A recent study which utilized brain imaging scans suggests the following: that people who have remained mentally active throughout their lives develop fewer beta amyloid plaques. This new study is not about the brain's response to amyloid (which the older studies dealt with), but rather, it is about the actual accumulation of amyloid. Beta amyloid is the protein that many scientists believe causes Alzheimer's disease. It is this protein that is found in the plaques of the brains of people who suffer from Alzheimer's.
According to Dr. William Jagust of the University of California at Berkely, this is a brand new finding. This recent study was spearheaded by Dr. Jagust whose report appears in the most recent edition of the Archives of Neurology.
The study, however, has two important weaknesses, though one of its strengths lies in the fact that brain imaging was utilized. The weaknesses are: it was a small group that was studied and the study relied on the memory of the participants' mental activity from age 6 and after.
With respect to the brain imaging that was used in the study, the compound used to visualize areas of the brain is known as PiB (Pittsburgh Compound B) which works with PET (positron emission tomography) scans to show the beta amyloid deposits. PiB sticks to the deposits so they can be visualized by investigators.
The study itself looked at the brains of 65 healthy, cognitively intact people aged 60 and above. These participants were asked myriad questions with respect to how mentally active they had been during different periods of their lives, beginning at age 6.
The questions covered topics like emails, game playing, newspaper reading, library outings, and letter writing. Their memories and thinking skills were assessed and PET scans were conducted in order to locate any amyloid deposits in the brain. The researchers then compared the brain scans with those of 10 patients with Alzheimer's and 11 healthy people in their 20's.
The investigation revealed that people who had been the most mentally active throughout their lives had the least amount of beta amyloid deposit than the others who had been less mentally active.
Furthermore, according to Susan Landau, another researcher from Berkeley who worked on the study, the data suggested that a whole lifetime of mental activity has a bigger effect than does mental activity just in older age. Amyloid probably starts accumulating many years before symptoms appear, so by the time memory problems start, there is little that can be done.
D.
This article was based on the following: "Brain Exercises Prevent Alzheimer's Proteins", January 24, 2012, Newsmax Health, a publication of Reuters, found at www.newsmaxhealth.com
About Me
- Deborah K. Hanula
- Deborah K. Hanula has a year of Journalism training from Humber College, a Political Science degree from the University of Waterloo, and a Law degree from the University of British Columbia. In addition, she has Diplomas in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Child Psychology, and Psychotherapy and Counselling as well as a Family Life Educator and Coach Certificate and Certificates in Reflexology, Assertiveness Training, and Mindfulness Meditation. She is the author of five cookbooks, primarily concerned with gluten-free and dairy-free diets, although one pertains to chocolate. As an adult, in the past she worked primarily as a lawyer, but also as a university and college lecturer, a tutor, editor, writer, counsellor, researcher and piano teacher. She enjoys a multi-faceted approach when it comes to life, work and study, in order to keep things fresh and interesting. Check out her new book: A Murder of Crows & Other Poems (2023).
