Initial changes can predict future illnesses
At different times in life, the brain changes more quickly, as if the clock of life is ticking faster than usual. But for most of adult life, the same hands move at the same speed. However, the brain begins to change between the ages of 40 and 50.
Psychologists who study how mental abilities change with age find that they gradually decline starting in their 20s and 30s. However, when assessing people's memory for everyday events, changes over time are particularly rapid and unstable in middle age. This indicates that the brain undergoes accelerated rather than gradual changes during this period. Several brain structures have been found to change during midlife. The hippocampus, the region responsible for forming new memories, is one of them.
It shrinks throughout most of adult life, and this accelerates around middle age. Dramatic changes in hippocampal size and function during midlife may underlie memory changes such as those mentioned above.
Connections between brain cells allow the organ to perform its functions. In adulthood, these connections develop slowly, especially those connecting areas of the brain responsible for cognitive functions such as memory, reasoning and language.
Through white matter connections, areas of the brain communicate with each other and form networks that can perform cognitive and sensory functions, including memory or vision. While sensory networks gradually deteriorate in adulthood, cognitive networks begin to deteriorate more rapidly in middle age, especially those associated with memory.
The brain is at its peak by the time a person reaches middle age. Some even call middle age “the sweet spot.” to make some decisions, but then the network “groups” begin to disintegrate.
It's worth explaining why these changes matter. By 2050, the world's population aged 60 years and over is expected to roughly double, and with it, sadly, the incidence of dementia will rise significantly.
Science has long focused its attention on old age, when the detrimental effects of time are most obvious, but by then it is often too late to intervene.
“Midlife may be a time when we can identify early risk factors for future cognitive impairment such as dementia. It is important to note that the window of opportunity for intervention may also still be open,” — neurologists explain.
How can doctors detect changes without resorting to brain scans? As it turned out, the contents of the blood can lead to brain aging. Over time, the body's cells and organs are gradually destroyed, and the immune system can respond to this by starting the process of inflammation. Inflammatory molecules can then enter the bloodstream, travel to the brain, disrupt its normal functioning and impair cognitive abilities.
In the study, scientists from Johns Hopkins University and the University of Mississippi analyzed the presence of inflammatory molecules in the blood of middle-aged people and were able to predict future cognitive changes 20 years from now.
«Aging in midlife may have more serious consequences for our future brain health than we think. The accelerated ticking of a clock can be slowed down from the outside. For example, physical exercise has a beneficial effect on the brain through the blood,” — scientists conclude.
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