On Sunday, March 1, 2015 at 5:30:05 PM UTC-6, ⊙＿⊙ wrote:
Alzheimer's Disease, Schizophrenia Related to Common Brain Regions
A network of brain regions is vulnerable to unhealthy developmental and aging processes, including Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia, according to an analysis of brain structural variation in 484 healthy people. Results were published recently in
the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
"Our results suggest that the common spatial pattern of abnormalities observed in these two disorders, which emerge at opposite ends of the life spectrum, might be influenced by the timing of their separate and distinct pathological processes in
disrupting healthy cerebral development and aging, respectively," the researchers wrote.
RELATED ARTICLES
Simple Tool Helps Track Memory, Will Aid Alzheimer's Disease Trials
Assisted Suicide for Psychiatric Illness in the Netherlands
In this study, the researchers examined structural brain images of 220 males and 264 females between 8 and 85 years old who underwent the same imaging protocol. They used a linked independent component analysis, which they noted allowed them to see
images in spatial components and evaluate the variations in brain structures.
By identifying the brain network, the researchers said they could examine vulnerabilities to disorders that impact brain structure during adolescence and aging. They found that the inverted-U component of the brain closely resembled the gray matter
regions, showed accelerated atrophy of Alzheimer's disease, and matched regions that showed an altered developmental trajectory in adolescent-onset schizophrenia.
Females had a significantly higher and slightly later peak with age compared with males, according to the inverted-U component analysis. The researchers said that finding could be related to the later age of onset of symptoms in women with Alzheimer's
disease and schizophrenia.
Although the results may be surprising, the researchers noted that previous studies indicated Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia are both linked to a selective damage to the heteromodal cortex of the brain.
"Using a data-driven approach, we have therefore been able to characterize a biologically meaningful component intrinsically linking late development, early degeneration, and vulnerability to disease," the researchers wrote. "There is mounting evidence
that the pattern of various brain disorders can be explained to some extent by observing the healthy brain."
--Tim Casey
Reference
1. Douaud G, Groves A, Tamnes C, et al. A common brain network links development, aging, and vulnerability to disease. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 2014 November 24;[Epub ahead of print].
http://www.psychcongress.com/article/alzheimer's-disease-schizophrenia-related-common-brain-regions-20251
II
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)