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Fewer Brain 'Tangles' May Mean Smarter Old Age
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These tangles, consisting of a protein called tau, are thought to cause memory and other decline in people with Alzheimer's.
Amyloid-protein plaques, which also accumulate in the brains of people with Alzheimer's, were present in both groups.
Said Mark Mapstone, associate professor of neurology at the University of Rochester Medical Center, "They are looking at what goes right with aging and going forward with that. The eventual goal would be to do things that promote what goes right before people start to hit old age."
"The study is very innovative in the sense that most previous attempts have started with the disease end of the spectrum, and this is obviously the other side of the coin," he added. "Very few have pulled it together in this sort of comprehensive manner."
Mapstone completed his Ph.D. with two of the co-authors of the study.
More information
Visit the U.S. National Institutes of Health for more on senior health issues.
SOURCES: Changiz Geula, Ph.D., research professor, neuroscience, Cognitive Neurology and Alzheimer's Disease Center, Northwestern's Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago; Marshall Keilson, M.D., director, neurology, Maimonides Medical Center, New York City; Mark Mapstone, Ph.D., associate professor, neurology, University of Rochester Medical Center; Evelyn C. Granieri, M.D., chief, geriatric aging and medicine, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, New York City; presentation, Nov. 16, 2008, presentation, Society for Neuroscience annual meeting, Washington, D.C.
