict faster cognitive decline in older women. Participants with a urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio of >5 mcg/mg at the start of the study experienced cognitive decline at a rate 2 to 7 times faster in all cognitive measures than that attributed to aging alone over an average 6 years of follow-up. The ability most affected was verbal fluency.
DHA improves memory in older adults with cognitive impairment
There have been mixed findings about the benefits of DHA (an omega-3 fatty acid), but in a study involving 485 older adults (55+) with age-related cognitive impairment, those randomly assigned to take DHA for six months improved the score on a visuospatial learning and episodic memory test. Higher levels of DHA in the blood correlated with better scores on the paired associate learning task. DHA supplementation was also associated with better verbal recognition, but not better working memory or executive function.
Beet juice promotes brain health in older adults
Following on from previous studies showing that drinking beet juice can lower blood pressure, a study involving 14 older adults (average age 75) has found that after two days of eating a high-nitrate breakfast, which included 16 ounces of beet juice, blood flow to the white matter of the frontal lobes (especially between the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and anterior cingulate cortex) had increased. This area is critical for executive functioning.
Poor blood flow in the brain is thought to be a factor in age-related cognitive decline and dementia.
New brief tool to screen for cognitive impairment in elderly patients
A simple new cognitive assessment tool with only 16 items appears potentially useful for identifying problems in thinking, learning and memory among older adults. The Sweet 16 scale is scored from zero to 16 (with 16 representing the best score) and includes questions that address orientation (identification of person, place, time and situation), registration, digit spans (tests of verbal memory) and recall. The test requires no props (not even pencil and paper) and is easy to administer with a minimum of training. It only takes an average of 2 minutes to complete.