Research by Dr Delia Fuhrmann and colleagues shows that lower diastolic blood pressure, higher systolic blood pressure and higher heart rate are each strongly, and independently, associated with white matter lesion burden and microstructure in the brain. These results highlight the importance of maintaining cardiovascular health for healthy cognitive and brain ageing.
Communication plays an important role for cognition in old age
How do we sustain youth-like cognitive abilities despite brain-wide structural loss as we get older? While we know that brain function may play a role in this, it is unclear which aspect of brain function is particularly important, e.g. the extent to which brain regions are activated (functional activity) or the extent to which regions â<80><9c>talkâ<80><9d> to each other (functional connectivity). Research by Dr. Tsvetanov andolleagues indicates that functional connectivity, but not functional activity, becomes increasingly important for performance in old age. These insights may facilitate the development of new strategies to support cognitive ability in old age.
Mid-life activities protect old-age cognition against brain decline
Denis Chan and colleagues at the University of Cambridge studied 205 retired individuals from the CamCAN cohort and found that mid-life intellectual, physical and social activities made significant positive contributions to their current cognitive abilities (IQ). The positive effects of mid-life activities also appear to have a protective effect in the face of poor structural brain health.
CamCAN paper wins Editor’s Choice Award at Human Brain Mapping conference
CamCAN paper wins with paper titled “Challenges in measuring individual differences in functional connectivity using fMRI”
Reorganization of relations among brain regions after middle age
Susanne de Mooij, prof. Rik Henson and Dr. Rogier Kievit investigated whether and when brain connections change with age, and how these changes map onto our cognitive functioning. Using Cam-CAN data, they observed that brain structures become less connected to each other after about 55 years of age. In contrast, the relations between language, memory and reasoning stayed the same across the lifespan. Finally, they found that memory performance becomes less dependent on a white matter network (connecting the hippocampus to other parts of the brain) in later life.
Age-related increase in frontal brain activity is not compensatory
Dr. Alexa Morcom and Prof. Rik Henson investigate the elevated prefrontal cortex activity that is often observed in healthy older adults despite declines in their memory and other cognitive functions. They compare two leading models of brain ageing: that the frontal cortex is either compensating for impairments elsewhere in the brain; or alternatively, that structural or neurochemical changes lead to less efficient and less specific use of resources. Using sophisticated multivariate statistical modelling of the data, the authors present evidence of the latter explanation.
Over 250 international researchers have requested CamCAN data
Age-related slowing of the brain is caused by structural decline
Dr. Darren Price and the Cam-CAN team have shown that age-related delay of the brainâ<80><99>s response to visual stimulation s partly explained by damage to information-carrying white matter fibres. At the same time, age-related delay to auditory stimulation is partly explained by damage to grey matter in the auditory cortex. This study is the first to find such a relationship providing important clues regarding the biological origins of cognitive decline.
Maintained brain responsivity supports preserved function across cognitive abilities
Cognitive abilities change with age, but why some skills decline and others do not is still not clear. Here, Dr. David Samu and his team used data from the Cam-CAN cohort to show that responsivity of specific sets of brain networks supports different cognitive functions over the lifespan and characterizes preserved cognition in older age. These findings provide insights into why some skills are more vulnerable to age-related decline while others are preserved.
Cam-CAN joins the LifeBrain project as part of EU Horizons 2020 framework
Through new funding from the EU Horizon 2020 framework, Cam-CAN will join 10 other European cohorts in the LifeBrain project to study brain change across the lifespan. The result will be a unique multinational resource of approximately 18,500 individuals that will allow investigation of cognitive and mental health throughout life. The project provides an important example of the benefits of European funding and collaboration.