Newsbriefs: Brain Scan & Cognitive Decline; TIA & PTSD; Birth Season’s Effect on Temperament
Brain Scan May Spot Early Signs of Cognitive Decline
Although not yet clinically available, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans to measure blood flow in the brain could one day detect signs of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) long before the disease process has caused serious brain damage. According to a report published online Oct. 7, 2014 in the journal Radiology, researchers scanned the brains of about 150 older adults without symptoms of memory impairment and a comparable group of 65 older adults with mild memory impairment. The unimpaired participants were given a battery of cognitive tests at the outset of the study and again after 18 months. Researchers found that among the participants without memory problems, those whose scans showed lower blood flow to certain areas of the brain were more likely to experience declines in mental function. Over the study period, those participants’ scans had come to closely resemble the scans of participants with mild impairment, suggesting that measures of blood flow were able to predict future memory loss. The new process is expected to be less expensive than current techniques that use positron emission tomography (PET) scans requiring injections of a radioactive substance to look at the brain.
TIA, Or Mini-Strokes, Can Trigger Post-Traumatic Stress Syndrome
Experiencing a transient ischemic attack (TIA) may lead to symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), such as anxiety, fear, depression, flashbacks, nightmares, and social isolation. A TIA is a brief blockage of blood flow in the brain that produces transient symptoms that include numbness, weakness, blurred vision, slurred speech, loss of language, confusion, sudden memory loss, and severe headache. Re-searchers asked 108 older adults to fill out questionnaires approximately three months after they experienced a TIA, and about one-third reported typical PTSD symptoms following their TIA. Results showed that individuals who are younger, those who are especially prone to worry about a future stroke, or those who have greater difficulty coping with stress may be more likely to develop psychological problems following TIA. “Stroke is largely preventable, so it is important to not feel powerless after a TIA, but rather to become more invigorated about taking control of your health,” said a co-author of the study, which was published online Oct. 2, 2014 in the journal Stroke.
Your Season of Birth May Influence Your Temperament
Researchers analyzed the results of questionnaires and tests measuring the temperamental characteristics of 366 young adults and compared them with the participants’ birth dates. Among their findings: Participants born in winter were less prone to irritability but more likely to suffer depression than those born in other seasons; those born in spring and fall were more likely to demonstrate a highly positive temperament, with autumn births correlated with lower rates of depression; and those born in summer had a greater tendency for frequent mood swings. Although it has been generally acknowledged that genetic and environmental factors play a role in temperament, the new research—which was presented Oct. 19, 2014 at the 17th European College of Neuropsychopharmacology Congress—adds birth season as another potentially influential factor.
Study: Toxic Beta-Amyloid Proteins Don’t Necessarily Lead to Dementia
A comparison of brain activity in a small group of healthy young adults with that of 49 healthy older adults suggests that in some cases the aging brain may be able to compensate for the growing burden of toxic beta-amyloid proteins that can interfere with memory and are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Researchers used brain scans to identify brain deposits of beta-amyloid in 16 of the older adults and monitor brain activity in participants while they memorized images of various scenes, and later attempted to recall them. Although all of the participants performed well on the memory tasks, the 16 participants with higher levels of beta-amyloid showed evidence of greater brain activity while engaging in the exercises, suggesting that they might be using different parts of their brain to compensate for amyloid-clogged regions.
The post Newsbriefs: Brain Scan & Cognitive Decline; TIA & PTSD; Birth Season’s Effect on Temperament appeared first on University Health News.
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